06/04/25 - Manor Farm - Island Pool

Weight - 54lb 3oz (7lb 9oz - silvers)

Catch - 18 F1s, 3 Carp, 9 Skimmers, 2 Tench

Weather - Cool start, sunny all day, cool NE wind.

Match - Tackle Den (18 fished) - 1st overall

If I’m being honest, I wasn’t looking forward to this match as I was expecting 20 anglers (which turned into 18) all on Island Pool which would be tight and it was likely to be a difficult match, as recent results have been won with only c.50lb with fewer anglers fishing.

On arrival, the north easterly breeze was blowing into the car park end of the lake and I quite fancied drawing in the breeze, so was pleased to draw p37, although I had to put my hoodie on as it was a bit cool in the breeze.

The peg meant I didn’t have an island chuck, but I had a long margin into the corner and just hoped the car park would be quiet.

Having never fished the lake before I set up the straight lead and feeder rods straight away, as we never have long enough to set up with these matches and I needed time to familiarise

myself with the contours of the lake. I managed to sort out most of my pole rigs before the all-in and was a little relieved the lake wasn’t as deep as expected, but at 6ft it was deep enough.

So, I started on the pellet cone with corn on the hook cast 20m as I finished sorting my pole rigs and the tip went round and a F1 was netted. Staying on the pellet cone for the rest of the hour I caught a 7lb carp and another F1.

Come the 2^nd hour I switched to fishing at 13m where I had fed 4mm bubblegum pellet and by tapping in 4s with a hair rigged 4mm pellet caught 5 F1s and a skimmer. However the wind was being a pain, and the tow had picked up, which meant the start of the 3^rd hour was a struggle.

As the tow and wind was proving problematic, I decided to just fish for bites, switching to a 0.5g chimp rig at 11m, over micros and groundbait (crushed expander and black bubblegum) fishing a 4mm expander.

By feeding a nugget of micros and groundbait every 2^nd fish I started catching a few skimmers and the recently stocked 6oz F1s. As time went on, I caught the odd better sized F1 and a bonus 1.5lb tench.

With 2hrs remaining I knew I was doing OK, although I could see Andy Burns on p32 catching well down his margins.

I had already had an early look down my left margin next to p38 platform, where I had been pinging pellet without success. Due to the wind I decided to introduce corn as well.

My next try resulted in a bite straight away, which promptly came off. The next put in did produce a carp, before the swim went quiet.

I had also started feeding meat (covered a-krill cloud) at 2+2. After a couple of decent skimmers, I hooked what I was hoping for - a proper carp. It was a double figure fish and everything was going well, until it decided to go on a little run and the hook pulled!

I then lost the next 3 carp, 1 the hook pulled fishing the margin and the other 2 were fouled hooked (1 down the margin and the other over the short line). Needless to say I wasn’t happy. Fortunately, I managed to successfully net another carp, plus a couple of decent F1s.

Not quite the finish I was hoping for, but I had an enjoyable day. Andy was admitting to 35lb and I thought I had 40lb. As it was, we both underestimated, but I was pleased to have won on a day which proved to be tricky for most.

1.    54-  3 – Ken Rayner – p37

2.    42-  2 – Andy Burns – p32

3.    36-10 – Pete Philips – p25

4.    34-11 – Cliff Dutton – p24

5.    26-15 – Ian MacDonald - p5

05/04/25 - Harescombe - Match

Weight - 29lb 14oz

Catch - 6 Carp, 3 F1, 4 Skimmers

Weather - Cool start, warm & sunny later, but gusty NE wind

Match - Open (16 fished) - 5th overall

With the improved weather and fishing I was looking forward to todays match, and you always get a warm welcome from Cathryn and Gary.

 
The 20s has been the place to draw recently, however I ended up with p18 with the wind blowing down the other end.
 
I started across tight to the island tapping in a few micros, fishing a 4mm expander and caught a carp almost straight away. Sadly, I couldn’t get another and looking around it was fishing hard, not helped by a gusty north easterly wind, which to be honest was proving to be a pain throughout the match.
 
I eventually caught my 2^nd carp on the hour again on 4mm expander over a little groundbait and micros at the bottom of the far shelf, but I was struggling to string any fish together.
 
