Pleasure Days Meadowlands October 17th & 25th

The beauty of working continental shift patterns means we get a fair bit of time off during the week, when everyone else is working. Although the days may change, there is plenty of time for fishing.
Vic and I had planned a day over at Meadowlands, however, with a difference. We would be leaving the rods at home and just taking the pole, leaving the temptation to pick a rod up behind. I had fished the pole on Warren Pool but with the vastness of Lambsdown to look forward to, was another thing.
The carp, and they run big, have plenty of room to run into.
17th October
I arranged to meet up with Vic at 0600 on a bright frosty morning at Jack's Cafe outside Towcester. Thirty five minutes later we were waiting for the lake to open.A good friend of ours,Bryan, was going to meet us later in the day. Now retired he does not get up early.
Paying our day ticket and purchasing a couple of bags of 8 mm fishery pellets we loaded up the barrows, and set off for the early pegs between 20 and 16.
Vic settled into 17, with myself opting for 16 giving me a right hand edge, which suits me more than than the left. I did not expect to fish this line as it was cold and although not clear was quite shallow close in.
We both had a similar plan, five to 6 metres out, strong elastic and strong rigs. I had set up a couple of .4 MW Diamonds to .19 hook lengths and size 16 KKMB hooks in 5ft of water. I set up another to fish in front of the next platform (15) but as explained earlier did not expect to fish it.
Bryan had now arrived and settled into peg 19, he wanted to fish for the large head of silvers and started setting up accordingly.
Starting off with a large toss pot I placed around 8 fishery pellets in the pot and shipped out to 2 plus a half extension and a top kit and gently lowered in a banded 8 mm fishery pellet in amongst the feed.
Vic fishing top kit plus 3 proper sections. was doing similar, easing our way into the session. After around 10 minutes Vic was into his first fish and around 8lb was a scale perfect common. Going back out he was in again, red hydro streaming out of his pole, as the fish made its way out of the peg, never to come back.
I had my first fish after around 20 minutes, a low double figure carp, followed by another shortly afterwards. Vic was now catching well, good size fish between 8lb and 12lb with the odd better fish thrown in.

I was steadily putting a few fish in the landing net and we both commented on the fact the fish were larger on the pole line than on the bomb or waggler. I did have a spell where I lost around 5 fish on the trot, forcing me to go to .22 hook lengths. This also coincided with the light breeze getting up and forcing the rig through the water. Adding 3 inches to the rig slowed it down a little but I suspected some of the lost fish were foul hooked because of this. Eventually, I changed rigs to a .6 version of the same float, making the presentation a lot better. Bites were all positive dips on the float and although we both had to wait for bites, they were regular.
Bryan was catching well fishing corn over some 6mm fishery pellets, switching to expanders occasionally.
I tried to up the feed but potting in a larger amount of feed, approximately 50 pellets and just sitting over it. It did not make any difference to the catch rate, still I would get a bite after 5 minutes.

Bryan, ending up with around 35lb of silvers throughout the day, whilst both Vic and I had an excellent days fishing, catching fish from 6lb through to what we estimated were fish around the 15lb mark. A few lost rigs, a couple of snapped elastics but still an enjoyable day.
25th October
Our next trip out was again to Meadowlands, the weather was still cold and the first hard frost had occurred overnight. There was rain planned for late morning and a lot of it, by all accounts. Mick was coming with us today, and we settled on a 0630 start at Jacks Cafe, meeting up with Vic again. A good steady journey soon had us pulling into Meadowlands car park where more fishery pellets and a day ticket was purchased in anticipation of a good day.
We decided to move a little further to our right on this session, going for 13,14 and 15. Still in the deeper water and not too far from the previous week's fishing. I opted for 13, Vic on 14 and Mick into 15.
Again I set up a couple of .4 MW Diamonds to fish the 5ft depth, .19 line through to a size 14 KKMB hook. I also set up another .6 MW Diamond, just in case the wind and planned rain got up. No margin rig this time. I had replaced the red hydro's in the top kit's and also tried a blue KND elastic.
Again starting off the feeding by introducing around 8 pellets each put in via a toss pot, seemed to work after around 20 minutes, a cracking mirror around 10lb, a couple more followed, like peas in a pod and after an hour I had 4 fish 3 at 10lb and a smaller 6lber. Vic had a similar catch with one of his fish going 16lb 2oz on a set of scales. Mick was plugging away and a couple of fish had fallen to his waggler tactics at short range.
As the morning progressed, the fishing improved, some we would get out, others not. BUT, it was enjoyable all the same. A run of skimmers to just over the pound kept things interesting and you suspected a lot of the bites were from them. It was just getting a hook and pellet into there mouth's.
A couple of smashed up top kits did not dampen my spirits, The blue KND had coped well before snapping at the dacron connector.
It was hard to believe that it was the end of October, the fishing was really good, plenty of bites and elastic stretching fish. I had a beautiful common carp weighing 15lb 13oz and Mick blitzed that with one of 19lb 2oz. All of us had over 100lb of fish easily, we needed to work at it in some horrible wet and windswept conditions, but we all caught and caught well.
I am not sure when my next match will be, but i will keep the blog going with either a match or a pleasure day.

Marsh AC Slough House Lake 19.10.2019

With the seasons changing from Summer to Autumn, it reminds me that the Marsh AC season slowly comes to an end. Our matches run from March through to October, it will not stop me from going out and pleasure fishing or fishing any opens I fancy though.

Our last match of the season was a bit of an unknown for a lot of us. Slough House Lake near Thurrock. It is reported there are numerous specimen carp and catfish present, along with plenty of bream, skimmers and roach. We could not find a lot of information on the matches, but it seemed to mainly be an odd carp with lots of silvers as a back up.

I had arranged to pick Mick up at 0600 and a nice steady drive to Junction 27 of the M25. However, a lorry driving into a car put paid to that, with everyone having to feed into two lanes to get by. Twenty minutes later, and we were through. Pulling into the only cafe (Puddledock Farm Fishery)we knew that was open, we were greeted by Simon and Gino, always early and awaiting there food.

With a couple of full English's devoured we were back on the road for the 5 minute journey to Slough House. We were a little late arriving, but there was still room in the overflow car park. 

Gear unloaded, pools money paid and a slow walk to the pegs. on first impressions the lake looked nice and established, it reminded me of some of the venues I fished as a youngster.

I had drawn peg 4, it did not mean anything to me, but it looked alright, plenty of room, a bit of shadow cast across the lake and a decent depth. Mick had walked past me, towards his peg 8, a little further along the bank. Again Mick's peg looked good from above the water level, who knows what it looked like underneath.

I had come with a plan to target the silver stocks and forget about the carp. I have fished specimen carp lakes before and to be fair at this time of year it was very hit and miss. I would much sooner see the float go under regularly. With this in mind I had some micros, 4mm hard and soft pellets and a couple of pints of maggots. Enough groundbait to make up a couple of balls and a bit of loose feed.

I planned to fish two lines at 10 and 2 o'clock at 11m, nice and comfortable. The depth did not vary, so I made up a couple of .4g MW Diamonds and shotted one with a bulk of no8 stotz with a couple of no9 droppers, the other with a more strung out shotting with a slower fall through the water. These were .16 to .13 hooklength and a size 16 KKMB hook. Both coupled to white hydro.

