12/07/26 - Ivy House - Old Match Lake

Weight - 78lb 6oz 

Catch - 27 Carp, 4 F1s, 6 Skimmers

Weather - Sun & sunny

Match - Tackle Den (17 fished) - 4th overall, 2nd in section

With all 18 pegs in, it was always going to be a difficult match and I wanted to avoid drawing the middle of the far bank in the teens as the pegs here are a little tighter. So, I was disappointed to draw p15.

Also, due to the hot weather the match was cut to 5hrs and the net limit lowered to 40lb.

On the all-in I started at 14m fishing So Simple Kriller paste, just feeding a few 6mm fishery pellet, hoping for a couple of early bonus fish. After 25mins I had 3 fish for 10lb.

A switch to fishing the method loaded with fishery micros boosted with Kriller Sludge and Fluro Crush, fishing a 6mm yellow or pink wafter, produced some very small carp. I tried fishing the straight lead and 8mm pellet to hopefully target a better stamp fish. I never had a bite, but after immediately retrying the method caught a couple of better stamp fish.

Whilst fishing the method I prepped a shallow 14m line feeding 6mm pellet, trying a couple of different shallow rigs without success.

I had also been feeding pellet over a 5m line. Initially, fishing a 6mm pellet, catching a couple of carp. Switching to paste after resting the swim I had a good run of fish for 90mins, just feeding 6s after each fish.

With an hour remaining a few skimmers showed and the swim slowed, so I fed a ½ cup of micros and 4s to kick start the swim but only had 2 more fish over this line.

I also tried the method in the last hour without success and despite feeding micros and 4s down my right margin (more in hope than expectation) I had no indications other than from silvers, which wasn’t a surprise.

Andy Dixey won the match next to me thanks to a late run down his margin as Terry on the other side of him wasn’t feeling well after taking a tumble in the car park and packed up early. Hopefully you’re ok.

To be fair I was quite happy to claim 4^th overall from where I was, it was just a shame the last hour just died on me.

1.    114-10 – Andy Dixey – p16

2.      90-  7 – John Brady – p6

3.      85-  1 – Cliff Dutton – p5

4.      78-  6 – Ken Rayner – p15

5.      77-10 – Darren Lawrence – p13

 

11/06/26 - Harescombe - Doughnut

Weight - 160lb 6oz

Catch - 47 Carp

Weather - Hot & sunny.

Match - Summer Series rd 3 (12 fished) - 3rd overall, 3rd in section

The 3^rd round of the Summer Series and the rotation meant we were on Doughnut Lake. When I arrived at the café I saw Chris Cameron, who was subbing for Steve Brown, so I really wanted to avoid drawing in the same section as him. Well, I failed and ended up next to him, which meant collecting a section win just got a little bit harder.

Plumbing up was a concern, as any flat areas were either 8ins or over 3ft, sloping away to 5ft. This meant, following the recent hot weather fishing shallow was likely to be the main tactic.

I did try catching on paste in the shallow water, tight to the island catching a couple of carp, but it wasn’t as good as I expected. I also kept feeding pellet over a top kit line in 5ft of water fishing paste for 1 foul hooker and a swim fed with meat in 3ft off to my right never produced a bite.

90% of my fish came shallow on 6mm baninion or kriller pellet, either mugging or catching in the feed at 6m or 14m. At the halfway point I only had 15 fish, probably because I was rotating methods trying to work out what was working best. Fortunately, the second half was much better and frustrating at the same time, as I had a really good run particularly over the short line, before struggling forcing a switch to the far bank.

In the end 160lb was just shy of my personal best for the lake, however I got well beaten by Chris and Andy Jane who also caught shallow. To be honest shallow pellet fishing isn’t my strongest discipline, and it showed today.

1.   308-  5 – Chris Cameron – p15

2.    201-  9 – Andy Jane – p20

3.    160-  6 – Ken Rayner – p17

4.    131-13 – Gary Townsend – p5

5.    106-  9 – Steve Partington – p3

02/07/26 - Lavington - Ellis

Weight - 64lb 15oz (15lb 9oz - silvers)

Catch - 8 Carp, 10 Bream, 2 Hybrid, 2 Tench, 1 Perch, 1 Rudd, 1 Chub

Weather - Warm & sunny

Match - Club Evening (9 fished) - 3rd overall

I missed the first evening (3hr) match and last weeks match was cancelled due to the hot weather resulting in a temporary keepnet ban.

Due to the increasing number of silvers in the lake, I wasn’t sure whether meat would be as effective as in previous years and speaking to those that fish here more regularly confirmed that it was working as well.

P6 wouldn’t have been my first choice as the margins are 5ft deep due to the bank being rebuilt a few years ago, although I could fish to p7 pallet where it was much shallower.

On the all-in I cast the method as tight as I dare to the island avoid plenty of overhanging branches, whilst I finalised sorting out my pole rigs. A stockie carp was my reward after 15mins and 3 casts.

