28/05/17 - Viaduct - Campbell

Weight - 77lb 4oz (13lb 13oz - silvers)
Catch - 12 Carp, 12 Skimmers, 2 Roach, 1 Tench, 1 Hybrid
Weather - Warm and mostly cloudy.
Match - Tony's Float Only - rd 1 - 26th out of 40, 5th out 5 section

I was really looking to the first round of 6, of what will be a very competitive series. Today we were at Viaduct, with 20 anglers on Campbell and 20 on Cary. I couldn't believe I drew Campbell again on p114, next to were I was on Thursday and were I came 4th in Norm Sterrys match a few weeks again. So confident of a good days fishing, particularly since I have had in excess 130lb in my last 3 visits.

My section ran from 110 to 114, with Dan White, Bela Bakos, Rich Lacey and Paul Elmes in my section.

On the all-in I started on the meat short and only had a roach. This was not a good sign. I eventually landed a carp, all 1.5lb of it, before I eventually landed a proper carp, but it was really slow. In fact everyone was struggling and the white willow fluff was causing problems for many, although I couldn't use that as an excuse for my struggles.

I had a couple of carp on the waggler and managed to pick up a couple of carp on the meat line in amongst a few skimmers. With 2 hours left I wasn't that far behind Paul on p113 and shaun Townsend on p115 who had a lot of silvers to go with his couple carp.

It was those last 2 hours that I started to fall behind and I couldn't work out why. The short meat line never really got going, but it was my margins that was really frustrating and probably why I tried to push my short meat line too much. I fished the right hand margin in the same way as Thursday, i.e. feeding heavily with caster (since I still had 4 pts left over from the Glebe) and meat, but all I was getting was bitted out of roach. I eventually caught a few decent sized silvers, but no carp. Shaun on the other hand was catching decent sized silvers, plus carp from his margin.

My left hand margin which was shallower, only produced roach bites, so with 2hrs to go fed groundbait, but didn't worked. So I fed a lot more, which did bring the carp in and I managed 3 carp on meat or worm, but it was painfully slow by comparison with those around me.

Have to say I was bitterly disappointed with the way the match went. Speaking to a couple of anglers who have fished the peg recently also commented that have struggled to catch whilst those around them have caught. To be honest I think I just fished it badly trying to force the peg.

Oh well that's my dropper out of the way! Next round is in 2 weeks at Lands End, fingers crossed for a decent draw.

1st 197-13 - Tony Rixon (Mosella) - p88

2nd 187- 6 - Shaun Townsend (Mosella) - p115

3rd 160-15 - Dave Evans - p81

4th 154- 5 - Neil Mercer (Mosella) - p123

5th 151- 5 - Joe McMahon - p124

6th 140- 8 - Shaun Kitteridge (Thyers) - p121

Silvers

1st 29-13 - Shaun Townsend (Mosella) - p115

2nd 21-11 - Paul Faiers (Thyers) - p132

3rd 16-12 - Glenn Calvert - p129

4th 14- 4 - Neil Mercer (Mosella) - p123

5th 13-13 - Ken Rayner (Colmic/Marukyu) - p114

27/05/17 - Sedges - Tile

Weight - 37lb 8oz
Catch - 4 Carp, 7 Skimmers
Weather - Cloudy start, sunny later, but windy
Match - Coops/Guru Series - Final Round - 2nd in section, 8th out of 14

This series hasn't gone that well for me, due to a couple of iffy draws and some poor decisions, although I think its fair to say the venue has been quite patchy and not fished as well as it could. This was probably the reason why we had 6 no shows, which upset a few people and is a match organisers nightmare for a whole host of reasons.

Anyway, I drew p35, which I felt would be at the wrong end of the section since the wind was blowing into p31 where it was expected Jamie Parkhouse would win the section, if not the match.