My other lines were at 6m, again 10 and 2 o'clock. Again MW Diamonds .5g to cover the 6ft depth and a heavier line and hooklength's .19 to .15  to a size 16 B911F1 hook. This time elastic was a yellow hollow from KND.

A couple of balls of groundbait were shipped out to 11m 2 o'clock at the all in, containing around 100 maggots and a few 4mm pellets. The other long line received half a pot of micros with a pinch of maggots. I started off at 6m and promptly lost the first rig in an unseen snag to the left, leaving me to replace the rig and re-plumb the depth. Nothing for the first 10 minutes to the left. I switched to the right 6m swim and had a small skimmer, around 4 ounces. Out again and nothing on 4mm pellets, I swapped over to a couple of red maggots and another 4 ounce skimmer, a couple of blade roach followed, but i needed to keep swapping and changing bats to keep small fish coming.

Tony Roberts on the next peg 5, had sneaked in a good 2lb skimmer and was well in front of me. Dave on peg 2 had a couple of small skimmers and a few blades, similar to me. Chris W was nicking a few on the pole and GB feeder. League leaders, Chris T and Josh were both targeting the carp and although none had come to their nets. Mick was struggling so there was hope of a rare MK Nugget for me. Simon and John were leading the way with good weights of bream and skimmers from further up the lake on pegs 13 and 15.

Sticking at it, I moved out 11m, re-feeding another couple of balls of GB to the right hand line and another half pot of micros to the left. I adopted a catch anything approach, as I was getting odd bites but nothing regularly, Slowly I was putting small skimmers and odd blades in to the net over the micro line. Hoping to get a few larger skimmers I started pinging a few 4mm sinkers. This had the effect of keeping a few fish in the peg but had drawn a few roach higher up in the water and lightning bites were a problem to hit at times. A couple of better fish came to the net but with each better fish Tony had one as well, I think that first 2lb fish he had on meat was the decider.

Chris was now catching well on the tip and pole feeding small balls of GB and fishing maggot on the hook. Simon was slowing down. Chris T and Josh were still bite less from carp, although Josh had nicked a few silvers to save face and avoid the blank. Terry was in the same boat, doing his best to avoid the fish. Mick was still struggling with a couple of small skimmers and a solitary roach.

Chris W Exhausted but a fine net of Skimmers

At the all out I sat thinking about the day, groundbait did not work, best bait was maggot and the day was a real struggle for everyone. When someone of Chris T's ability blanks you know the carp have shut up shop, he had already won the league, so i suppose why not try for carp.

Overall

1st Simon Watkins             25-04

2nd Chris Withall              22-08

3rd John Holdsworth         16-08

4th Tony Roberts               11-00

5th Mark Fox                     10-08

6th Tony Watkins                9-12

My weight of 9lb came in seventh, and was enough to take a MK Nugget off Mick,who had really struggled with 3lb 12oz.

Well done to the framers and section winners, Simon, Chris W and believe it or not Mick. 

Well that's the end of another Marsh AC season. Some new faces have settled in well and have been welcomed by us older faces. On a personal note I feel I have not performed well at all this season and this is reflected in my results. Poor preparation and not enough time have contributed to it and both will be addressed over the winter.

New challenges face us in the Spring and I am sure there will be plenty of new venues, mixed in with our regular haunts to keep us going. 

Well done to Chris T on winning the league and setting some impressive weights along the way. Finally a big Thank You to Dave and Tony for booking matches, running them, taking the money and generally making our lives a lot easier.

Marsh AC Southend Farm 05.10.2019

There are not many venues where you can catch 70lb of Bream and 2 Carp for 25lb, well I managed it last year from Southend Farm. I fortunately secured the match win and was really looking forward to having another go at this prolific venue.That match was in early June last year, whilst we had to confront some cooler days and colder nights as the autumn really sets in.
It was good to see that Mick had put his name down for this match, he would need a short walk, but it was great to see him getting back on the bank. I arrange to pick him up at 0600 and with the car loaded we headed off. No trouble on the M1 or M25 and it seemed to fly by. Catching up is always good, we have over 25 years of friendship behind us. Parking the car by the cafe, we were greeted by Simon and Gino, already waiting patiently for there orders. Soon others were arriving, Chris T and Foxy, Terry, Tony and Jim. Having been fed we made our way out to Dave and the all important draw. I fancied a peg to the right hand side , ideally on the far bank. They looked as if they had decent depth but had better looking margins. We had available to us the near side bank, pegs 16 to 32 and a high number would fit the bill. Mick would be on one of the short walk pegs in front of the car park. Mick draws 22 and I was on 24 with the Reverend Tony Roberts in between us.I had Gino on 25.
I had decided to just fish the pole, the rods had been left behind (again), so opted to fish top four in 6ft of water, both left and right. A top three line straight out and a shallow rig, Bait was meat, corn and pellets.
At the all in I started off shallow at 12m fishing 2ft deep with a 6mm hard pellet, 20 minutes on this and no signs, Tony was catching a few skimmers around 10m out in 7ft of water fishing corn. I decided to try my top four lines. Left with corn and right with meat. Another 40 minutes go by and a solitary roach was all I could muster on corn. Josh had snared a couple of carp, whilst Foxy was busy catching skimmers. Gino was struggling as I was. Chris T had a couple of carp weighing 17lb followed by another at 21lb fishing the pellet waggler deep.
I was going nowhere fast, I tried longer, but again no bites, tried closer and again nothing. The only place I could get bites was the left hand line, top four dead depth on corn feeding a few grains and around 10 pellets via a toss pot. I did hook a couple of carp, one on light elastic which I could not turn as it cruised out to the middle of the lake. The other on Black Hydro which although I could turn, could not get its head up and the hook pulled out.
Tony was fishing exactly the same and catching well. Josh had sneaked in another couple of fish, as had Chris T and Foxy. Kyle chipped in with another carp and a few silvers.
On the all out I was disappointed, I felt numb, not knowing where I went wrong, I felt there were a few fish to be had on the pole lines and I could not work out how to catch them. My weight of 16-08 went onto the scales.

Overall

1st Chris T              70-04

2nd Josh D             58-04

3rd Tony R             52-08

4th Mark F             40-12

5th Mick W           31-08

6th Dave C            25-04

Chris T with part of his 70lb winning weight

Josh D second place with 58lb

An exceptional performance from the Reverend 52lb of skimmers

The Chairmen with 25lb of hard earned skimmers

Great to see Mick on the bank even if it did cost me a MK Nugget.

My next match is the last of the Marsh AC season, at a new venue, Slough House Lakes. Never seen it before, so who knows. One thing for sure is I will have some rods with me.

Alders Farm Tuesday Open 01.10.2019

I had been going to Alders Farm recently, practising for the Joseph James Law match on the venue, what a great event it is. Just to be part of it is something to be proud of, as it is invitation only. But today would see me fishing against the locals, I regularly get beaten up by them at their own game, so this week I have stripped out all my big elastics and tightened them up. I have felt that I should soft elastics through a side puller, but i have never felt in control of the fish, hence the tightening up. Hopefully this will turn more hooked fish into ones in the net rather than losing them or taking too long to land them.

The weather was planned to rain consistently throughout the day and on arrival it was steadily coming down. Sometimes it was heavy, other times just a few spots on and off. 