I had a bit of purple patch half-way through when I managed to catch a couple of carp/F1s over a short meat line, and later in the match picking up the occasional fish as I rotated swims.
 
To make something happen I had started pinging 4mm pellet to the island and managed a decent carp shallow on pellet, but it was a loner.
 
Finally, I had fed my margins with meat and micros, catching 1 carp from the right margin in amongst the sedges, losing a 2^nd. To be honest at the end of the match I felt I hadn’t made the most of the margins, as I should have caught at least 1 or 2 more fish which would have pushed me in the main frame.
 
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised to claim the section money thanks to a couple of decent stamp carp.
 

1.    47-  4 – Andy Pollard – p15
2.    34-12 – Allan Oram – p11
3.    31-  1 – Gary Townsend – p22
4.    30-13 – Richard Rogers – p29
5.    29-14 – Ken Rayner – p18

30/04/25 - Todber - Hillview

Weight - 190lb 14oz

Catch - 62 Carp, 3 Carassio, 1 Bream

Weather - Cold start, sunny with a cool breeze

Match - Open (26 fished) - 4th overall, 2nd in section

I decided to jump onto this open ably run by Andy Weston to get back in tune with the venue with the Garbolino qualifier next month. Also c. 5000lb had been removed from the lake and it would be interesting to see how this had affected the fishing, but I was looking forward to getting a few bites.

 
With 26 booked in drawing a peg with space would be ideal and I was pleased to draw p60, as it’s a peg I’ve never drawn and p61 wasn’t in. The only concern was the wind, which was blowing into the other end of the lake and later in the match the wind turned quite cold.
 
As p60 is probably the best feeder peg on the lake, I started on a small method, loaded with bubblegum micros and a 6mm orange wafter, whilst I primed by short line with meat.
 
Dave Brittian to my left on p59 got off to a flyer catching short on pellet and was 3 or 4 fish ahead of me after 15 minutes. I decided to stick with the feeder, hoping Dave would slow down and after 2hrs I probably had 80lb in the net, but I still felt I was behind Dave.
 
Although I was still catching on the feeder, I was concerned the average stamp of fish was smaller than those Dave was catching. I had maintained my feeding over my short line (3+2), but when I switched, I couldn’t catch nearly as well as expected and ended up fishing shorter at 2+2, but I never felt I got this right.
 
Fortunately resting the feeder line had helped as I kept catching and then started my margins with meat and micros.
 
In the end I started catching better stamp fish down the right margin on meat, only switching back to the feeder when I needed to rest the swim.
 
The last 45mins slowed down which necessitated a move to fish longer down the margin, which resulted in a few extra fish, which meant I managed to overhaul Dave’s early lead.
 
Come the weigh in I was pleased to finish 4^th overall, picking up the section money. The top 3 all came from the windward end of the lake. It was also nice to feed some bait, feeding 3 tins of meat and 2pts of micros.
 

1.    288-  2 – Rich Butler – p54
2.    232-  4 – Fred Roberts – p50
3.    227-  8 – Rich Yeo – p49
4.    190-14 – Ken Rayner – p60
5.    179-12 – Tim Martin – p55
6.    177-  4 – Nigel Purchase – p51

 

 

23/03/25 - Lavington - Ellis

Weight - 24lb 11oz (14lb 14oz - silvers)

Catch - 3 Carp, 6 Bream, 4 Roach, 2 Ide

Weather - Mostly cloudy and cool breeze.

Match - Club (12 fished) - 4th overall

I drew p25, which to be honest I wasn’t that happy with as it 6ft deep at 2+2, going to 7ft further out, which I felt was too deep to catch properly. Therefore, I needed to catch short fishing left and right in 5 or 6ft of water or fishing tight to the island.

I started on the method to the island but overhanging branches were problematic and ended up switching to the pole lines much soon than intended. I had kept pinging 8s to the island and fishing the straight lead a couple of metres off the island, but never had a bite.

On the all in I had fed a 50:50 mix of Black ReAct : Black Bubblegum, with dead maggot and micros 10m to my right in 6ft of water. The first 2 hours were quite productive, catching 4 bream, with a few smaller fish in between. I found topping up with a small ball of feed every couple of fish was best, however as time went on I had to wait longer for bites.

