01/11/26 - Ivy House - Old Match Lake

Weight - 39lb 2oz

Catch - 16 Carp, 3 Skimmers, 2 F1s, 1 Roach

Weather - Grey, cloudy and cool.

Match - Tackle Den (19 fished) - 5th overall

With 19 anglers fishing today there were 15 on Old Match Lake and 4 on the island of Willow Lake, so a peg with space was required.

So, I was more than happy to draw p10 that offered an island at 16m to my right and a long margin down the left-hand end bank.

Have to say I felt sorry for Darren Lawrence who drew peg 22 on Willow where due to low water levels you could see the bottom all the way across to the island! Fortunately, he was allowed to move to p21 which was marginally deeper.

Back to my peg the water levels were down 18ins and plumbing around only revealed 22ins in most areas of the swim, although I found 2 spots at 4m to my right and 14m to my left where it was 29ins.

I started off down the end bank at 13m, rotating with a swim 16m towards the island, tapping fishery micros fishing corn, both boosted with Baninion. After 45mins I had 3 carp.

I tried fishing in the deeper area at 14m to my left fishing maggot or 4mm expander over micros but only caught a couple of small skimmers and a carp.

As I felt I was going nowhere quickly, I decided to revert back to fishing down the end bank and towards the island. It was slow going, however by switching from feeding micros to tapping in 4s and swapping between fishing a 4mm expander and 4mm hair rigged pellet I started to catch a few fish.

The only problem being it was difficult to get a run of fish in the shallow water, although my catch rate improved in the 2^nd half of the match.

With an hour remaining the action had slowed so I started pinging pellet at 16m in open water, where I caught a couple more carp before finishing over a short line to my right where I caught my biggest carp of 5lb.

Overall, a frustrating day, as I couldn’t keep pace with Andy opposite on p9 and Steve on p8. However, speaking to Andy revealed their side of the lake was deeper than my side. Also, they caught on maggot, so I was left wondering whether I fished the wrong match by focusing on pellet.

1.    69-  2 – John Brady – p7

2.    63-12 – Andrew Black – p9

3.    49-13 – Alistair Tilney – p18

4.    44-  8 – Matt Greaves – p23

5.    39-  2 – Ken Rayner – p10

Steve on p8 should have won but he went over in one of his nets.

 

31/10/26 - Harescombe - Doughnut

Weight - 12lb 1oz 

Catch - 3 Carp, 1 Perch

Weather - Bright and flat calm

Match - Winter League - rd 1 (18 fished) - 4th in section, 13th overall

The first round of the Winter League and I was expecting 12 anglers, however 6 more had signed on late bringing the total to 18, including some very good anglers. The league would be based on 3 sections of 6.

The first match was on Doughnut Lake and with 18 anglers I knew it would fish hard and I just hoped for a draw with some space.

Drawing p5 was not a great start being in the narrower and shallower area of the lake the fish tend to migrate to other side in the winter. My section ran from p2 to p8 and I felt p2 would probably win the section as it’s been a good area recently. I also felt p6 and p8 would be difficult to beat as they benefited from p7 not being in.

Well not much to write about as it was a really tough match. I started off just dobbin maggot along the far bank, but only caught 1 perch, which is never a good sign.

Next was tapping in 4s and a few micros a metre off the island in 3ft of water, fishing a 4mm expander or maggot, but only hooked and lost a foul hooker.

Fishing maggot or expander tight to the far bank didn’t produce either.

A switch to tapping in meat resulted in another lost foul hooker, before netting my first carp 1hr 35min into the match. I never had another bite along the far bank despite there being fish showing themselves.

With 90mins remaining, pegs 3, 4 & 8 were still blanking. I’m not sure why we were struggling, but high pressure and bright, flat conditions probably weren’t helping.

To make something happen I started pinging pellet slightly to right without success. Finally, I fed meat at 5m where I caught 2 more carp in the last hour.

As expected p2 easily won the section, whilst p6 & p8 caught late down their margins fishing towards the empty p7, which meant I finished a disappointing 4^th in section.