A few anglers preparing for the forthcoming Alders Farm Winter League and a decent turnout for a Tuesday saw 11 idiotic anglers preparing to get drenched at any second. Into the bag of dreams and out comes peg 29, a good peg and one that I had fished recently catching 122lb from the left hand pipe. I had Lee Wilson for company on peg 30 with Paul Kearns on peg 27. Trevor Price was left with peg 21 on the dam wall, all on his own, not good for us. Bryn Wignall on 9 with Lee Newson on 7. The remaining pegs 1-5 were filled by Gary ?, Ken ?, Colin Kidd, Dave Adams and Rob Rayment.respectively. 

Peg 29 Home for the Day

I had opted to fish four lines, two pellets lines, at 2+2 and left edge, a corn cum maggot late on line at top three and a maggot line to the right hand edge. All feed pellets were fishery pellets. At the all in, I cupped in half pot of 4mms onto 2+2 and put a small hand full into the left edge, a few grains of corn to just past my keepnets and out with a corn baited top-kit plus one. It did not take long and a small 2lb common carp was on and in. Out again and another, feeding three or four grains every 30 seconds. A quiet spell followed and I pushed out to 2+2 with a 6mm hard pellet on the hook. Again a couple of quick fish before a spell of "iffy" bites. I was feeding dampened down 4mms and I suspected skimmers were the problem. I re-fed the line with a full pot of pellets and had a quick look down the left edge where I had caught well the previous visit.

Nothing, although a couple of fish were seen mooching around with there heads down but further away from the bank than my feed, I could see Lee's landing net going back and forth catching on peg 30 and could hear splashing from Paul's peg. The far bank seemed to be catching odd fish with the higher numbers 7 and 9.

Trevor was catching, despite him saying how his peg was devoid of fish.

I kept on rotating my lines picking off odd fish regularly, but never felt that the fish settled over one particular spot, with 2 hours left I reckoned on having around 50lb and decided to start introducing maggots, I had around 3 pints with me from the JJL match and after a couple of small handfuls to the right edge, I saw a couple of tails go in after them. Jokingly I thought I heard Paul say he had seen a snake swimming past him. I have never seen a snake at Alders before, but who was I to disagree.Dropping a rig tight to the grass and after a couple of minutes a 5lb carp had taken the five maggots impaled onto my 16 KKMB, another smaller fish followed, and another. Lifting and dropping worked as did leaving them on the deck. I even managed to hook the snake, about 2ft long swam into my peg and the float dipped, perfect striking and the snake was on. It was no match for the red hydro but it was foulhooked in the back so cutting the line was the only option available to me. Those around could not believe it, I could not believe it. Luckily for me, it did not affect the weights at the end.Whether they were there from the start I do not know, as I saw no signs. The left edge and to be honest the one I expected to catch from, never produced a fish. It was all to the right, today.

I caught steadily to the end, not bagging mode where the float goes before it settles but a fish every couple of minutes and doubled my weight in that last two hours. My elastics had performed better and felt the change was justified, perhaps it was just a confidence boost but it worked. If you are not entirely happy with something, you need to change it. I felt that I had sneaked past those around me and on the opposite bank but could not see the far pegs and Trevor. I should have known better. than question it in my mind.

1st Trevor Price                     267-10 

2nd Lee Newson                   192-11

3rd Bryn Wignall                   180-00

4th Keith Ashby                    155-11

5th Dave Adams                   145-05

6th Gary ?                            131-02

I think I have learnt some things today to take into my next few matches and look forward to working it out at Alders over the coming month's. Do I need an umbrella? I sat in the rain and it was heavy at times but the Halkon Hunt gear has kept me dry all day, coupled with Skeetex boots and dry feet. Happy Days.

I am having a pleasure day at Barston Lakes on Thursday followed by a club match at Southend Farm on the Saturday.

Joseph James Law Match Alders Farm 27.09.2019

Joseph James Law are a forward thinking team of solicitors and support staff who are changing the way our sport is portrayed. Putting their own money and time into supporting every aspect from grass roots to the England Ladies on a world level. The commitment they have shown over a period of time, shows the effort they put into your legal affairs. Already number one in the claims business for flight delays, they are moving into the realms of criminal law.

Four years on, and a match planned for Alders Farm Fishery, across the whole complex. A team event, with some of the best anglers in the country, anglers who have competed in some of the biggest matches in our sport. Oh and me. This was a team event and the maggotdrowning.com forum with assistance from BobCo Tackle had been invited to partake in the day. Along with teams from:

Preston Innovations

Joseph James Law

Guru

Garbolino

Maver

The Army

England U15s

England Ladies

The Pellet Guys

Four Lane Enders

Mallory Park

Our team consisted of Alex Akal, Nick Pringle, Dave Webster, Kevin Arathoon and myself. Pete Morton would act as captain for the day with Barry Testro, bank runner in case we needed to get information to others in the team. Alex and Nick would be on Ash Lake, Myself and Kevin on Pines, with Dave taking on the might of Oaks Lake and its resident specimen fish.

After a rather messy egg and bacon roll and a mug of tea, supplied by the team at Alders Farm, It was onto drawing for the all important pegs for the day. Captain Pete steps up and takes a ball from each of the five bins on show. Returning to the team, the enormity of his actions kick in and informing those around him of his peg selections. Alex 18 Ash, Nick 30 Ash, both good pegs. Dave peg 10 on Oaks, another good peg with an island chuck as an added bonus. Kevin peg 3, possibly just out of some of the better pegs, myself peg 15, unknown to me, as it is not normally included in the fishery matches. 

Peg 15 Pines

My plan was to fish three lines, top 3, top four and 12m both up and down. Bait 6mm hard pellet, corn, maggot and a few expander pellets.For feeding I had a bag of fishery 4mms and micro pellets both dampened down.

For company I had Lee Cox fishing for Maver and Will Reynolds from Guru, both very good anglers. I started off on the top 3 line fishing corn, this has quite often got me a few fish on this lake at the start of a match, and today was no different 2 quick fish before it went off, a switch to hard pellet over the same line again proved fruitless. Moving out to top 4 and a couple of pellet fish, but again it was very slow. Trying a soft expander also did nothing to improve things.

Lee next door on 14 had lost a couple of fish but was now catching silvers to put something in the net. Will had a few fishing the little island on the tip and was now going shallow. I could see odd fish being caught and from the look of it they were all shallow fishing. 

Will Reynolds Peg 16 Pines

Picking up me shallow rig and flicking it over around 20 times before I had my first fish on the shallow rig, out again and another, happy days two in two, but no, it was not meant to be. Another 20 times and another dip on the float indicated a liner, shallow up and out again and flick, flick, flick, bury. I was making some good decisions but the fish did not seem to be there in any numbers, Those either side of me and Lee were catching on the islands, the top end of the lake was catching with the wind blowing in. Even on the opposite bank I could see them struggling to put a run of fish together.

I persevered on the shallow rig until the last hour. I had started feeding maggot onto the top 3 line and with the wind and rain I decided to give it a go. More in hope the expectation. Lo and behold the float dipped and a carp, followed by another and another. Why did I not do this earlier? Five maggots on a size 16 KKMB seemed to doing the trick and although there was a few barren spells it was the most productive part of the session.

At the all out and packing up the heavens opened and the deluge completely drenched my already wet kit. My sett of waterproofs stood up to the test and proved a worthwhile investment. 

