15/12/24 - Lavington - Ellis Lake

Weight - 13lb 3oz

Catch - 7 Perch, 5 Roach, 2 Carp

Weather - Mild,mostly cloudy with sunny periods. Breezy at times

Match - Club Christmas Match (14 fished) - 12th overall

With 14 anglers, this Christmas match was always going to be tough one. P25 put me in an area I thought would be Ok and I at least avoided the shallower end of the lake.

 

Starting on the lead and bread produced a small carp straight away. With no further bites on bread or corn, I tried my 11m line where I fed a 50:50 mix of Black ReAct & Black Bubblegum groundbait, a few 2mm p-nut pellet and dead reds. This produced some roach up to 12oz and then another small carp.
 
The rest of the match was just a struggle. I managed a handful of perch to my right at 8m on maggot, but I really needed to catch some carp.
 
I had expected to catch by the island late on where I had been pinging 4mm pellet and corn, but never had a bite. In fact, I tried various areas of the swim without success.
 
By the all out, I was in a row of 6 pegs, that were bottom of the standings, so obviously the fish didn’t want to be in the area. My peg was 8ft at 6m and just over 9ft at 11m, which in hindsight was too deep and the fish didn’t want to come in too close the bank.
 
As it turned out the shallower end of the lake was the place to be.
 
1.    38-  1 – Tim Lynch – p11
2.    29-  6 – Martin C – p17
3.    25-12 – Terry Fell – p7
4.    23-  7 – Mark Cartwright – p5
5.    23-  4 – Tom Ince – p13   

08/12/24 - Hillview - Moorhen

Weight - 18lb 9oz

Catch - 3 F1s, 3 Skimmers, 1 Perch

Weather - Northerly gales, rain later

Match - Tackle Den (18 fished) - 10th overall, 5th on the lake

The 4^th round of the Bomb & Feeder league at Sedges fell victim to Storm Darragh with 70mph wind gusts forecast and a met office red warning issued.

The wind for today had reduced to 40mph gusts blowing in from the north, so a cold day was likely.

Today was the final Tackle Den match of the year and we would be on Moorhen and canal 2. I drew p6 on Moorhen which is normally a good peg, however I had the wind blowing straight into my face and an uncomfortable day was on the cards.

I started on the straight lead towards the island, firstly with bread and then corn without a bite. I then tried the maggot feeder, but halfway into the match I was still fishless.

I had also been cupping in maggot at 2+2, expecting to catch a few Ide, but felt in hindsight I had fed a little too heavily, so set up another swim to my right were it started to shelve up, feeding more negatively with micros and maggot.

The 2^nd half of the match was better, as I eventually caught an F1 on the maggot feeder, then caught a couple of skimmers and an absolute beast of an F1 weighing 8lb 10oz over my negatively feed pole line. I caught my final F1 from the right margin over dead maggot.

I was surprised not to catch any Ide, but it was bitterly cold in the wind and all the better weights on the lake were to my right, with Matt Greaves winning our lake from p9. However, canal 2 was the place to be as it offered some shelter from the wind. Another day for me to forget, but it was tough for most due to the poor weather conditions.

I finished the club aggregate league in 2^nd behind Andrew Black who deservedly won and Matt finished 3^rd.

1.    65-  9 – Alistair Tilney – p60 (Canal 2)

2.    54-  2 – Jason Crump – p65 (C2)

3.    38-  6 – Pete Phillips – p67 (C2)

4.    35-13 – Matt Greaves – p9 (M)

5.    32-10 – Paul Stafford – p62 (C2)

1/12/24 - Harescombe - Field Lake

Weight - 4lb 14oz

Catch - 1 Carp, 4 Skimmers, 1 Roach

Weather - Sunshine and showers

Match - Open (10 fished) - 7th overall

Another trip to Harescombe, this time on Field Lake and I really thought it couldn’t be any worse than yesterday.

Peg 1 put me on the first peg after the Willow tree on the left bank and I fancied it for a few particularly late on meat. Well, another disappointing day. I started on bread into the right-hand corner and then the lead & bread 20m out, without success.

As very few carp had been caught, I tried catching some silvers at 13m and then 14.5m om maggot over groundbait for a few skimmers. To be honest I thought I would at least catch a few more than I did.

With 2 hours remaining, I needed to catch some carp and started pinging corn and pellet at 16m. I had hoped I would catch on a 3+2 line with meat and to be honest I couldn’t believe I couldn’t get a bite. I eventually caught a small carp on meat fishing into the right-hand corner late on.