Following the mini heat wave, it was noticeably cooler today, but still fancied it to catch shallow on the pole. Starting on the meat feeder (as I caught a few better fish on it in the last round) the wind was blowing the feeder away from the island and I need to punch the feeder to get it close enough. This wasn't working, so switched a hybrid feeder which was a easier and I was able to put it down the side of the island. Unfortunately, it didn't produce, in fact the venue owner and league leader, Jamie Cook was to my left on p36 and he only had 2 carp after an hour fishing the feeder.

After an hour a switch to the short meat line produced a couple of skimmers and then an 11lb carp, before it dried up. The next 3hrs proved to be a real struggle, the only fish I had was on the shallow pellet line at 14.5m, but the wind had also picked up making any sort of presentation difficult. One severe gust of wind caught the pole dragging it to my right. I wasn't quick enough and the pole tip caught the water, whilst the gust continued to push me and my no3 section (no4 section on other poles) snapped! Gutted! Nothing to do with the pole, the same gust of wind also nearly blew my top kits out of the pole roost. Thanks to Mark for lending me a spare section I was able to continue, but my head was gone for a short  while as I was seriously pissed off.

Once I got myself together, I tried catching down my margin but with no bites over the regularly fed meat, decided to cup in 2 pots of micros/4s originally mixed up for the feeder, down the edge. Fortunately that had the desired effect and caught 2 carp.

As expected Jamie Parkhouse won my section and came 2nd overall and surprisingly I finished 2nd in section, as everyone struggled in the wind. The more sheltered side of the lake was the place to be.

Well done to Jamie Cook, Martin Heard and Bob Gullick who framed in the league and all received Guru goodies. Also thanks to James Cooper for running the series.

1st 129- 2 - Mike West (Somerset Carpenters) - p29
2nd 116-12 - Jamie Parkhouse - p31
3rd 104- 8 - Martin Heard (Mosella) - p40
4th 101- 9 - Jake Alden - p30
5th 82- 4 - Paul Tidball - p28
6th 72-12 - Mark Poppleton (Colmic/Marukyu) - p25

25/05/17 - Viaduct - Campbell

Weight - 136lb 7oz (24lb 14oz - silvers)
Catch - 14 Carp, 22 Skimmers, 5 Tench, 3 Roach, 1 Hybrid
Weather - Very warm and sunny
Match - Cost cutter - 1st out of 35 - silvers, 7th overall

I had intended on fishing a match at Alders Farm Friday for a Marukyu event, however I had to pull out due to a 2nd interview for a promotion at work.

Instead of cancelling my holiday, I shifted it to Thursday so I could fish here and with the first round of the float only series starting Sunday, thought it would be a good excuse to have a days fishing. I also had 10pts of caster left over from the Glebe and didn't want to waste them.

Steve was resting Cary, because it hasn't been fishing well recently, which meant Campbell and Lodge were in today. Obviously everyone wanted Campbell and I was more than happy to pull 115.

With Sunday in mind, the lead rod stayed in the bag, preferring to focus on the pole. Starting short on meat I soon had a decent skimmer, followed by a decent carp and during the first 45mins had another carp and about 8lb of skimmers and tench, so a great start.

In the meantime I feed caster long in preparation for catching shallow. When I switched to the shallow rig I excepted the elastic to be ripped out of the pole. Alas, I gave it 10mins, without a bite and not to be tried again!

I had also started feeding caster and meat down both margins, catching tench, skimmers and the occasional carp down the right hand margin on meat. Strangely the left hand only produced roach.

Since I was building a decent weight of silvers, decided to pot in some caster at 11m, which did produce a few fish, but wasn't as prolific as expected.

The remainder of the match was spent swapping between the margins and short meat line, which started to produce more carp later in the match.

A really enjoyable day, where I managed to qualifier for the silvers all winners final, which to be honest was a relief because in the last 12 months I have finished 2nd, 5 times.