I had also been feeding meat and micros to my left, catching a 6lber quiet quickly and fully expecting to catch a couple more. However, I only managed 1 bream over this line.

I had also been feeding margins, caster and corn down the right and meat and micros down the left. I never had a bite, in fact at the end of the match I scooped the margins with my landing net and the bait was still there.

The fish just didn’t want to come in too close and I regretted not bring a waggler rod as Martin to my left managed 3 carp on maggot in the last 2hrs and they were a much bigger stamp than mine.

As it happened the top 3 came from what were end pegs and probably an indication the fish preferred at the quieter ends of the lake.

1.    45-15 – Tom Ince – p1 (incl. 25- 8 silvers)

2.    37-15 – Tim Lynch – p11

3.    30-  9 – Martin White – p27

4.    24-11 – Ken Rayner – p25

16/03/25 - Hillview - Canal 2

Weight - 50lb 9oz (11lb 11oz - silvers)

Catch - 16 Ide, 8 Carp, 7 Ide, 1 Perch, 1 Roach, 1 Rudd, 1 Gudgeon

Weather - Sunny with cloudy periods. Cold northerly breeze.

Match - Tackle Den (18 fished), 1st in section, 8th overall

After packing away the woolly hat following last weekend’s warm weather, I had to get it out again as it was -2 overnight and a cold northerly breeze.

Todays match was over Canal 2,3 & 4, and I drew p56 on Canal 2. Not normally the end you want, however 90lb came off it yesterday, so no pressure.

I started off fishing the bottom of the far shelf tapping in maggot and a few micros with maggot on the hook and almost immediately got snagged on something, snapping the rig just above the hooklength! I then tried fishing tight across on maggot as I saw a couple of anglers further down catching but couldn't get a bite.

After sorting out a replacement rig, I was back down the bottom of the shelf, slightly to the left of the ‘snag’ and eventually caught my first fish after 45mins on maggot. I then had a run of fish (Ide, small F1s and a couple of Carp up to 4lb) over this line, before it dried up.

I tried the far bank again but only caught an Ide and a Perch.

A switch to fishing next to the p55 platform where I had fed maggot from the start, initially proved a bit tricky, but by tapping maggot and a few micros I started to catch a few Ide, before the F1s and Carp turned up. It was slow going but at least I was catching.

I tried other areas of the swim, but the only place I could catch properly was by the p55 pallet.

With 90mins remaining I felt I needed some of the better stamp of Carp to make up for my slow start, so started feeding the end bank with meat and micros. Although I had to wait for bites, I managed 3 Carp, plus a few more F1s/Carp from the pallet swim on maggot.

In the end I managed to win the lake by only 1lb, however the other 2 canals fished much better.

1.    102-  6 – Andy Bartlett – p88 (C4)

2.    100-15 – John Brady – p79 (C3)

3.      85-13 – Matt Greaves – p72 (C3)

4.      84-  3 – Andy Burns – p84 (C4)

5.      74-  5 – Andy Black – p91 (C4)

09/03/25 - Harescombe - Doughnut

Weight - 24lb 15oz

Catch - 13 Carp

Weather - Warm and sunny. Breezy at times.

Match - Teams of 4 (32 fished) - 1st in section, 12th overall

Today was the last round of the Teams of 4 and we knew if we came 4^th on the day, then we would win the league.

Due to the warmer weather, our team Whatsapp group debated using meat, which I suggested could be important, alas our team captain was less than enthusiastic about it. However, I cut up some meat for everyone regardless.

The draw was a bit of a mixed bag. Steve drew P1 on Meadow, which hasn’t been great this series, Andy was P1 on Field which has been very good or very poor, Alistair was disappointed with p20 on Match, however recent results have shown the fish have moved to the far side of the lake and I thought he would be Ok. As for me I drew p21 again, so I was more than happy.

Speaking to Ronaldo on p18 he thought 70lb could win. I wasn’t quite as optimistic but still felt we would be in for a good day, adding meat, corn and micros to my side tray along with maggot and groundbait (50:50 mix of Uzit Black React & Crushed Expander).

