21/07/24 - Ivy House - Willow Lake

Weight - 41lb 10oz (12lb 15oz - silvers)

Catch - 17 F1s, 12 Carp, 23 Skimmers, 10 Roach

Weather - Muggy start. Warm & sunny later

Match - Tackle Den (19 fished) - 9th overall, 1st in section.

19 of us today, with 14 on the Old Match Lake and 5 on the island of Willow.

I drew p23 on Willow, normally a flyer, however from the recent match results I’ve seen the weights haven’t been great since the introduction of the F1s over the winter. So, I was hoping to catch a couple of carp early and then late down my margins, and in between I was expecting to spend time catching F1s and skimmers.

An array of rigs were set up to cover my options. I started on the method cast to the far bank, with an 8mm orange wafter and soon caught a small F1. A change to a 6mm wafter produced another 2, plus a 2lb carp in the first 30mins.

Still hoping for an early carp, I switched to fishing U-zit GLM paste at 3+2 where I had been feeding 4s and caught a carp, but it was only a pound. As there didn’t appear to be any decent size carp in the area I got my head down, switching to my F1 paste rig catching F1s, small carp (1lb) and skimmers over the short line.

The line went a bit iffy after an hour and I tried fishing the tea bag and 8mm pellet towards the far bank, where I had been pinging 8s, but I only caught a couple more small carp. In fact, everywhere I tried it was F1s or small carp, including down the right-hand bank on 8mm pellet, where roach were a problem. I even tried slapping but couldn’t find any decent carp.

My second stint on the short paste line, produced another run of F1s and a couple of decent sized skimmers. I kept going hoping the better sized carp would turn up, but the roach did instead!

As I had my back to the rest of the anglers in my section, a quick enquiry revealed everyone was struggling and we were fishing for the section as a couple of anglers were catching on the Old Match Lake. I still felt I needed a big carp as it was quite tight between us, and a couple of carp would make a big difference.

With 2hrs remaining I started feeding my margins. Pellet/corn down the left and groundbait/micros/corn down the right. I never had a bite down the left and won’t mention it again. The right margin was frustrating. At one point there was obviously at least 1 carp in the swim as there were swirls and roach scattering, but all I caught were a couple of roach on double corn.

With 20mins remaining, 4 balls of groundbait went down the right margin. In the meantime, I saw Andy Black on p20 land a double from his margin and John Pearce also caught a carp. I really needed one myself.

The short paste line produced a couple more carp, but nothing bigger than 2lb. Back down the margin there was no signs of carp after my barrage, which was a worry, but I gave it a go anyway. The float just sat there and literally disappeared as the-all out was called and I was attached to a carp. At 5-6lb it wasn’t as big as I hoped, but at least it was a carp.

At the weigh-in my section had no chance of framing, but fortunately I at least won my section from John who weighed 34lb.

1.    114-  9 – Matt Gale – p10

2.      95-11 – Jason Crump – p1

3.      87-  7 – Michael Wilson – p13

4.      56-13 – Steve Venn – p8

5.      55-  4 – Pete Philips – p16

6.      53-10 – Cliff Dutton – p2

20/07/24 - Harescombe - Match Lake

Weight - 44lb 6oz

Catch - 14 F1, 8 Carp, 4 Skimmers, 1 Roach

Weather - Warm & muggy start. Rain later.

Match - Summer Series rd 4 (14 fished) - 7th overall, 2nd in section

The 4^th round of this Summer Series and there were 5 stand-ins today, including Matty Hamilton, Glen Picton and Luke Seabrook, and I was relieved to avoid 2 of the 3.

However, Luke was on p4, the peg I won from in the last round, and I felt it would be difficult to beat him from p12, one peg away from where I was on Thursday. I can’t seem to get off this side of the lake, as I have been this side for the last 8 matches.

Following the hot sunny day yesterday, this morning was quite muggy, and rain was forecast for the afternoon.

After Thursdays match, I questioned whether focusing on meat was the right approach and decided to bring some worm as the angler next to me on Thursday caught a lot of fish on worm, although the average stamp was quite small. However, in hindsight, I felt I was a little unlucky not to frame on Thursday as I lost a number of fish and therefore decided to stick with meat covered in Uzit A-Krill cloud.

On the all-in I started at 2+2 and it became obvious it was going to be a difficult day as very little was being caught around me. After an hour I had 2 F1s, a skimmer and a roach, so not a great return.

I tried fishing worm over micros at the bottom of the far shelf and when I eventually got a bite it was a tiny F1, so binned that swim. Switching to the far bank with my usual 4x10 float the wind was being troublesome and getting decent presentation was proving difficult.

Switching to 4x12 float was better and I picked up a few f1s and carp. It wasn’t hectic, but at least I was catching, although not as quickly as Andy Burns next to me on p14.

With 90mins remaining the far swim was fading and I needed to make something happen as I felt I was lying 3^rd or worse in section. Therefore, I decided to open another tin (200g) of meat, feeding a half pot of meat at 2+2 and both margins got a regular consignment of meat and p-nut micros.