Such is the organisational skills of the JJL event team, the support staff were already on the scales on coming around. Both Lee and I knew we had not done well in the section, but we also felt the fish were not there in any numbers. Lee weighing in 30lb to my 54lb. This put me 9th in the section of 12. Not what I had hoped for, but from a poor peg, I could not compete with the islands. Will winning the section with 118lb and the England U15 angler, Josh Newman placing 83lb on the other island.

Kevin had fared even worse in his section 41lb and unfortunately last in section.

Over on Oaks Lake Dave ( Red Leader) had fished a blinder and despite a discussion with the scales people ended up with 46lb for 4th on the lake, an excellent performance.

Alex had secured 8 points from his peg 18 with a creditable 94lb, such were the weights in his section. Nick was left feeling frustrated from peg 30, 108lb for 5th in section and a tale of foul hookers and smashed rigs, similar to my match on the Tuesday prior to the event. Our performances left us feeling a little deflated at the end. We had a feeling of letting everyone down, the members at maggotdrowning,com and BobCo tackle who kindly supported us throughout the match. A couple of points gained would have seen a massive climb up the table. 

Overall the Team event saw Preston Innovations win for the second year running, 

Garbolino running the them close with the team from Joseph James Law coming home in third place. Our team coming  home in 10th place.

Individually, Grant Albutt rounding off a great performance to win with 180lb.

Grant Albutt Putting 180lb in the net

This is the fourth year of the event and the profile of this sort of corporate event is growing each year. Andrew Settle, the managing director and owner of JJL and his team have worked hard on this project. If you needed any legal assistance, the effort put into this event shows what they are capable of. From greeting us at the top of the hill, laying on breakfast rolls and hot cups of tea prior to the draw, arranging the team captains and taking team photos, arranging for a professional video company to record the days events, coming around with drinks and snacks mid match, organising the scalesmen and ladies, collating the results and laying on an after match buffet. Excellent service and there for you. 

A very nice gesture was to award Andrew Settle with a trophy from the England Ladies team that they had won in South Africa in recognition of the past and continuing support shown by JJL.

England Ladies Presenting an Award to Andrew Settle

Well done and many thanks must also go to the Monk family who not only provided the fishery, cooked the breakfast's worked in the shop and took time off work to support all of this. Trevor Price for being Trevor Price, nothing too much trouble. To all of the unsung heroes, the captains and bank runners, Thank You.

I must also send many thanks to all the supporters of maggotdrowning.com and to BobCo tackle, helping out with clothing, bait and pools money is really appreciated.For a website based to be considered for such an event is a credit to us all, the site is held in high regard by the angling community Many thanks and MDs will be back next year.

Please note some photos used in the report were taken by Tom Scholey at Catch More Media

Alders Farm Open Pines Lake 22.09.2019

As I have been asked to represent Maggotdrowning.com in the forthcoming Joseph James Law fishing event on the 27th September it was time for a practice session. I had been on the previous Friday and had caught well fishing corn and hard pellet on peg 18. My good friend Vic fished on peg 17 slightly differently to with expanders and hard pellets for a similar catch around 100lb each.
Today would see how the lake fishes with a lot more anglers on it, in the JJL match every peg bar one will be in and there will be good pegs and poorer ones. I was going with a similar plan to the Friday, fish corn on top four and hard 6mm pellet further out. The weather was planned to turn worse throughout the day with plenty of rain forecast.
Getting to the venue nice and early, ensuring the nets are dipped and collected ( I leave my keepnets on site). I ordered breakfast and loaded up the barrow ready for the walk up to the lake. Walking past both Ash and Oak lakes I noticed it was flat calm, whereas the wind was gently blowing left to right on Pines Lake, possibly as it was higher up. Breakfast done and a chat with fellow team mate Nick Pringle about the forthcoming match and the Friday JJL match. A few others were also using it as a practice match. With 17 anglers on the match it would be a good test of how it would fish on the day.
At the draw, I went in and peg 1, happy with that as it generally has a good edge to both left and right. Although the left more dominant edge is the wrong way round for me as it means holding the pole across my body.The right hand edge did look nice though. I set up a corn line at 5m, a long line at 11m to the right side for fishing 4mm and 6mm hard pellet., another 11m line to the left where I would feed micros and fish expanders. A shallow rig completed my set up.
At the all in I cupped in some feed onto my two long lines, a medium pot of micros to the left and 4mms to the right, both fishery pellets dampened down.On the near 5m line I simply threw a dozen grains of corn and around 20 4mm pellets.Going over it with a grain of corn and the float dips and fish on after approximately 30 seconds. Just the start I wanted. Back out and a few dips but nothing connecting, taking two inches off the rig and another carp.No more fish, which was slightly disappointing, but I would still feed it and come back to it later. Going to the 11m right hand line, again saw a couple of fish on the deck before it again went a bit iffy and proper bites harder to come by. A try on the 11m left line fed with micros, did not have a bite all match despite trying it a couple of times.
A move to the shallow rig feeding 4mm sinkers 3 or 4 at a time picked off 5 or 6 carp to around 4lb, before this line also died once the rain started. Going down the right hand edge to the reeds and feeding around a dozen 4mms and fishing a 6mm hard pellet saw my most productive spell. Around a dozen carp to 5lb, smashing and crashing through the reed beds and having to drag them out, even with tightened orange vespe.
I could see Nick struggling fish long and shallow on peg 24 but the angler on 25 was getting a few fish down the edge towards the corner and shallow, swapping between the two.Steve Johnson on 22 started off well fishing pellets short and moving along the edge later in the match. Over on peg 19 and 18 were having a peg to peg battle. Word was though that Mark Griffith was having a day to remember with plenty of fish coming to his long shallow and maggot top kit tactics. Richard Farrow and Lee's Cox and Wilsonwere all enjoying the rewards of  pegs 5 to 8.
At the all out I felt I had got it nearly right, 94lb for nowhere. I had caught on pellet and felt I had wasted too much time on the deck, a far better approach would have been shallow for the start of the match followed by a pellet edge and a maggot line in front of my keepnets. Lesson learnt and will be prepared for the JJL match where 90lb would get good points.
Well done to Mark Griffith on the win with 215lb, well ahead of Lee Wilson's 165 and Rich Farrow's 159.

Next match is the Tuesday Costcutter at Alders Farm. Not sure which lake.

Marsh AC Puddledock Farm Road Lake 21.09.2019

Sorry its a bit late but have been practising for a match to come on Friday. Our latest adventure in the Marsh AC catalogue of disasters was a match on Road Lake at Puddledock Farm. I have good memories of this lake, having won a couple of matches on there with between 60 and 90lb, so although not expecting a bagging session, I was hopeful of a few fish.
No Mick for this match as he is still recuperating. However, it was good to see Kris again, who finally got a day off from rebuilding his house. Also in attendance was his son, venturing out in his first match.
A nice steady trip to the venue and I was surprised to see no one else in the car park when I arrived. I was early as the cafe did not open for another 20 minutes, so some time in the on site tackle shop was required. A few other members arrived and after all ordering breakfasts it was time to catch up. Dave finally arrived and armed with the pools list it seemed there would be 13 of us in total.
Kris and his son would be pegged next to each other, to help junior out as much as possible.The rest of us had an open draw. Clive had drawn the peg, I had won from previously, but I fancied any peg along the straight to do well.

Clive P 

The only stumbling block would be if the wind picked up. My draw was peg 19, not the place I wanted to be, top end of the lake, hardly any ripple. For company I had Foxy and Simon on 20 and 17 respectively. Josh was on 16 and second in the league up to now, so would be more than capable.