On the all-in I started off dobbin maggot across to the far bank, just to see the reaction and after 10mins I didn’t have a bite, which was a concern.

I eventually caught my first carp on maggot, tapping in maggot, a few micros and a tiny nugget of groundbait, fishing tight across. After an hour I moved to 3 carp, which was leading the lake, so it was fishing a lot harder than expected.

The next hour didn’t produce anything, and I even resorted to trying the straight lead as a northerly breeze picked up without success.

I managed 2 more carp during the third hour, again over tiny nuggets of groundbait, but then I couldn’t get a bite.

I tried the dobbin rig again and managed to find a pod of fish off to my left at the limit of my 16m pole, putting 5 fish into the net over a 30min spell.

A chat with Andy with an hour remaining suggested both he and Steve were struggling, which prompted me giving Andy a pep talk as he had nothing to lose and to put some bait in!

I had 3 more fish over tiny nuggets of groundbait and maggot in the last hour. I had fed maggot short but never had a bite.

So, a much harder day than expected, but at least I managed to win the lake.

Back at the café I went straight to Field Lake, where Andy managed 2 late lumps down his margin on the meat, much to the amusement of the rest of the team, to finish 3^rd. Steve had a tougher time coming 6^th, whilst Alistair won match lake, which meant we won the day and the league.

Needless to say we were very happy with the result and a great team effort throughtout the whole series. 

Well done to Ed Bryant for running the league and Gary & Cathryn who have been brilliant hosts.

1.    57-  7 – Alistair Tilney (Tackle Den) – P20 (match)

2.    51-  1 – Andy Jane (Maver Green) – p6 (field)

3.    48-  4 – Andy Fry (1,2,3,4) – p5 (field)

4.    43-10 – Steve Brown (Maver Green) – p18 (match)

5.    43-  1 – Mick O’Brien (Swinetown) – p16 (match)

6.    41-  1 – Jerry Wiggett (Maver Black) – p14 (match)

Team on the Day

1.    11pts – Tackle Den

2.    12pts – Maver Green

3.    15pts – Maver Black

4.    16pts – Swinetown

Final Standings

1.    10pts – Tackle Den

2.    19pts – Maver Green

3.    20pts - Fintastic

02/03/25 - Harescombe - Match

Weight - 8lb 3oz

Catch - 11 Roach, 8 Skimmers, 2 F1s, 1 Carp

Weather - -4c overnight, bright and sunny

Match - Open (12 fished) - 9th overall

I haven’t fished the Match Lake for a while and was looking forward to it, and I was happy enough with p13.

I also knew the fishing was likely to be tough following overnight temperatutres of -4c and it was bright and sunny during the match. Lovely to fish it, but not necessarily good for the fishing.

I started off cautiously just feeding a tiny nugget of groundbait with micros to the left and right at the bottom of the far shelf, fishing a 4mm expander. I soon caught a skimmer and pulled out of another from the left hand swim. A quick try over the right-hand swim didn’t produce, so returned to the left hand swim. After a couple of quick bites I thought there might be a few silvers in the swim and soon switched to a maggot rig and lighter elastic.

I caught a couple more skimmers and then the swim just seemed to be full of blippy roach. When I caught an F1, I thought I would get a few more, but just caught more roach and going nowhere fast.

Back to the right-hand swim, I caught a small carp and another F1 on expander, but these were the only fish I caught here. To try and make something happen, I tried pinging 4mm pellet over the right-hand swim hoping to catch late on, however without success.

As the upper layers of water warmed up, I was convinced I would catch fishing tight across to the island in shallower water. Despite feeding different baits and groundbait to get a response, I only had a couple of liners and no bites.

Having left my original left-hand swim alone for 90mins I went back, but the swim was still full of roach.

I had also been feeding maggot short, hoping for a carp/F1 late on, but only had more roach or tiny skimmers. As a final throw of the dice, I had meat and micros down the margin, again hoping for some carp/F1s, but never had a bite.

A really frustrating day. The fact I had so many silvers in my peg just illustrated there weren’t many carp in the swim and for what ever reason they just didn’t want to feed.