A switch to fishing down the right margin next to a small patch of lillies, fishing corn and feeding 4mm pellet and corn resulted in a run of small skimmers, plus a bream and a tench, but it wasn’t as productive as I hoped.

I had also been feeding 8mm meat at 2+2 at an angle to my left and the response was much better with a proper bream and a hybrid, plus a couple of carp.

So, after 90mins I was doing ok, but I was conscious that there seemed to be more carp being caught to my left and across on p21 where Brian was fishing the waggler and 6mm pellet. As such, I felt I needed to catch carp rather than silvers.

For 30mins or so the wheels fell off, as I upped the feed over my meat line and right-hand margin, which just resulted in lots of small fish!

As yet I hadn’t fed by the p7 pallet, so ½ a cup of micros and corn was deposited here which soon resulted in tails in the swim. The problem was catching them.

I tried fishing double corn and caught a bream straight away. I then hooked and lost the next 3 carp. A few rig adjustments helped resulting in a couple of carp, before losing a rig on a foul hooker (fortunately the rig pinged back into the tree next to me).

Rather than set up a similar rig I thought I would try paste (So Simple Kriller), which proved frustrating with so many fish in the shallow water, but when I hooked a fish, it was at least in the mouth, netting my final fish in the whistle.

To be honest, I didn’t feel I fished a good match, as I kept chopping and changing, so I was a little to surprised to come 3^rd only missing out on 2^nd by 2oz (much to Martin’s relief).

1.    77-  6 – Martin Shulter – p21

2.    65-  1 – Martin White – p10

3.    64-15 – Ken Rayner – p6

4.    57-14 – Steve Musitano – p8

28/06/26 - Manor Farm - Windmill

Weight - 16lb 7oz

Catch - 5 F1, 1 Carp, 1 Tench, 1 Skimmer, 1 Roach

Weather - Warm, sunny & breezy

Match - Tackle Den (17 fished) - 11th overall

I was looking forward to this match, as recent results showed the venue was fishing well and caster shallow was working.

The match was supposed to be over Windmill and Ash lakes, however when we arrived, we were told we would all be on Windmill which would make the fishing harder.

I drew P31 opposite the point of the island and I would have preferred to have been at the other end of the lake where the wind was blowing. The island had plenty of overhanging brambles, which meant I couldn’t get tight, but I still fancied it for a few fish.

I had Steve Venn to my right on p32 and didn’t expect my right margin to be productive however my left margin under the tree plumbed up lovely with a nice flat bottom.

As it turned out the whole lake fished poorly.

I caught a couple of fish early on the method to the island. My left margin initially produced an F1 and a 5lb carp on 6mm pellet over 4s, but these were the only fish I caught here.

Despite feeding caster shallow for 3hrs, I never had any indications, not even from silvers.

I even tried the pellet waggler by the island without success, which just left a short line fed with meat, which produced 1 F1 and a skimmer.

A really poor day. In hindsight, would I have changed my approach. Probably not. Of those around me, we all had a similar number of fish, it was just I only had 1 carp compared to 2 or 3 that others had caught.

As expected, the windward end of the lake proved to be best.

1.    63-11 – Cliff Dutton – p24

2.    41-  0 – Darren Lawrence – p22

3.    36-13 – Brian Duckett – p26

4.    32-13 – Andy Burns – p34

5.    31-12 – Pete Philips – p20 

27/06/2026 - Harescombe - Match

Weight - 35lb 0oz

Catch - 10 Carp, 3 F1, 1 Skimmer, 1 Roach

Weather - Hot, sunny and breezy

Match - Summer League rd 2 (12 fished) - 7th overall, 4th in section

The 2^nd round of the Summer League and we were on Match Lake. After last weekends 3^rd in the open I was confident in my approach, i.e. meat and paste, with pellet as a backup. I had hoped to fish Thursdays affordable open, however this was understandably called off due to the intense hot weather, where the water temperature in the margins reached 31c! Even today the water temperature was 25.8c increasing to 27c. Due to the increased water temperatures, the match was reduced from 6 to 5 hours to reduce the stress on the fish.

At least it wasn’t as hot for today’s match and I drew p12, which was one of my favourites, however since Gary has reinforced the bank to stop the island eroding you can no longer fish into the shallow water.

On the all-in I started on So Simple Cocosquid paste by the boards and caught 2 carp after 30mins, but it wasn’t as productive as I had hoped.

In fact, this was the pattern for my match. I just couldn’t get anything to really work properly.

I tried fishing a metre off the boards with dead maggot over a small ball of groundbait and micros, which produced 1 carp and a small skimmer.

Fishing shallow with pellet didn’t work either, which was surprising and frustrating.

At the halfway point, I realised I may be on the wrong bait, as Elvis opposite me on p18 was catching well shallow on maggot and I saw Mark down on p6 catching on maggot.