A rare shot of Josh on the bank

Simon, as always well prepared

I set up rigs to cover 12m, both up and down. A rig for 5m and a couple of margin rigs, one under the tree in 2ft of water and another to the left with 12inches.

Home for the day

Bait would be 4mm Alders feed pellets dampened down. Hook baits were either 6mm or 8mm hard pellets and a tin of corn, left over from the Friday.
At the all in I cupped in on my 5m and 12m lines a pot of 4mm pellets with a few grains of corn. Going out to 12m with a banded 8mm saw a static float. Lifting and dropping the float a couple of inches, did nothing to improve matters. Simon had started across to the island and was soon into fish on the method, only small fish but fish nevertheless. Josh had snared a carp on his short line, but neither Foxy or myself had had a bite.
A switch to 5m and nothing. A look down both edges, nothing. Pick up a shallow rig, ping a few 4mms over the top and after 90 minutes I get my first bite only to lose it on the way back. Foxy had switched to the pellet feeder and was getting a few fish tight to the island. So tight he was landing the feeder on the island and dragging it off, PLOP. and round it went. Simon was the only one catching on the pole line, Foxy on the tip, Clive and Chris furter down were catching odd fish.

Chris was hopeful of a few

I decided to concentrate on the deck long, re-plumbing up, adding a toss pot to the pole and feeding more regularly and in a tighter area. This seemed to work as I was getting a few indications, mainly from silvers picking away at the 8mm hard pellet but after 3 hours, a positive bite resulted in a stumpy 3lb common. Out again and the little indications continued, before it goes under again and another carp of around 6lb was in the net. I felt the elastics were a bit tight playing this fish so swapped it for a black hydro kit.
I had heard Josh and Simon talking and they reckoned on 5lb and 14lb each, Foxy had around 10 fish between 2 and 3lb each for 28lb but it was slowing down for him. I was getting signs of fish so a late run of fish could boost me up the section. I managed another 4 fish and a small orfe before the end of the match all on an 8mm pellet. Chris had fished well and despite a late surge from the Chairman managed to hold him off.

Chairman Dave with a rod!!!!!

In hindsight I think perhaps a switch to expander would have got more fish, but perhaps not the size. Definitely fishing a tip rod to the island, would have got a few extra fish as I had a nice cut out opposite, but I do not enjoy fishing the tip, even if it cost me in the end.I would much sooner struggle and try to make it work than fish a method I do not enjoy.

Overall

1st Chris Thomas          65-08

2nd Dave Collier          48-00

3rd Mark Fox              34-04

4th Keith Ashby           29-08

5th Jim Boase              26-12

6th Clive Pritchard       21-08

6th Chris Withall          21-08

Well done to all the framers and section winners, Jim Mark and Chris T. At the time of writing I have not seen the league tables but Josh not weighing in and leaving a trail of dust behind him will affect the top of the leaderboard.
My next match is on Tuesday at Alders Farm, again a practice for the JJL match on Friday 27th September. My next club match is one I am really looking forward to, Southend Farm on the 5th October.

Marsh AC Colemans Cottage Stepfield 31.08.2019

It's the end of an era, Marsh AC were attending their final match at Coleman's Cottage. It has had its highs and lows for yours truly but over the years I have grown to like it. Gerry and Jayne have been fully supportive of our club's endeavours. Hosting Kev's 50th a few years back, John has his annual fish in with his extended family and generally good times have been had by all. But it all must come to an end, turning the lakes into a members only complex and freeing up valuable time for the owners.
I travelled the 90 miles to Witham without Mick, who was still recuperating. Kris and Troy were still away and I was looking forward to fishing Stepfield Lake. We had fished it before and I have done alright without setting any records. I found that it was either shallow across or down the edges.
No headaches on the motorways, allowed me to make good time and pulling into the car park I was not the first to arrive. Gino, Chris, Josh  and Terry were already awaiting full English Breakfasts being busily prepared in the adjacent kitchen. With my order placed and a mug of tea in hand, we were soon reminiscing of times gone by.
A quick chat with Gerry said which lake we were on and how it had been fishing. The locals catching well in excess of 200lbs. This would not happen unless the right angler was on the right peg. Draw time saw peg 22 stick to me mitt. Very close to where I was last year. Walking back to the car and unloading the tackle I was surprised to see everyone driving past to a different Stepfield. A few words were passed and the confusion of the "Stepfields" was resolved with a lot of returning cars.
My peg looked no different to any of the other pegs on the lake,with the exception of 8 and 10 either side of the bush in the corner. A noted flyer. I would need to fish well and stay focused on what I was doing. I set up a couple of rigs for 11m due to the wind, 5m and 4m coupled with a shallow slapping rig. I also wanted to fish the margins but with only around 8 inches of depth I was sceptical. However, a carp coming in and searching for food prior to the kick off made my mind up to set up either side on top threes.
My plan was to fish 8mm pellets everywhere in the peg but hardly feed anything. My thought process was the fish were already in the margins looking for food and I did not want too many fish in the peg, instead just fishing and catching one at a time, feed then switch sides and repeat.
I had Terry,on end peg and Tony either side of me, with dangermen Josh and Tony a couple further down. At the all in, I cupped in on the longer lines and seeing a fish in the right margin, threw three 6mm pellets in and waited. A minute later the float dipped and fish number one was on and a 3lb common was soon gracing the fishery supplied nets. Three more pellets and out again, same thing happens, things were looking good. Terry was into his first fish. After three fish, I had fed around 15 pellets and could see fish milling around looking for food. A switch to the left hand side, this time feeding 8mm pellets to see if there was any difference to catch rate or size of fish.Still feeding 3 pellets at a time, After an hour I reckoned on having around 30lb and was going fish for fish with Terry from what I could see. Every time I was facing him he was catching steadily. Tony however was struggling to put a run together, he had lots of fish in his peg and was foul hooking fish regularly. I could see further down the straight and Tony was putting fish in the net but I could not see Josh.
With regular feeding and keeping it tight I was able to keep drawing odd fish into the swim and have a back up margin line should one go quiet. After three hours I reached for an additional net, thinking I was close to the net limits. At this point my landing net thread came away from the plastic shroud of the frame of the net. No amount of pushing it back it worked. I looked for some electrical tape but nothing. So I just took my time netting fish, using the net similarly to a trout angler would with his tennis racket net. It was funny to see.
It was only after the match Terry says I have some electrical tape!!!!!!
Still I was catching, fish between 1 and 3lb with the odd five pounder thrown in and felt a steady ton was on the cards despite all my frustrations.
At the all out I had fished a tidy match, considering. I was happy and felt the only thing I would have done differently is catch bigger fish, but we have no say over that. Packing up and walking back it was interesting to see all the Pinocchio's trying to get their stories together. Best one was a certain person claiming 45lb and doubling it.
A lot of the stories revolved around having too many fish in their pegs and they could not catch them, on interrogation it pans out they had all fed pots of bait at the start and this drew in lots of fish, churning up the shallow water and foul hookers as a result. My softly softly approach worked out fine.
Overall
1st Keith Ashby      138-08
2nd Josh Donovan   94-00
3rd Tony Roberts    87-00
4th Terry Goff         77-00
5th Gino Exell         76-08
6th Jim Boase         69-08
Well done to all the framers and section winners and looking forward to Puddledock Road Lake in a couple of weeks.