1.    40-11 – Robin Shaw – p25

2.    24-  8 – Jerry Wiggett – p16

3.    18-  0 – Steve Partington – p21

4.    17-  9 – Tom Driver – p29

23/02/25 - Harescombe - Doughnut

Weight - 15lb 5oz

Catch - 10 Carp

Weather - Very windy and rain

Match - Teams of 4 (32 fished) - 4th in section, 18th overall

When I woke up I received a message from Andy saying his back had given out and he couldn’t fish! After a few phone calls he managed to persuade Simon Duke to fill in – Thanks mate, it was much appreciated as it saved us 9pts!

As for my match p18 was my home and to be honest I was pleased to avoid p12 & p15.

The wind meant fishing the long pole was out of the question, so I had to concentrate on the straight lead or feeder.

Following yesterday’s match, I was conscious about putting in too much feed, so started on the straight lead and maggot tight to the far bank catching 2 carp in the first hour. As not much was being caught expect on p21 (Andy Taylor) & p24 (Chris Telling) I stuck with the lead without success, before switching to a maggot feeder. This produced 4 carp but it was slow going, whilst p21 & p24 kept catching.

As well as the wind, the rain was now hammering down, making for a rather unpleasant day. I had heavily fed maggot at 6m as a throwaway line, dropping a maggot feeder over the top, but never had a bite all match.

With 2hrs remaining I was stuck on 5 fish. I tried a tiny hybrid feeder with groundbait and fishing dead maggot, without success. Therefore, I just decided to wait it out on the straight lead, adding a blob of Uzit Worm cloud to the double red maggot and managed to add a further 5 fish.

Have to say I was pleased to hear the all-out and thought I would finish 3^rd, however the average stamp of my fish was smaller than normal so I finished 4^th.

As a team, we finished 4^th on the day, whilst our nearest challengers finished 6^th and 7^th, which meant we have a 4pt lead going into the final round.

1.    66-  4 – Nic Baggott (Maver Black) – p14 (Meadow)

2.    35-13 – Jerry Wiggett (Maver Black) – p1 (Match)

3.    33-  6 – Andy Fry (Misfits) – p20 (Match)

4.    30-  7 – Chris Telling (1,2,3,4) – p24 (Doughnut)

5.    27-  5 – Alistair Tilney (Tackle Den) – p16 (Match)

6.    26-11 – Andy Taylor (Maver Green) – p21 (Doughnut)

Teams on the Day

1.    14pts – Team 1,2,3,4

1.    14pts – Maver Black

3 – 16pts – Fintastic

4 – 17pts – Tackle Den 

League to date

1.    9pts – Tackle Den

2.    13pts – 4 Skins

3.    14pts – Fintastic

4.    16pts – Team 1,2,3,4

22/02/25 - Harescombe - Doughnut

Weight - 11lb 8oz

Catch - 6 Carp

Weather - Sunny and breezy

Match - Open (15 fished) - 5th overall, 2nd in section

As it was the 4^th round of the teams of 4 tomorrow, I decided to fish todays open to stay in touch with the lake.

With 15 fishing today pegging was always going to be a little tight and I wasn’t disappointed to draw p21 (again!) although I was in the middle of a line of 7. However, with milder weather we all hoped the fish would have a bit of a munch.

Well, there isn’t a lot to talk about. I started across to the far bank dobbing maggot but never had a bite. I then tried tapping a few maggots and a tiny nugget of groundbait, which produced a fish straight away, but then I couldn’t get another!

The cross wind was making presentation difficult and I couldn’t get a bite over any feed, I just caught the odd fish across dobbing maggot.

Surprisingly the lake had switched off. Fortunately, my 6 carp were slightly bigger than Chris Telling’s 6 to claim the section by default.

1.    40-  0 – Ronaldo – p19

2.    18-  3 – Andy Fry – p5

3.    17-  9 – Chris Cameron – p11

4.    13-  1 – George Organ – p13

5.    11-  8 – Ken Rayner – p21

16/02/25 - Hillview - Canal 1

Weight - 75lb 6oz (4lb 7oz - silvers)

Catch - 34 F1s, 3 Carp, 11 Roach, 8 Ide, 1 Perch

Weather - Cold & cloudy, with an easterly breeze

Match - Tackle Den (20 fished) - 2nd overall

Last weekend, I was away up north visiting the in-laws so no fishing. Therefore, I was looking forward to today’s match as you usually get a few bites, although the cold easterly stream of weather continued.