1st 178- 2 - Norm Sterry (Fabtrays/marukyu) - p111
2nd 176-14 - Phil Wilkins - p118
3rd 167-10 - Tony Gilbert (Preston) - p116
4th 157- 2 - Chris Wells - p127
5th 137- 3 - Mark Hollister - p110
Silvers
1st 34-14 - Ken Rayner (Colmic/Marukyu) - p115
2nd 26- 3 - Rob Eagle (Viaduct) - p123
3rd 17-15 - John Bradford - p68
4th 17-10 - Dan Bowen - p126

21/05/17 - Glebe - pool 3 (uglies)

Weight - 32lb 10oz
Catch - 4 Carp, 3 Perch
Weather - Warm and sunny, breezy
Match - Ivan Marks Memorial - day 2 - 44th out of 91, 2nd in section

So onto the second day and with more anglers booked in today, it meant foundation lake would be included, which no one wanted. Well I avoided foundation, but drew p59 on Uglies (pool 3) and looking at yesterdays result 27lb came off it, with DNW's from either side, which suggested a difficult day lay ahead.

Fortunately for me the peg to my right (p60) wasn't in today, so at least I had a little more space. However, uglies by name ugly by nature, the day was really hard work and not much to write about, so I've just put loads of photo in the blog instead! And loving the XL colmic rollers, which came in very handy today.

I started the match on the feeder, firstly with corn and then 8mm pellet, without success. During the week I received 2 tubs of Marukyu 8mm band um type pellet to try, in krill and scopex flavours. To make something happen I tried a krill pellet and caught a 4lb carp - result. However that was the only fish I caught on the feeder.

As expected the fishing was hard, with very little being caught, with angler to my left yet to catch and the angler on p61 had 2 carp. The rest of the match was just trying to catch, on the lead, waggler, short pole line and margins - nothing, not even an indication.

Fortunately at the half way stage I mugged an 11lber as it swam past me at 5m, but these fish were easily spooked and it was difficult to spot them due to amount of 'white' water in front of me.

The most exciting period of the match was a 10min spell 30mins from the end, when I mugged another carp. As soon as I netted that one, I immediately mugged another which came off at the net. Unbelievably I immediately hooked another and again this one came off! Bugger, I wasn't happy because with so few fish being caught that might prove costly. Fortunately I managed to mug another almost immediately and this one was safely landed.

I couldn't tempt another in the last 20mins and was glad for the end of the match. Those lost fish did prove costly, since the section was only won with 39lb, but at least I managed to pick up 2nd in section.

A great weekend, where in excess of £3,000 was raised for a number of charities. Also Ivan Marks widow presented all the section payouts over the 2 days and the winners trophy to Jarrad Smith who won the match from p30 on pool 1 with 181-10.

1st 181-10 - Jarrad Smith - p30 (pool 1)

2nd 158- 7 - Mick Wheatley - p7 (pool 1)

3rd 149- 3 - Paul Taylor -p10 (pool 1)

4th 148-14 - Nick Massp - p25 (pool 1)

5th 138- 6 - Rich Bedder - p5 (pool 1)

6th 133- 3 - Andy Kinder - p16 (pool 1)

20/05/17 - Glebe - Pool 8

Weight - 87lb 10oz
Catch - 21 Carp, 3 Perch
Weather - Showery, gusty wind, cool
Match - Ivan Marks Memorial - day 1 - 11th out of 81, 1st in section

I haven't fished the Glebe for nearly 2 years and was looking forward to getting back to this fabulous fishery, just wish it was a little closer.

This weekend was the first day of the Ivan Marks Memorial, where the winner was decided my the angler with the biggest single weight over the 2 days. Whilst the winner could come from most lakes, everyone really wanted pool 1. So into the draw and pulled 114 on pool 8, which is effectively a stock pond and not normally included in matches. Although I wasn't likely to win the match from here, I still had the section to go for.

The pool has 10 pegs on a rectangle lake, 5 on each side and there were 5 of us, 4 in the corners and 1 in the middle. The only information I could get regarding the pool was it was full of small fish and there were some proper lumps up to 20lb.