1.    104-10 – Chris Cameron – p16

2.      80-11 – Nigel Reeves – p13

3.      52-  7 – Steve Brown – p19

4.      45-  5 – Tony Picton – p2

5.      40-  0 – Glen Picton – p11

25/10/26 - Tunnel Barn - House

Weight - 42lb 3oz

Catch - 22 F1, 2 Carp, 1 Tench, 1 Perch

Weather - Sunny, but gale force winds

Match - Tackle Den (19 fished) - 3rd overall

I was due to fish Saturdays match at Harescombe which was cancelled and to be honest I wasn’t disappointed as the weather was awful as Storm Boelo blew through.

At least today the rain had stopped, but the wind hadn’t and with gales forecast trying to catch shy biting F1s would be interesting. Also with all the rain that fell yesterday it was no surprise the water temperature had dropped below 10c.

I was looking forward to today’s match but I really wanted to draw anywhere other the dam bank as I have previously drawn pegs 8,10 and 14 twice. Surely the law of averages would be with me, but no, p10 found its way into my hand. I’ll be honest I spat my dummy out a little, as it hasn’t been the best area recently and I was also concerned the wind would blow the fish out of this area of the lake.

Once I settled down and sat at my peg, the wind was blowing mostly off my right shoulder, whilst the good pegs all had the wind blowing into them and Vince on p29 in particular looked cold and uncomfortable.

On the all-in I started on 4mm expander over fishery micros boosted with So Simple BMG at 6m. After 45mins I had 5 F1s and a Tench resulting in a decent start.

The following 90mins was a struggle as I switched to fishing red maggot in different areas of the swim but couldn’t get a run going. Eventually, I started catching at 5m in 4ft of water, 

although it was slow going.

I had kept feeding maggot off to my right in 3ft of water, that produced a few bigger F1s, plus a 3.5lb carp, but it didn’t take off as I expected and I felt the fish preferred to be in the deeper water.

This meant my margins didn’t produce much either, although I fed groundbait down my right margin late on, catching one big F1 and was left wishing I had tried this sooner as I could see swirls as some fish had started moving in.  

Well done to Matt Greaves for winning the match from p12 who sorted out his feeding better than I did. Needless to say, the wind ruined the fishing for most resulting in lower-than-expected weights.

1.    62-10 – Matt  Greaves – p12

2.    44-  1 – Pete Philips – p16

3.    42-  3 – Ken Rayner – p10

4.    38-15 – Paul Stafford – p5

5.    35-  6 – Vince Grillo – p29

11/10/26 - Rood Ashton

Weight - 38lb 1oz

Catch - 6 Carp, 3 Roach

Weather - Cool & cloudy

Match - Tackle Den (17 fished) - 2nd in section, 5th overall

Originally, we had a full house of 21 booked in. Fortunately, a couple of late drops out reduced the field to 17, but it still meant there would be a few poor pegs in the bag and the fishing would be tricky.

Peg 14 for me and I wasn’t happy, as it’s a peg I’ve had a few times and since the water levels were still down about a foot, I knew today would be a struggle.

Plumbing up revealed 16in down the margins, but everywhere else was only a foot deep, plus the water temperature was only 12c which confirmed my fears.

Setting up I was little more optimistic as there were fish moving around, although mostly to my right. After 30mins I caught my first fish on a tea bag and 8mm pellet (covered in Top G Smog) casting slightly to my right, halfway to the island.

I tried the method cast to the island, but the feeder plugged in the silt, so I didn’t bother doing that again.

After 4hrs I added another 2 carp on the straight lead and 8mm pellet, which was on par with others in the section, although Pete and Steve to my left had yet to catch.

As I expected a hard day, I had fed maggot over a short line, hoping for some roach, but I only caught 3. To make something happen I had also been feeding maggot at 13-14m, fishing a light bomb over the top and maggot on the hook, and despite a few fish showing themselves I couldn’t get a bite.