The 2+2 swim produced a couple of carp and F1s, however it was the right margin that really produced, including a couple of the original big F1s, plus a few carp to finish strongly adding 15lb in the last 45mins.

Come the end I thought Andy had easily beaten me, as he kept catching in the last 2hrs fishing worm over caster by the island. However, he was only admitting to 37lb. As it transpired, Andy was using a light elastic giving me the impression that he was catching bigger fish than he actually was. So, it was a surprise when I came 2^nd in section to Luke who won the section with 51lb.

The framing weights came from the other section which fished much better. To be honest I felt I struggled all day (which I did compared to the other section) and I was relieved to have maintained my lead in the league.

1.    118-15 – Matt Hamilton – p15

2.      85-10 – Andy Jane – p24

3.      71-  1 – Glen Picton – p20

4.      58-  7 – Steve Partington – p16

5.      51-  7 – Luke Seabrook – p4

League Standing

1.    6pts – Ken Rayner

2.    7pts – Andy Jane

3.    11pts – Steve Brown

4.    12pts – Andy Burns

18/07/24 - Harescombe - Match Lake

Weight - 31lb 13oz

Catch - 8 Carp, 8 F1s, 1 Skimmer, 1 Roach, 1 Perch

Weather - Hot & sunny. Breezy at times.

Match - Open (18 fished) - 5th overall, 2nd in section

With 18 anglers on the lake it was always going to be a tough day and it looked like the hot sunny weather had triggered the fish into spawning again.

P11 for me and a peg I came 3^rd off earlier in the month, so I was not too disappointed with the draw.

Well, the day turned into a really frustrating day, which left me wondering whether focusing on meat was the right approach.

I started short as usual and after an hour only had a couple of F1s and a skimmer, however not a lot was being caught anywhere. I couldn’t get a bite fishing the bottom of the far shelf fishing expander, which to be honest was a surprise.

90mins into the match and I switched to the far bank which has been my banker in the last few matches. Today it was just plain frustrating. The breeze blowing down the lake made presentation difficult at times, but it was obvious the fish weren’t really feeding properly as I lost a few fish and those I did land were either very lightly hooked or hooked around the face.

I had the same issue trying to catch short on meat or down the margin and in total lost 10 fish which proved quite costly as I only needed another 2.5lb for 3^rd. However, lost fish was a common complaint today.

Well done to Allan on p9 who caught mostly fishing short on meat, patiently waiting for a bite to win the lake.

1.    53-  5 – Allan Oram – p9

2.    38-15 – Phil Auger – p5

3.    34-  6 – Mark Woodridge – p8

4.    33-  3 – Lucas Hurcombe – p17

5.    31-13 – Ken Rayner – p11

13/07/24 - Ivy House - Old Match Lake

Weight - 65lb 8oz (19lb silvers)

Catch - 28 Skimmers, 1 Roach, 17 Carp, 1 F1

Weather - Cloudy and muggy

Match - Open (11 fished) - 1st in silvers, 4th overall

A return visit to the Old Match Lake at Ivy House, which I haven’t fished for a few months. To be honest it hasn’t been fishing well recently although recent results have been improving, although fishing the tea bag seems to be dominating again.

I drew p12 which isn’t my favourite area and with the 2 tea baggers (Allan Smith and Richard Rogers) drawing p1 & p2, an area which won the last match, the regulars felt we would be fishing for 3^rd.

For me I wanted to play around with a new paste mix which revolves around the U-Zit GLM groundbait. On the all-in, I tried the method with fishery micros and 6mm wafter and immediately caught a small carp. A couple more followed before the swim died.

After 45mins I switched to a 3+2 line where I had been feeding 4s, fishing a hair rigged 4mm pellet and to be honest I was disappointed with the response, particularly as Simon Dukes on p10 already had a couple of carp and skimmers from his short line.

I did catch a small carp and couple of skimmers and decided to switch to the paste. Again, I caught a small carp and a couple more skimmers, but it didn’t feel right with what felt like more skimmers than carp in the peg, so I quickly set up a paste rig I have been using for F1s, i.e. 0.15 to 14 hook, rather than 0.19 to a 12 hook.

This was much better as I started to put skimmers up to 2lb in the net, staying on this line for much of the match. I occasionally tried the tea bag and 8mm pellet by the island to rest the swim, where I had been pinging 8s. This would produce 2 or 3 fish, but again they were on the small size.

At the halfway stage, news filtered down that the tea bag boys had already had 60lb each, so decided to stay on the skimmers.

Coming into the last hour the short line was fading, so I started feeding 4s off to my right at 3+2. I had also been feeding my margins, with corn, 4s and micros, which the roach loved so I just increased the feed.

I managed a couple of better carp on the tea bag before switching to my carp paste rig and this produced some proper carp from the new short swim. Finally, I managed a proper carp late down my left margin on double corn.

An enjoyable day and I’m pleased I stuck with the skimmers to win the silvers.