My peg put me in one of the corners and the first job was to clear all the rubbish from the corner! Well I had plenty of time, because we had 2.5hrs to set up, not even I need that long.

The first rig out of the box was a long line pellet rig to target the many fish showing themselves on the surface. However as we got closer to the 11.30 start time, the weather closed in, becoming more cloudy, the wind picked up and a rain shower shortly before the start pushed the fish down.

Other rigs were 2 margin rigs to accommodate the differing depths, to fish expander's or corn. Finally I had a rig to fish the bottom of the slope at 11m where it was 5ft deep, although I hoped I wouldn't need it, because I wasn't convinced the fish would want to feed on the deck..

On the all in, hemp and corn was deposited in the right hand margin and I started on my left

at 4 sections on 6mm expander over 6mm amino+ pellet and corn. With no bites after 10mins, I switched to the right hand margin and was immediately rewarded with a double figure carp. However this was my only fish during the first hour, which was a surprise bearing in mind the lake was suppose to be full of small fish. The other anglers had all caught, but generally it was a quiet start.

Time for a change of tact, so cupped in 4 & 6mm amino+ pellet at the bottom of the slope and feed 6s & corn down the left bank at 13m. By swapping between the 2 swims, I started to catch, with the margin swim being the most productive catching on 6mm expander.

With 2hrs of the 5 hour match remaining, I started to struggle which coincided with the weather really closing in with heavy winds and rain. Ideally I wanted to go further down the end bank to follow the fish as they backed off, but the wind meant that would be difficult. Instead decided to pot in some caster and corn, fishing worm over the top. 3 perch later, I had no choice but to suck it up and fish longer down the end bank, potting in some 6s and corn at 15m.

With an hour to go I had a few more fish from the bottom of the slope, but they really didn't want to be in the deep water and other than the big carp at the start of the match I never had another bite down the right hand margin.

As suspected fishing 15m down the end bank was difficult in the wind, which fortunately eased a little and I found it best to pot in 6mm pellet, fishing corn over the top. Although I had to wait a little longer for bites, the stamp of fish was better.

Throughout the match I couldn't tell who was winning the lake, because it was nip & tuck with the 2 corners to my right. With 3 fish in the last 10mins I thought I may have enough, since both anglers had a quiet last hour. However with only a minute to go one them was attached to a rather large carp, which turned out to be a 15lb ghostie.

Fortunately a last good hour where I caught some better stamp fish, proved enough to win the section. As suspected the better weights came from pool 1, but generally the venue didn't fish as well as expected, but the weather has horrible at times.

1st 167- 0 - Andrew Williams - p22 (pool 1)

2nd 145-12 - Mark Fox - p47 (pool 3)

3rd 111-10 - Dave Doane - p17 (pool 1)

4th 106- 6 - Jon Preedy - p10 (pool 1)

5th 101- 2 - Steve Porter - p16 (pool 1)

6th 98-11 - Russell Shipton - p4 (pool 1)

13/05/17 - Sedges - Tile Lake

Weight - 68lb 5oz (10lb 1oz - silvers)
Catch - 6 Carp, 7 Skimmers, 1 Eel
Weather - Mostly sunny and southerly wind
Match - Coops/Guru series - rd 4 - 6th out of 19, 2nd in section

With no fishing last weekend, I was looking forward to getting out again and catching a few. So far this series things just haven't clicked the way I would have liked them, which meant any chance of claiming a top 3 position had gone. However there were still 2 matches to go and an opportunity to sort out those things that hadn't clicked, namely my feeder fishing and catching short on meat.

Speaking to Jamie at the draw, he said the bream had started spawning again and a difficult day was likely, with the carp gouging themselves on spawn.


Drawing p28 looked like a decent area with the wind blowing into that end of the lake. As for the section Jamie Cook was on p26, Dave White p27, Mark Wynne p29 and Jim Jenner in the corner on p30, so a tough section.