Overall, the whole lake fished very hard. The top 3 all caught fishing single baits against features. Very little was caught over any feed. Ed Bryant to my left and Luke Seabrook on the dam wall tried catching through the water, which both are very good at without success.

A frustrating day and I’ll be glad when the fish settle down and we can catch a few fish.

1.    25-  3 – Aaron Nash

2.    24-13 – Allan Oram

3.    20-  3 – Andrew Black

30/11/24 - Harescombe - Match Lake

Weight - 4lb 15oz

Catch - 1 Carp, 1 Skimmer

Weather - Mild and cloudy. Breezy at times

Match - Open (14 fished) - 10th overall

I was looking forward to fishing Match Lake as I haven’t fished it since September and some new fish were added a few weeks ago.

Although I expected a tricky day, I was happy with p22 as it has been a good area recently. I started dobbin bread across to the island, I hooked a foul hooker, which soon came off. Next put in I had a proper bite and it was a good fish, which then snagged me in some near bank sedges. The 3^rd put in I foul hooked another fish, which also came off.

So, not the best start, and no more bites.

I just couldn’t get a bite. I had 2 swims set up to fish against the island, toss potting maggot in one and a little groundbait over the other, where I had 1 skimmer. I also fed my margins with maggot and meat over a short line, sure I would at least get a couple of late fish, but nothing. I even tried pinging pellet to my left, but I just couldn’t catch any fish.

My one and only carp came on the all-out dobbin bread against the island. Liam next to me on p24 only had 2 carp, so a classic case of aquatic bingo as the fish seemed to have shoaled up in other areas of the lake.

1.     79-  4 – Allan Oram – p29

2.     54-15 – Steve Partington – p4

3.     41-  4 – Mick O’Brien – p20

4.     34-  5 – Jerry Wiggett – p10

23/11/24 - Sedges - Brick Lake

Weight - 24lb 9oz

Catch - 2 Carp, 6 Skimmers

Weather - 2 Carp, 6 Skimmers

Match - Uzit Bomb & Feeder League rd3 (35 fished) - 15th overall, 2nd in section

Following a week of cold weather, storm Bert arrived (although I think we missed the worst of it), which was likely to stir the cold water around and I wasn’t sure where I wanted to draw.

 

Mixed feelings when I drew p8, as this side of Brick Lake has been hard and I really needed to hope that the corner peg p10 didn’t catch.
 
On the all-in I deposited 3 large feeders of groundbait (50:50 – Black Bubblegum : Black ReAct) and dead maggot at 16m. Whilst that settled, I started on the straight lead towards the rope for 1 small skimmer on bread and another on double corn.
 
After an hour Ken Cocks on p10 already had 3 carp and was easily winning my section as no one else had a carp so far. A switch to a 3-hole mini feeder over the 16m line and I caught 2 more skimmers on dead maggot, losing a 3^rd. I also missed a couple of bites, which were difficult to see in the heavy wind.
 
At the halfway point I was struggling to get a bite anywhere in the swim and then Paul Rossiter on p7 caught a carp. As I was struggling to line up any skimmers and there were no signs of improvement, I decided to stop feeding groundbait and ping corn over the 16m line – I never had another over this line, but it was worth a try.
 
As for the far line I had been using a pellet corn (80:20 mix of Bubblegum Micros : P-nut micros) and catapulting balls of micros in the hope of pulling in some carp from the other side of the rope as the fish seemed to be balled up in front of the pegs opposite.
 
A near 3lb bream, caught on my light lead rig and corn, followed 45mins later by a smaller one, were welcome bonuses.
 
With 90mins remaining I caught a carp on corn, which put me 2^nd in section, however Scott Laver to my left caught his first carp and then lost a 2^nd shortly afterwards. Bob Gullick on p6 was also catching skimmers on a hybrid and I felt I really needed another carp.
 
With 10mins remaining the rod was nearly pulled off the rest and a 10/11lber was safely netted to secure 2^nd in section behind p10, which to be honest I was happy with. The corners were definately the place to be as 6 out of the 8 corners won their sections.
 
As for the league I slipped from 6^th to 7^th, however there are 5 of us on 5pts - I just happen to have the lowest combined weight. So, with 2 matches remaining its incredibly tight.
 