Marsh AC Monks Lake 1 17.08.2019

I had booked a days holiday way back in February for Monks Lake 1. I have only fished it once and then I was pegged right at the top of the spit where it goes round the corner, peg 12 I think was. I did not do very well that day, ending up about 5th or 6th if I remember correctly. Today was all about putting some fish in the net.
I had travelled down on my own, Troy was working, Kris on holiday and Mick recovering from being harpooned. I made good time and with little or no delays. For once the M1/M25 and M2 combination seemed to work. Arriving just behind Tony into the car park and laughing to myself that he missed the turning. Still at least when I reach his age, I still hope to be driving.A bacon baguette and a mug of tea later I was ready. My positive mental attitude had kicked in.
There was another couple of matches on the other lakes 2 and 3 and a few pleasure anglers bivvied up on lake 4 so parking was a bit tight but we all managed to squeeze in and unload the tackle. With monies taken and the pegs decided on, it was draw time. Peg 7 for me, a couple of pegs from where I was last time. I had caught then down the edges but the lake looked well down since then. Terry was sitting on that peg , whilst Josh was on Micks winning peg (8)from last year. I was not sure where the sections run from though as for some strange reason we had 5 on one side of the spit and 7 on the other.
I tackled up to fish top fours and a long line if the wind stopped enough. It was blowing from left to right into the car park bank. I set up a couple of rigs .3g and .5g MW Hi Viz Margins to .19 to .15 KKMB hook length in size 14.. Another set for fishing the longer 11m line where there was very little difference in depth. a couple of margin rigs finding 18 inches of water, tight in I barely had 6 inches. A shallow rig for slapping finished off the set ups. In hindsight I think I should have set up a method rod for across to the empty far bank. Bait would be the usual array of pellets, 4s, 6s and 8s. I had also cubed up 3 tins of meat.
At the all in I cupped in a pot of mixed 4s and 6s onto the long line and top four line, I put a pot to the empty pallet next door permanent peg 15 but added a few cubes of meat.
Starting off on the top fours with an 8mm banded pellet, I did not need to wait long for my first bite, a skimmer around 10oz, out again and another. Then nothing. A look to the pallet and a carp around 5lb on 8mm cube of meat. Re-feeding the pallet line I stopped the 4s and 6mm pellets and fed a pot of 8mm pellets and meat. Back onto the top four and another carp around 3lb. An hour in I had 2 carp and 3 skimmers for around 10lb, not the start I wanted. Terry had caught a good fish and Gino was catching well on the tip. Josh had not had a fish and was fretting about blanking. Behind me Clive and Tony were picking off odd fish.
I kept plugging away and found that by adding a few inches to the rig I could hold it still. The tow was quite strong and by holding it still the bites were positive dips on the float. The only issue I had was a lot of them were foul hooked fish but it was a balance that worked. Running the float through would not get a bite, holding it still would get a bite with a 50/50 ratio of foul hookers.
Terry was now catching carp from all over the peg, Josh had started catching a few carp and out performing both Gino on his right and myself. Chris, a bit further down was catching silvers and was bagging.
By the all out I had secured 12 carp and a few skimmers. I have foul hooked and lost around 6 carp which has cost me today.
Overall
1st John Holdsworth    91-04
2nd Gino Exell             82-04
3rd Dave Collier          75-08
4th Josh Donovan        71-12
5th Chris Withall          60-00
6th Keith Ashby          56-00

Chairman Dave fished for 6hrs and 75lb

Is that it!!!!!!!!!

Clive and part of his 53lb

Just sneaking into the top half with 56lb

Josh with part of his 71lb

Gino into 2nd place with 82lb of method fish

Chris and 41lb of silvers

Foxy and a 16lb lump

Well done to all the framers and section winners but especially to John whose catch included 38lb of silvers on dead reds and later on with corn. However, John,s weight was surpassed by Chris, who placed 41lb of silvers onto the scales. An extremely good weight on a difficult day.
Next match is at Colemans Cottage on Stepfield Lake  in a fortnight, hopefully Mick will be able to attend and we can resume our nugget matches.

Viaduct Fishery Yam Yam Week 26.07.2019 -03.08.2019

Tired is not the word for it, I am absolutely knackered. My body aches with laughter and some great memories of another week away with the lads from the Black Country.

It all started a few years back with a group of  lads from the West Midlands who decided to arrange their own festival ensuring a more representative payouts and a compulsory wind up. The venues at the time were not very helpful in allowing us to book matches on the lakes during our stays with them, so forced us to search elsewhere. Viaduct Fishery in Somerton kindly agreed to take us on board and worked with us to have a great week. Steve and Helen have been great in all our dealings with them, sorting out the draws, weighing in and even creating a shoulder to cry on when things do not go to plan.

We had booked matches for each day and the lads had come up a day early to fish the Thursday Cost Cutter prior to our festival, what started as a week, was now nine days. Paul Davis winning the match with 115lb and Cottie coming in fourth with 92lb amongst the 32 anglers competing.

 My plan was to travel down on the Friday early morning, meeting up with Vic at silly o'clock to travel the 2hr 45 minutes to the venue.Derek Smith, the only other angler from out of the area, Hemel Hempstead had said we needed to be there for 8 o'clock and as we rolled into the car park, the only car we saw was his. A good chat and a cup of tea with Steve and Helen passed the time until slowly the cars and vans arrived. It was as if a load of gypsies had arrived. Arriving in the car park en masse, dropping everything in their wake coming to greet us. It was great to catch and reminisce, meet old friends and some new.
Friday 26.07.2019 Cary Lake
Our festival was not going to start until the Saturday, so we had a chance for a practice on Cary Lake, the fiish in this lake can run very large, well into the 20lb mark and scrap all the way to the net. We had 15 of us in attendance with Tim Kibble arriving on the Sunday after attending his daughters wedding, I was not bothered where I was pegged as I wanted to fish the pole. It was something I had only played with during our previous stays and as this was a bit of fun, why not. At the draw I pulled out peg 90, not the best but I had some lily pads to my left and a nice right hand edge to go at. I also set up to fish 11m both up and down. A bomb rod was my get out of jail card, if I was struggling and needed a fish. Needless to say, I fished a tidy match on the pole, only throwing the bomb a couple of times. Shame the fish ignored all my efforts, 3 carp for 27lb and a couple of skimmers, still saw me beat a few but way behind Cottie's 176 and Paul Davis's 175. Vic came second in his section and picked up,whilst Del won his section to boost our pot.

And Six of these later, 176lb win for Cottie

With the match out of the way, we had booked into a small hotel/pub The Old Pound Inn 20 minutes away in Aller. Great for an overnight stay, clean rooms, good food and excellent service throughout. Unfortunately, I never made breakfast, I was still in the bar at 2am and had a headache next morning. I should have known really, it happens every year. I do not drink properly throughout the year and apart from family occasions where two or three pints is the norm, have not had a drink since last years event.