During the 2^nd half of the match, I decided to focus on the margins targeting the bigger carp in an attempt to pull back the deficit. Needless to say it was slow going. Fishing meat only produced 2 fish, with paste being the most productive down the left margin towards the p11 pallet.

4^th in section was not what I needed as Steve Brown on p2 won the section fishing caster and maggot, and Mark Court was 2^nd in section fishing maggot.

To be honest I didn’t expect maggot and caster to be so dominant and I have to accept I got it wrong.

1.    91-  0 - Elvis – p18

2.    80-13 - Steve Brown – p1

3.    71-14 - Mark Court – p6

4.    65-11 - Andy Jane – p8  

21/06/26 - Harescombe - Match

Weight - 61lb 1oz

Catch - 18 Carp, 9 F1, 1 Gudgeon

Weather - Hot & sunny

Match - Open (13 fished) - 3rd overall, 2nd in section.

I was looking forward to returning to match lake as I haven’t fished it since the Pole Champs and I was more than happy to draw p29.

Looking at recent results, it hasn’t featured that often, however it is a peg that has been kind to me in the past.

On arrival the aerator was in full flow and was switched off just before the start of the match.

On the all-in I started by the island on Cocosquid paste and there were plenty of fish swimming about and not feeding. I tried feeding a cup of kriller micros and 4s to get their heads down, but they just weren’t feeding.

In the meantime, I had been feeding 8mm meat (covered in Sludge) and 6mm kriller pellet my side of the spillway where I caught 2 carp on meat. I also started tosspotting meat and a few micros the other side of the spillway at 13m.

After 2hrs I only had 4 fish, however the 13m spillway swim kicked into life and I started to get regular bites all on meat, just feeding no more than 4 cubes with a few micros.

I kept the near spillway swim topped up and picked up the occasional fish when I needed to rest the far swim.

I also started feeding 2 pouches of 6s to the island and when I returned fishing paste caught a couple of fish before having to rest the swim and returning for a couple fish. To be honest, paste wasn’t as effective as I had hoped. 

The last 30mins of the 5.5hr match the swim faded, before catching a couple more fish from the far spillway swim towards the all-out.

I knew I had done ok, but I was a little concerned that the stamp of fish may go against me, particularly as I saw Mark on p4 catching some decent fish, which is how it turned out.

1.    73-13 – Andy Jane – p18

2.    67-  3 – Mark Court – p4

3.    61-  1 – Ken Rayner – p29

4.    60-13 – Richard Rogers -p15

5.    58-  1 – Steve Partington – p13 

19/06/26 - Marston Fields - Elm

Weight - 38lb 14oz

Catch - 6 Carp, 1 Bream

Weather - Warm, sunny and windy

Match - So Simple Open (17 fished) - 14th overall

The So Simple boss Sev had organized a So Simple day at Marston Fields, that was a match with a mixture of sponsored and non-sponsored anglers. Sev also had a stand for spectators to sample the So Simple products.

Marston Fields was just over a 2 hour drive, which meant an early start and we would be fishing Elm Lake, that is in the shape of a doughnut lake with the island being 30m away and 5ft deep.

At the draw, I was told the best area would in the 20s. Alas I drew p11, with 2 locals either side and neither of them were enthusiastic about our draws.

I was also told the lakes are quite exposed and it can get a bit windy.

Setting up and there was a strong wind blowing at me from 11’o clock and it became obvious I would be lucky to fish longer than 11m. As I didn’t know the venue, I decided on a simple plan, namely the method to the island and paste over the pole line.

On the all-in, casting tight to the island was challenging as the wind was gusting quite a bit and I couldn’t get a bite.

I had also fed fishery micros and 4mm pellet boosted with Kriller Sludge at 11m and after 2.5hrs I caught my fish on Cocosquid paste, but due to the wind had to drop back to 10m.

This worked I as I started to get regularly indication and over an hour spell hooked 7 fish but only netted 2! The strong wind and tow were causing issues as the rig blow into a couple of fish, the hook pulled out of another at the net and the elastic (newly fitted) snapped on another. Needless to say, I was a little frustrated and any indications had stopped.

I did catch 2 fish on method to the island, but the action was short lived. I also tried pinging 8mm pellet and fishing the straight lead over the top without success.

Back on the pole I came back to 9m and the fish eventually retuned catching a couple more before the end of the match.

As we were weighing it became obvious that I was in the most exposed part of the lake. As a result, myself and the anglers either side of me were in the bottom 4, so I will consider myself a little unlucky.

It was good to catch up with Sev and Chris Whitehead who helped on the day, plus a couple of the sponsored anglers who I hadn’t previously met.

1.    144-  4 – Andy Griffiths – p5

2.    136-  6 – Matt Linforth – p18

3.      98-12 – LJ Stroud – p25

4.      90-11 – Mick Collinson – p23

5.      84-11 – Alan Hughes – p24