A switch to pinging micros, ably assisted by the wind over the 13-14m line, fishing corn or meat also failed to produce a bite.

With an hour to go, I noticed the silt turning over down the left margin where I had fed baninion micros and 4s. I immediately switched, fishing Top G paste and caught an 8lber. Surprisingly I never had any more signs down either margin.

Back to the 13m line, I decided to try fishing paste and fortunately caught 2 more carp before the end.

Stuart won my section also with 6 carp, but his were definitely bigger than mine, so I had to be content with 2^nd in section.

1.    82-  8 – Matt Greaves – p4

2.    49-13 – Stuart Sutton – p12

3.    48-  2 – Andy Burns – p2

4.    44-10 – Darren Hibbert – p21

5.    38-  1 – Ken Rayner – p14

10/10/26 - Harescombe - Doughnut

Weight - 47lb 4oz

Catch - 12 Carp, 1 Perch

Weather - Sunny & breezy

Match - Open (12 fished) - 2nd in section, 7th overall

No fishing last weekend as Abi & I stayed over at friends, so it was obvious I would be doing a double header this weekend.

With the upcoming Winter League at the end of the month, I decided to fish the open on Doughnut Lake. Its fair to say summer is now over, with a cool week leading up to this weekend, it meant things are on the change, however paste was still working. The question was would it still?

The draw put me on p5 not a great area, although with a forecast westerly wind, I expected it to blow from behind. It didn’t, it blew left to right for most of the match, which made fishing the far bank awkward.

On the all-in I started off cautiously, tapping in 4mm (and a few micros) baninion pellet 2m off the island in 2.5ft of water, catching a carp after 30mins on expander. I’m sure I would have caught more, but presentation was difficult in the wind.

I noticed a few fish moving along the island and since the water levels were still down, it was only 12-18in deep. A switch to toss potting a small ball of groundbait (So Simple Top G) and a few micros in the shallower water, fishing either worm or dead maggot, brought fish to the feed, but hooking them in the mouth was a different matter, which was frustrating, although once again the wind wasn’t helping.

I did catch a carp on the method cast to the island, but of the anglers I could see we were all struggling.

I had been feeding 4s and micros over a 2+2 line and caught a carp on Top G paste, bring my total to 3 carp after 3hrs. Fortunately, I kept catching the odd carp on paste and despite trying the far bank on both the pole and feeder I couldn’t add to my total.

I also started feeding meat and micros down my left margin, catching 2 carp, but I should have caught a couple more, as where I was fishing was in a slightly different spot to where I had plumbed up at the start of the match. I only realised when I hooked and lost 2 fish. A senior moment and when I replumbed, I had a proper bite – doh!

I also fed pellet and corn down my right without success.

My original paste line had faded and re-fed a new swim to my left, catching 2 carp before the end of the match.

At the weigh-in Stitch won my section from p1 with 56lb, however the top 4 weights came from the other side of the lake. There just wasn’t many fish my side, as the weights either side of me were 23lb & 13lb.

1.    119-  3 – Chris Cameron – p12

2.      80-  5 – Mick O’Brien – p14

3.      78-  2 – Nigel Reeves – p18

4.      75-  7 – Mark Thomas – p20

27/09/26 - Harescombe - Match

Weight - 46lb 7oz

Catch - 11 Carp, 5 F1, 2 Skimmers, 2 Roach, 2 Rudd

Weather - Cloudy, breezy and showery

Match - Open (9 fished) - Last!

The last day of my holiday (or should that be 2 weeks off work, as it hasn’t felt like a holiday) and I decided to return to Harescombe. 

On Friday I fished my club water and caught this PB Carp of 20lb 12oz on Kriller paste.

 
Back to today and peg 19 would be my home and the wind was blowing right to left which proved to be tricky at times.
 
I decided on a simple approach of pellet and corn, with maggot and worm as a back up, leaving my paste rigs at home.
 