Saturday 27.07.2019 Campbell Lake

At the draw I was feeling a little worse for wear, yet with great expectations when peg 114 stuck to my hands, I have always fancied it for a few fish over the years and with the way the sections are planned, felt it could work in my favour. I was in with 112, which at the draw was Tim's peg when he arrives after his wedding duties. Peg 129 with Cottie on it and 128 with Gongo. Both excellent bomb anglers but either side of the spit. I set up the bomb and pole to fish top four and both edges with corn. I had Frenchy for company on 115. Starting off on the bomb and nothing, not even a liner, tried smaller hooks and a variety of hook baits and nothing. I decided to fish positively on the pole lines feeding a large pot of corn and fishing it out. I started to pick up a few skimmers, but never enough to compete, the spit pegs were catching carp. Tim had arrived mid match and on his first five chucks on the bomb put 45lb in the net. I ended up with 3 carp again for 19lb and 14lb of skimmers, best weight of skimmers on the day, but last in section for me. Cottie winning it and Gongo second with 127lb and 126 respectively. Del won the match with 165lb from peg 110, with Bob and Fred having a peg to peg battle on 118-119 with Bob edging it 154-15 to 154-00. Seven ton up weights overall. Vic had a day's fishing with 97lb and 3rd in section. So, not the ideal start to the festival for me, last in section but still all to play for as they are only 4 peg sections and anything could happen. I did learn something though about feeding for carp and the skimmers. For the start of the match, I would fish for carp and hope to have a couple of early fish on the bomb. Mid match I could catch skimmers and try again for odd carp on the bomb. Late on switch feed to pellets and cut out the corn and carp would move in after 4pm. The edges also came into play late on., You just need a peg to do it on. Getting those early bomb fish were proving difficult.

At least tonight we could get into the lodges and we all settled for a Chinese and a few beers in. A welcome relief from the previous nights exertions.

Sunday 28.07.2019 Lodge Lake

This lake was my down fall last year, two pegs on the shop bank ruined my festival. It was very hard fishing two matches, a total of 5 carp and little else. I was just hoping for a peg away from those. Any one. The draw gods must have felt some compassion for me as they gave me peg 71, A decent peg with a chance. Peg 73 and 70 were better with good features, yet I still felt good. 

Paul Davis on his way to 33lb and 2nd in section

I planned to flick rig and try to mug a cruising fish for the first hour before going down the edge to my right with corn hook baits. I also set up the bomb but only gave it ten minutes throughout the match. The draw for the pairs was taken the previous night and I had been drawn with Steve "Soupy" King who incidently had drawn next to me, strange when you want someone to catch to help in the pairs but he is in your section and want him to fail. Weird felling!!!!Vic had drawn Bob with Del being paired with Fred.

" There was a bubble down the edge" says Nobby

Bob was on the screamer by the tree 73, with Mark Chard making up the section. Vic was happy with his draw on 67 towards the top of the lake, It just depended on whether he could get them out, proper animal country. Derek meanwhile was on the opposite bank, peg 60. 

I started off on the flick rig and although I had a couple of bites the winds and slack long lines proved difficult to connect. Like most things it takes practice and I must admit it os something we do not do regularly enough. A good angler would have done better. However after a look down the edge and getting smashed to bits, I stuck another section on and changed my feeding to a toss pot every put in rather than the pole cup and lots of feed. This seemed to work as I stopped getting silly bites and instead got proper pulls. I was a few fish behind Bob who had landed 4 carp and lost as many, I was plugging away, getting odd fish. Soupy had started catching down his edge, late on and I reckoned on it being close between us at the end. Chardy weighed in 40lb with Soupy going in with 62lb I put 65 on the scales with Bob not having anymore fish and 44lb. This left me winning the section and getting my festival back on track. Vic had struggled to land fish, hooking 14 and only landing 3 for 25lb whilst Del sneaked in a section 2nd behind Cottie', 89lb.

Frenchy on form

 Frenchy winning the match from the "Monk" peg 64 with 123lb on the bomb to the far bank.Dave Walters had done well to catch 52lb from one of the pegs mentioned above but unfortunately Simmo had suffered a similar fate to me with 10lb. Nobby had indeed caught his bubble, first put in but despite calling Yippee he failed to land it. You shouldn't laugh, but we did. Soupy and I managed to stay in the pairs with our weight on 128lb with the Chard Brothers going out.

A few beers out and about in Somerton followed with everyone catching up with all the latest news and chat.

Cottie and Fred

Gongo, Soupy, Tim and Paul D

Monday 29.07.2019 Campbell Lake

Back onto Campbell Lake and a chance to try out the master plan learnt on day one, Bomb for first hour and a couple of fish, pole and bomb for a few more before catching late on on the pole line with corn. 

I had drawn peg 111, a good peg but in with 132, 130 and 110 for the section. In truth 130 and 111 are fighting it out for 3rd in section. Simmo and Neal Chard had drawn 110 and 132 with my pairs partner opposite me on 130. On my next peg was Vic who was hopeful of a few pulls.

Vic prepping the bomb line

At the start I went out on the bomb, one bite on the bomb just off the aerator which pulled the hook and nothing else. Onto the pole line and skimmer heaven. Plenty of bites and good skimmers, if these kept coming a good weight could be had of them, especially if the carp showed early. In this case it did not, but it could. Sticking to the plan I switched between pole and bomb just adding a few skimmers at a time and a quick couple of chucks on the bomb. Vic and Simmo were both catching well, Neal opposite was getting amongst them but Soupy and I were just trickling over. Into the last two hours I still had not caught a carp, Soupy had a couple now on the bomb, but i needed to prove whether the plan would work. At 1714 I had my first carp, two more followed before the 1730 all out. I was last in the match but proved the theory I put 19lb of carp on the board and 21lb of skimmers but had kept busy all day. Simmo had won the section and had bettered his personal best match weight with 159lb, Neal was second in section with Soupy 3rd.

Simmo with part of his PB weight of 159lb.

Fred won the match with 164lb from 126, pipping Gongo's 161lb from 128. Nobby was only a couple of fish away with 151lb. In total 10 weights over the ton.

Mark Chard with part of his catch

Soupy and I went out of the pairs event. It was also great to see our good friend Pete Thompson who had come down for the day, 

Still we went out and celebrated something. 

Tuesday 30.07.2019 Campbell Lake

We had planned to fish Cary Lake today, but at the request of Steve, the fishery owner,  we moved onto Campbell Lake. 

Slowly I was getting to grips with the "master plan" and although there were flaws in it, I could not just sit it out on the bomb all day. The Pellet Waggler was slow and it seemed everyone had given up on it. So the pole was the only option. I was determined to keep going, regardless. Today's draw saw me pull out peg 115. The weather was about to turn with thunderstorms and plenty of rain according to Carole from the BBC.

Again I set up the bomb, I had only had one fish on it all week so far, the pole for the skimmers and an edge rig. Paul D was next door on 116 and fancied it for a few fish, whilst over on the opposite bank we had Simmo and Vic on 125 and 1126 to complete the section. I was well adrift in the overall points race so it was about trying to gain some respectability. I did not mind getting battered by people fishing the bomb, it was just something I did not enjoy. It is fine if it goes round, and I needed it to start working early on. Another 30 minutes on the bomb and it didn't. Paul Davis's tip never moved and we were both on the pole lines earlier than expected. Paul getting a carp, whilst I attracted skimmers, feeding all the time kept skimmers coming, Paul matching me fish for fish.Every now and again I would throw the bomb, and still it would not go round. I needed to change things around and after this match would strip it down and start again. All around me, I could see people catching, Simmo was getting a few on the bomb, as was Gongo. Paul D was now down the edges and catching carp. I could not get a bite but at 4pm the carp came in again as in previous matches.Four small carp in the last 90 minutes to go with my skimmers(30lb) would see me register 53lb and 3rd in section. Simmo winning the section and the match with 161lb, Del had won his section with 138lb to put a few more nuggets into the pot. Dave Walters secured second overall with 149lb. 