1.    118-  0 – Allan Smith – p1

2.    114-  8 – Richard Rogers – p2

3.      70-  0 – Dean Johnson – p7

4.      65-  8 – Ken Rayner – p12

Silvers

1.      19-  0 – Ken Rayner – p12

2.      14-  4 – Paul Baker – p5

3.      11-  8 – James Dave – p16

11/07/24 - Lavington - Ellis Lake

Weight - 107lb 7oz (17lb 2oz silvers)

Catch - 15 Carp, 4 Bream, 3 Tench, 2 Roach

Weather - Sunny

Match - Evening Club (8 fished) - 1st overall

An evening (3hr) knock-up at my club water and I drew p22 which is a good feeder peg as you have shallow water off the end of the island.

Starting on the method with a 6mm orange wafter and Uzit bubblegum micros, and the tip went round almost immediately. Then I started to get pestered by silvers, resulting in a switch to an 8mm wafter and I netted another 2 carp.

I tried a short meat line, but only caught a good-sized roach and had plenty of indications from small silvers. In the meantime, I had started feeding 8mm meat down my margins and soon started feeding 6mm uzit p-nut pellet to bulk out the feed to feed off the small silvers, and it worked.

The last 100mins of the match I spent alternating between each margin, netting a further 12 carp, 4 bream and a tench on double 8mm meat to win the match.

1.    107-  7 – Ken Rayner – p22

2.      66-13 – Steve Musitano – p27

3.      54-  4 – Martin White – p25

07/07/24 - Tunnel Barn Farm - Top Pool

Weight - 108lb 14oz

Catch - 81 F1s, 8 Carp, 2 Perch, 1 Skimmer

Weather - Sunny, heavy rain shower later.

Match - Tackle Den (21 fished) - 3rd overall, 1st in section.

I’ve been looking forward to this match as I have enjoyed my previous visits to Tunnel Barn. Today we were on Top Pool and I was a little disappointed to draw p19 at the narrow end of the lake with the wind blowing down the other end of the lake.

Plumbing up revealed the lake was a little deeper than I expected, and the margins were 3ft deep.

I started on a pea size piece of Uzit GLM paste at 2+2 and soon realised there were quite a few small F1s in the swim. After 30mins as I couldn’t catch any quality fish I switched to my right margin on a top kit where I had been feeding meat and caught some bigger F1s amongst the smaller ones.

In the meantime, I had prepped a shallow caster line at 14m by a small island. I caught a few on a conventional shallow rig, but soon swapped to an overshotted rig and had a really good 45min spell when I had some ripple. However, when the swim went flat calm a jigger rig kept me in touch with the fish, before the swim faded. A further switch back to the overshotted rig pushed under the overhanging reeds kept me going, but it was hard going. Although I could catch the occasional 2lb F1, most of the fish were 12oz to 1lb.

To give the swim a rest I also caught a few fish at 6m shallow down the left margin.

With 2hrs remaining the weather turned cold and very windy as a heavy rain shower passed through. When it stopped, I couldn’t catch anything shallow and was struggling.

To make something happen, I decided to drop a big ball of micros down my left margin on a top kit plus 1 and caught really well including an 8-9lb carp on paste. In the last hour I simply alternated between the paste down the left margin and meat in the right margin.

In the end an enjoyable day’s fishing and picking up a couple of bonus carp proved vital as they allowed me to claim 3^rd place, which I was pleased with particularly from my peg as the top 2 came from the other end of the lake.

1.    139-13 – Jason Crump – p3

2.    112-13 – John Pearce – p1

3.    108-14 – Ken Rayner – p19

4.    101-13 – Ian Barker – p13

5.      92-  8 – Dan Barnett – p27

06/07/24 - Harescombe - Match

Weight - 58lb 8oz

Catch - 14 F1, 13 Carp, 2 Roach, 1 Skimmer

Weather - Cold & wet start, sunshine & showers later.

Match - Summer Series rd 3 (13 fished) - 1st overall

The 3^rd round of the Summer Series and peg 4 put me in the same section as 4 of the top 5, so there was an opportunity to take some points (and to lose some!).

It was cold this morning, following some heavy overnight rain and the car temperature read 9c. It’s supposed to be July, but it certainly didn’t feel like it.

I started at 3+1 feeding meat covered in Uzit A-krill cloud and started to catch some F1s. After 45mins I was thinking I needed to switch lines, then I got another fish and ended up remaining on this line for another hour, putting 10 F1s and a Carp in the net.

A switch to the bottom of the far shelf fishing 4mm pellet didn’t produce a bite, so I soon switched to fishing tight to the far bank feeding meat and 2mm p-nut pellet. It was a little slow going and the wind at times was a pain, but I kept putting the odd carp in the net through the middle part of the match.

When the far line faded, I tried fishing down the track in various spots, without success. Fortunately, both my margins where I had been feeding meat and micros produced a good last 30mins putting another 17lb or so in the net.

On the all-out I felt I had about 45-50lb and might be struggling to claim 3^rd in section. I honestly didn’t think I had Andy Janes 55lb which was leading my section. So, I was a little surprised to weigh 58lb - I obviously underestimated the size of the carp I caught which made the difference. The win put me 1pt clear of Andy.

1.    58-  8 – Ken Rayner – p4

2.    55-11 – Andy Jane – p14

3.    47-  5 – Steve Brown – p10

4.    46-10 – Luke Seabrook – p16