Looking at the peg and breeze, it looked like today would be a day to catch shallow, well that's what I thought. As such a shallow rig was set up for the pole, as was a waggler. So far I haven't had much luck on the method feeder and instead decided to try the meat feeder to see if that would make a difference. Finally I had a meat rig to fish short and rig to fish for skimmers which I hoped wouldn't be required.

On the all in I started on the meat feeder, but it wasn't until the 30th minute that I had my first carp an 11-12lber. A second of similar size was put in the net after an hour, but it was painfully slow.

Dave had managed 1 carp shallow and Mark had 2 shallow on the pole, which made me think today was definitely a day to catch shallow. I had kept pinging pellet, but never had a bite on either the pole or waggler, although the wind was starting to pick up blowing down the lake making fishing both methods difficult, it was a surprise that I couldn't catch. In fact neither Dave or Mark caught any more shallow, very strange.

With 2.5hrs gone and no further fish, I decided to cup in some groundbait at 11.5m. Well that proved to be a waste of time with only 1 8oz skimmer. I kept rotating between the shallow lines and the feeder and when I had 2 quick fish on the feeder I thought at last they had arrived, again I was disappointed with no more bites. This was proving really frustrating.

My first drop in on the short meat line, produced an immediate bite, which turned out to be a near 2lb eel, followed immediately by a skimmer. In the meantime Dave still only had 1 carp and Mark had a couple on the feeder/lead, however Jamie was beginning to run away with it fishing the feeder, which also proved he didn't need a corner to catch.

Another try on the short meat line didn't produce, but wind meant the lake was now towing and my 0.3g carrat just wasn't right, so changed to 0.5g powetrap which sat better, but still no more bites. I had also noticed small fish, probably motherless minnows, playing keepy uppy with my meat as I was throwing it and wondered how much was actually getting to the bottom. To combat the little blighters, I started cupping 10 bits of meat which seemed to help, because with 75mins left I caught a decent skimmer, followed by another and then a carp which weighed 12lb 4oz.  I had another, lost foul hooker and ;landed a couple more skimmers, but with 20mins left I couldn't get another bite.

I had also feed the margins, initially with meat and then with groundbait, but never had a bite all match.

By the all out Dave had long since packed up, Mark had the same number of carp as me, but not the quality, surprisingly Jim struggled in the corner and Jamie had over 100lb, which meant I was 2nd in section picking up the section money by default.

Pleased with the result on what was a difficult day for most. Surprisingly the pegs on the opposite bank out of the wind proved to be best.

1. 144- 7 - Martin Hear (Mosella) - p38
2. 114- 2 - Jamie  Cook (Sedges) - p26
3. 114- 1 - Paul Tidball - p39
4. 91-15 - Bob Gullick (Mosella) - p25
5. 79-10 - Tom Mangnall (Mosella) - p36
6. 68- 5 - Ken Rayner (Colmic) - p28

Silvers
1. 12- 4 - Bob Gullick (Mosella) - p25
2. 10- 1 - Ken Rayner (Colmic) - p28
3. 9- 8 - Vic Bush (Mosella) - p37

29/04/17 - Viaduct - Campbell

Weight - 133lb 4oz
Catch - 21 Carp, 2 Skimmers
Weather - Cool easterly wind, mostly sunny
Match - Norm Sterry Open - 4th out of 55

With 55 anglers booked in there were 3 lakes in, Campbell, Cary and Lodge. Everyone wanted Campbell and I was pleased to draw p114, which was definitely in the right area, so at least I should have a days fishing.

On arrival the wind was blowing off my back, which I was quite thankful for, because it was cold. Either side of me was Phil Hardwick on p113 and Lee Pesticcio on p115, which meant not much room for margin fishing but still set up a rig just in case and mixed up some groundbait.

On the all in I had an 8lber almost immediately short on meat, but no more followed, so switched to the pellet at 14m. I had been pinging Marukyu Amino 6s, but was disappointed with the lack of response, eventually landing another 8lber and then a skimmer.