Paul D with part of his 132lb catch

30lb of skimmers for yours truly

Bag up Bob in confident mood prior to 132lb and section 2nd.

And Gongo loses another "pound " to Paul D

Out for an Indian, 

Wednesday 31.07.2019 Cary Lake

With Cary Lake benefiting from an additional day's rest the 16 anglers were looking forward to it, 

The draw bag placed me on peg 74. My mate Pete had fished it during the week with expanders and had caught well so I was hopeful of a few pulls. Frenchy, Nobby and Mark Chard made up the section. I could also see Simmo , Fred and Bob on the far bank to gauge how its fishing. Del was on 97 with Vic on 81.Neal Chard misplaced his pole sections and needed to go in the lake to fetch them, much to the delight of his fellow anglers nearby. 

I had a fallen down willow tree in the water and this provides excellent cover for carp. The fish live in there and down the edges towards the corner of the lake. I started off as usual on the bomb after having fed the pole lines with big pots of corn. A couple of chucks and the tip goes round and straight into the tree and snagged. A hook pull and a new attempt a bit further away. Same again. Try the pole at 10m with double corn and a small carp around 3lb and in the net. Out again and the next three fish smash everything up ,rigs ,elastic and one top kit. Simmo on the far bank was getting a few pulls on the bomb towards the back of the tree, Fred looked as if he was struggling and Bob was getting a couple of fish in bursts. Frenchy had nicked one about 13lb Mark Chard had caught 30lb in the first 30 minutes and then came off the bomb to fish the pole. Nobby was also struggling but had caught a good fish, just off his PB at 18lb.

Carrying on I made the switch to the margins, a couple of 3lb fish were followed up with a couple of 10lb commons in amongst losing plenty of carp in the trees and brambles. The skimmers and Tench moved in. I tried to feed them off but odd fish kept coming. It was a strange match for me. I thoroughly enjoyed it. A sense of achievement was reward for landing a fish. Simmo opposite was too polite yo laugh at me but must have been roaring inside.Come the all out it was clear the lake had benefited from the rest, Cottie and Gongo both recording over a ton with Cottie coming out on top 159 to 106 from 85 and 86. Vic, Bob and Simmo all having 90lb plus weights. My section was the worst with yours truly sneaking it from Frenchy by 5lb. Those skimmers and Tench getting me over the line.

Thursday 01.08.2019 Costcutter Open

Thirteen of us had booked into the regular open. A couple of the lads fancied a rest from fishing and another decided on a day on Spring Lake. With 53 anglers on, three lakes were in use and a good draw required. Pete had come down again for the match and we had a good chat before hand. By the time, we got to draw, people were going off to there pegs and it was hard to gauge where people were. My hand went in and 126, Pete goes in a 125, strange the amount of times this happens. We had Cottie opposite and he would be a threat. Nobby had drawn well on 132, whilst Gongo was on 111. Due to the high number of anglers today even the end pegs on Campbell well in use, Mark Chard and Simmo bagging them.Bob had drawn 85 on Cary with Fred also on 109 Cary. Paul D and Vic were on Lodge Lake.

I set up a new bomb rod with 6lb Daiwa ST line to a size 12 QM1 hook. Just using a bomb which would put a bend in the tip I could see any drop back bites. I also set up a couple of top four rigs, one heavy .5 the other a lighter .2 rig, hoping for skimmers in between the bomb work. A cheeky side bet with Pete for best carp weight and best silvers weight was struck.

I started off on the bomb fishing a 10mm skretting pellet or a couple of 8mm coppins pellet and miraculously it went round after 10 minutes. Out again and the same happened, two in two chucks, then nothing. A couple of pole skimmers kept my skimmers match open and honest. Another look on the bomb and a couple of carp. Cottie opposite was bagging on the bomb, Gongo was also getting amongst them further down the lake. My plan was working, a few early fish on the bomb and when it went quiet catch a few skimmers, just 6 or 7 of these fish were equivalent to a carp, so they were worth targeting. By the last two hours the carp had moved onto the pole line and I was able to pull further ahead of Pete. I was way off Cottie. but had the comfort of my two side bets coming in. A good laugh with Pete, made my day. Mark Chard had struggled throughout the match, Gongo had a few, whilst Nobby threw back 80lb. My weight of 97lb was my best of the week but it gave me confidence and got me into the top ten in the match. Cottie won the match by a long margin recording 279lb on the scales for the best weight of the week. Gongo was second in the Match with 176lb with Bag Up Bob third from Cary 85 and 173lb. Overall our thirteen anglers filled in 6 of the top 10 places. We also had a ninth place in the Silvers match with Neal Chard putting 30lb 7oz..

Friday 02.08.2019 Campbell Lake 

Last day of our festival and it was Cottie's to lose. Bob and Dave Walters were still in the frame but needed a complete failure of others to really get close. My master plan was improving each time out,. After fishing for seven days straight I was starting to feel the strain, I was knackered, You wake up and get ready, fish all day, have a beer afterwards before showering and going out for a meal and a few more beers, getting home in the early hours before doing it again after a couple of hours sleep. 

Del managed to get some sleep this week.

I had drawn 111 again and felt the best I could achieve was third in section. 110 and 132 were good pegs and with good anglers on then Tim Kibble on 132 and Bob on 110. Del was on 130.who was in the pairs final with Fred against Cottie and Paul D.

Again I was going with my plan and started off on the bomb but fed my pole lines early just in case. Bob and Tim were as expected off to flyers, catching well in the first hour with around 10 fish each. My efforts on the bomb was 3 fish but  good size fish. The pole line was beckoning and a couple of quick skimmers and an unexpected carp of around 6lb. Fred and Del were both struggling throughout the match and Cottie and Paul D were both catching.

A couple more on the bomb before settling in on the pole for the last 90 minutes. A change to feeding more 4mm pellets and less corn but still fishing corn on the hook was working and I was getting a mix of carp and skimmers.At the all out I had 11 carp for 87lb and 24lb of skimmers for 113-14oz. Tim winning the match from 132 sticking 219 onto the board. Paul D was second with 184 with Bob and Soupy both recording 15o's. Vic ended his weight with 77lb and another 3rd place in section.

Fred with his catch

Soupy on peg 129

I am thinking that in the opens, maybe fish for the carp in the first hour but if nothing then switch to silver's. A good weight could easily be had if you targeted them steadily throughout the match.

I secured the 3rd spot in the section to end my week on two fourth in section, 2 thirds and 2 wins for a total of 16 points and 10th overall. Certainly room for improvement.My week has improved each day throughout the week and I am sure it would have improved more if I had stayed on the bomb more, but I needed to be doing something. 

Section Points

It must be a sign of my ageing years but two days on I am still getting over the sleep deprivation but it was definitely worth it. I had done around 5 or 6 of these and each year it gets better, the lads are great and will help out with anything. The fishery have been good to us, Steve, Helen and Matt do a sterling job keeping on top of things, ensuring water quality, fish care and the paying customer has everything they need. That is why we keep coming back. Many thanks go to all the lads, old and new friends have been made or renewed. Also a special mention to Soupy, well organised and run to perfection, a great effort. Congratulations to Cottie, Bob and Frenchy, who have fished like the stars they are. Well Done Boys.

Well my name is down for next year, which is already being planned.