When I drew p52 on Canal 1, my enthusiasm for the day just drained away as it’s normally a really poor draw and no one had any words of comfort. I did set up a light bomb rod to cast down towards the end bank, but fortunately, it wasn’t required.

As I expected to struggle for bites, I set up a light maggot rig (Steve Mustiano maggot 0.2g) with 0.09 bottom and a size 20 hook to fish down the track.

After feeding some maggot and fishery micros at 13m at an angle to my left, I tried dobbin bread along the far bank. I soon got bored of that and went over my 13m line tapping in maggot and a few micros.

To be honest the next 90mins was brilliant. After the first 2 put ins which produced 2 roach, I started catching small F1s (12oz) before the bigger F1s (3lb) turned up and I probably put 33-35lb in the net.

The rest of the match was a case of rotating around the peg. I had a little run of fish fishing tight to the far bank, then down by the pallet of p53 and then at 13m off to my right, before returning to the 13m left hand swim.

The last 2 hours it felt like it was getting colder, and the fishing was getting harder. I was also aware that Steve Venn to my left was slowly catching me up. Fortunately, after a quiet period, I managed to get a little run of fish over my 13m lines to just stay ahead.

Have to say I was a little surprised to have done so well from a ‘duff’ peg and it goes to show fish have fins, as the fish seemed to be spread throughout the canal today.

1.    78-11 – Matt Greaves – p44 (canal 1)

2.    75-  6 – Ken Rayner – p52 (canal 1)

3.    70-  2 – Steve Venn – p50 (canal 1)

4.    46-13 – Alistair Tilney – p8 (moorhen)

5.    39-  3 – Ian Barker – p16 (moorhen)

6.    37-  0 – John Brady – p12 (moorhen)

02/02/25 - Harescombe - Doughnut

Weight - 19lb 9oz 

Catch - 11 Carp

Weather - Bright & sunny with a cool breeze

Match - Teams of 4 - rd 3 (32 fished) - 6th in section, 9th overall

At least the weather was kinder than the previous 2 rounds today. I was handed p12 and to be honest it’s not good, as its nearly 18m wide, no cover across and plumbing up revealed 1ft of water dropping quickly away to 6ft. Add to the mix were very bright conditions, clear water and an awkward breeze cutting across me, I wasn’t optimistic.

On the all-in I tried the straight lead and maggot but couldn’t get a bite and was soon falling behind. I eventually caught my first fish after an hour at 14.5m on maggot over a little groundbait, toss potting maggot over the top, adding a further 4 fish, but it was slow going, not helped by the breeze. I tried the straight lead over the top for another fish and then the maggot feeder to make something happen without success. With an hour remaining I only had 6 fish in the net, which was the same as Gary Townsend next to me on p15 as we scratched heads on what to do next.

As one last throw of the dice I was back on the straight lead and double pinkie, cast tight to the far bank in front of peg 11. I had 5 fish in 5 casts then nothing until the end of the match.

6^th place wasn’t what the team needed, however, Alistair won Match Lake, Andy got 2^nd on Field and Steve was 3^rd on Meadow, which meant we finished 2^nd on the day to maintain our lead.

1.    59-  3 – Steve Brown (Maver Green) – p4 (doughnut)

2.    47-13 – Cliff Dutton (4 Skins) – p18 (doughnut)

3.    42-  7 – Ian Didcote (1,2,3,4) – p21 (doughnut)

4.    28-  5 – Brad Farrell (Swinetown) – p10 (doughnut)

5.    28-  0 – Alistair Tilney (Tackle Den) – p14 (match)

6.    26-  6 – Rob Kerslake (Fintastic) – p24 (doughnut)

Teams on the day

1.    11pts – 4 Skins

2.    12pts - Tackle Den

3.    15pts – Fintastic

Teams to date

1.    5pts – Tackle Den

2.    7pts – 4 Skins

3.    10pts – Maver Green