1.    118-15 – Robert Dumitrscu – p11 (Brick)
2.    102-10 – John Moody – p30 (Tile)
3.      93-  6 – Ken Cocks – p10 (B)
4.      80-  0 – Steve Jackson – p40 (T)
5.      72-  8 – Paul Homewood – p12 (B)
6.      57-14 – Pete Sivell – p14 (B)

 

 

13/11/24 - Shearwater

Weight - 37lb 5oz

Catch - 10 Bream, 1 Skimmer

Weather - Bright and sunny, light breeze

Match - Open (16 fished) - 4th overall

Another match at Shearwater, but only 16 this time which at least meant a few more spaces and hopefully better fishing.

My day didn’t start well when I realised 10mins after leaving home that I had left my big feeders at home and due to heavy traffic getting out of Melksham meant I arrived 30mins late. Fortunately, I spoke to Clayton who drew my peg, and I ended up on the lawns again, this time on the left side, with Clayton on the same peg as 2 weeks ago. There were also 2 pegs above the Boathouse, which was the better end in the last match and there were no cormorants or otters, so hopefully I thought I might catch a few.

As my rods were already made up, I managed to get set up in time and ready for the 15mins pre-baiting period. This time I decided not to feed too much groundbait or corn, instead 5 medium cage feeders of micros (80:20 mix of Bubblegum & P-nut – soaked in Project X), hemp, a few 4mm p-nut pellets, with a dusting of black re-act groundbait was deposited at 66m.

Whilst I let that settle, I cast a hybrid towards the buoy to my left with an 8mm orange wafter hoping for an early carp. After a 20 min cast, I reeled in to find a 3oz skimmer attached which promptly dropped off as I went to swing it.

The next cast was over the feed using 6mm pink wafter with some worm cloud. 12 mins later the tip went round and my first bream. After 90mins I was up to 4 before the swim died and then Clayton caught 4. The news was the 2 pegs above the boathouse had 4 & 5 bream.

After re-feeding, I tried a short (30m) line, but only had indications from small fish, so stuck with the 66m line. With 2hrs remaining I was starting to get bites within 3-8mins and it was looking good for a strong finish, however 3 cormorants turned up and I couldn’t get another bite for an hour.

When they disappeared, I re-fed and caught 2 more bream in the last 30 minutes.

In the end 4 of the top 5 came the lawn side of the lake, so the fish definitely moved from the last match with the top 2 coming from the other side of the boathouse, but overall a tough day for most with only 7lb (2 Bream) needed to win the Dam Wall section.

1.    53-  7 – Mike Brown – p16

2.    44-  0 – Rob Manns – p15

3.    42-  5 – Martin Rodgers – p6

4.    37-  5 – Ken Rayner – p13

5.    18-15 – Clayton Hudson – p14 

10/11/24 - Ivy House - Heron

Weight - 45lb 2oz

Catch - 34 Carp, 8 F1, 3 Gudgeon

Weather - Grey & overcast, brighter later

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

Originally 23 had booked in and fortunately this dropped down to 20, which meant we didn’t need to put in the corners.

I drew p20, which if I couldn’t draw between p7-p11, I was happy with. After catching nearly 100lb last week shallow I knew it would be different today with so much pressure on the lake and the lake fished as I expected.

I still decided to start short on the expander, just in case, but 1 F1 after 10mins confirmed what I thought. So out to 15m at the bottom of the far shelf, tapping in 4mm fishery pellets covered in Uzit P-nut oil, with a hair rigged 4mm or 6mm pellet. I kept going for nearly 3 hours and knew I was ahead of those around, however it was slowing down and I decided to push up the shelf a bit more, but it wasn’t nearly as good as I hoped and I had a really bad 4^th hour, not helped by losing a fish where the elastic snapped at the connector (and yes I had checked it).

By finding a shallower area at 16m, I at least had a good last hour fishing maggot. To be honest I was a little annoyed with myself for that bad 4^th hour, because I should have caught at least 50lb to win the match.

Performance of the match should go to Andrew Black who is leading the club championship, ahead of me with one more match remaining, who decided to fish despite having a bad back. Due to his bad back Andrew couldn’t use a seat box so he fished in a fold up chair, armed with a feeder rod and a couple sections of pole, and finished the match 3^rd. Well done mate.

1.    46-15 – Pete Phillips – p14

2.    45-  2 – Ken Rayner – p20

3.    30-14 – Andrew Black – p23

4.    30-12 – John Brady – p8

5.    29-13 – Alistair Tilney – p17