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