On the all in I started across by the island on corn, tapping in a baninion 4mm pellet. With no bites a switch to a 4mm expander resulted in my first fish after 20min. After an hour I was up to 2 fish and not concerned by the slow start, however I had a horrible 2hrs, losing 3 fish and not putting any in the net.
 

I really couldn’t understand why I wasn’t catching, as everyone around me were!
 
To make something happened I started feeding heavily with maggot, but small silvers were proving a pain and soon reverted back to feeding pellet.
 
Eventually I started to catch on hair rigged 4mm pellet, towards the p18 platform where I had been feeding 4s. When this slowed, I had another run of fish back towards the island where I had been pinging pellet, fishing a 6mm pellet.
 
I had kept feeding pellet at 5m and down the right margin, but struggled for a bite.
 
My last action was feeding Cocosquid groundbait with micros in the shallow left hand margin fishing worm over the top. In fact I wish I had tried it sooner, although my poor start meant I was unlikely to challenge the frame.
 
A strange day and the first time I have come plum last at Harescombe.
 
1.    175-10 – Chris Cameron – p1
2.      87-  2 – Mark Thorne – p16
3.      81-10 – Phil Stone – p24
 
 

20/09/26 - Witherington Farm - Cottage

Weight - 90lb 7oz

Catch - 15 Carp

Weather - Warm & sunny

Match - Tackle Den (21 anglers) - 4th section, 6th overall

I wasn’t due to fish this match, as I was supposed to be on a cruise ship sailing around the fjords of Norway. However, on the day we were due to travel I went down with covid and was feeling very unwell. Gutted was an understatement, but hopefully we should get most of our money back through the insurance.

Today we had 21 anglers, with 11 on Selwood and 10 on Cottage, which left few spare pegs and a tricky day ahead.

I drew p9 on Cottage and reasonably happy, as I had an island chuck and plenty of space to my left and John Brady to my right on p10.

Plumbing around revealed 18in at 13m, 32in at 6m and 33in at 10m by the reeds to my left. Tight to the bank only revealed 12ins, before it quickly dropped off to 33in.

Starting on the method to the island didn’t produce and after 30mins switched to fishing So Simple Kriller paste over dampened kriller 4s by the reeds to my left.

This produced 2 carp within 15mins, catching a 3^rd soon after on the straight lead and 8mm red pellet by the island where I had

been pinging 8s.

The following 2hrs proved to be difficult, as I couldn’t add to my total. I kept pinging pellet to the island and surprisingly I couldn’t catch on the tip. I also tried fishing at 13m, but in the shallow water it didn’t feel right and liners were a problem. I did hook 2 fish at 6m, losing both, 1 was foul hooked and the other found a snag.

In the meantime, the anglers on the other side of the lake were all ahead of me, probably helped by the wind blowing towards that end. Fishing meat or expander proved unsuccessful and ultimately decided to stick with fishing paste.

Eventually I caught a carp at 6m and another at 8m to my left. A brief look fishing tight to the bank with paste or worm didn’t feel right as it was just too shallow for the fish to settle and didn’t waste too much time trying to make it work.

I kept picking up the odd fish from the 6m line and switched back to the 10m line by the reeds.

Moving into the last hour the reed swim was slow and decided to dump a ½ cup of 4s and micros, and in the last 30mins manged 5 more carp, feeding a ½ cup of feed after every fish.

On the all out I thought Andy Burns would win from corner next to the aerator, which he did. Steve Broadhurst opposite on p3 was admitting to 15 carp (although he wasn’t sure) and Vince Grillo on p4 had 11 carp (that included 3 10lb+ fish).

As it turned out, I finished on the wrong side of a very close result, but I was still pleased with my performance at my end of the lake.

1.    143-10 – Matt Greaves – p16 (Selwood)

2.    110-14 – Cliff Dutton – p6 (Selwood)

3.    110-15 – Andy Burns – p15 (Cottage)

4.      96-  5 – Steve Broadhurst – p3 (Cottage)

5.      91-  5 – Vince Grillo – p4 (Cottage)

6.      90-  7 – Ken Rayner – p9 (Cottage)