Lee had caught a couple long on pellet and Phil had started catching on the waggler, which meant after 2hrs I was falling behind, as it become obvious the fish really didn't want to come in on the pole line. I kept pinging pellet over the long pole line, periodically trying it, but never had another fish so abandoned it with 2 hours to go.

After 2hrs a switch to the waggler and 8mm amino pellet produced a couple of carp and the majority of the next 4 hrs was spent fishing the waggler or the straight lead and 8mm meat. Using red meat coloured with Marukyu very berry boost, definitely caught me more fish than standard meat. Also unlike the anglers around me I kept my feed reasonably light feeding only 3x 8mm pellet at a time. As the match progressed I pulled back the deficit against Phil & Lee and started to pull ahead.

Overall, the lake wasn't fishing that well, probably because it has been cold this week with overnight frost. Rumour had it that Cary was fishing even harder, which meant if I could keep going there was a chance of framing. The margins hadn't produced at all, so that was soon forgotten about. I had also kept feeding meat at 5m line and so far hadn't tried it since the start of the match, mainly because I kept catching mostly on the lead or waggler. With 4mins to go I netted a fish and decided to have a look over the meat line before the end of the match. Fortunately with 30secs left I hooked a 10lber which proved critical getting into the frame and a £100 pick up.

1. 144-15 - Phil Weaver - p121

2. 138-13 - Steve Shaw (Mosella) - p110

3. 135- 4 - Shawn Wilson - p85

4. 133- 4 - Ken Rayner (Colmic/Marukyu) - p114

5. 129- 5 - Dave Romain (Viaduct) - p123

6. 126- 1 - Alex Murray (Mosella) - p116

Silvers

1. 43- 3 - Phil Weaver - p121

2. 21-11 - Alex Murray (Mosella) - p116

3. 20- 4 - John Fuidge (Thornbury) - p66

4. 18-12 - Craig Edmunds (Mosella) - p70

5. 16- 2 - Chris Fox (Maesknoll) - p132

23/04/17 - Windmill - Match Lake

Weight - 46lb 12oz
Catch - 10 Carp, 1 Skimmer
Weather - Mostly sunny and light breeze
Match - Open - 5th out of 15

With the Viaduct Spring League today (I couldn't fish because I would miss 2 dates), there was a shortage of alternative matches and decided a trip to Windmill was order. Its only 10mins from home, yet its been 2 years since I was last here. I didn't particularly enjoy my last couple of visits hence the reason why I haven't been back, which is a shame because it would be nice to have a decent venue close to home rather than travelling the normal 45mins+.

Looking at recent results showed some decent weights, although there are definitely certain pegs you wanted to draw mainly because of the way the lakes were dug. Since my last visit, there has been a change in the fishery management and you must also now buy fishery pellet, which are coppens with a few coloured one to distinguish them as fishery brought.

I drew peg 3, which I was told wasn't the best peg, but I should catch. At least I could reach the island with 16m of pole and plumbing up revealed about 2.5ft of water a metre off the island, before it dropped off into 6ft of water. As for the short line it was 6ft deep at 4m, with no shelf, just a sharp slope away.

On the all in, since it was flat calm I decided to start across toss potting meat & hemp and within 5mins had my first carp. Unfortunately the next 2 fell over but managed to add a 2nd by the end of the first hour. By the end of the second hour I was up to 5 carp and looking around not a lot was being caught other than Joe McMahon on p20 and John Osbourne on p18.

By this time the sun was now higher and bites seemed to dry up for everyone. I managed a couple of small carp on meat down the right margin next to the reeds, but it was slow going. 

A switch to pinging 6s across to the island didn't really help, with only 1 carp on the pellet. I even tried the straight lead in case the pole over their heads was the problem, but never had a bite.

With 2 hours to go, it looked like Joe and John would claim 1st & 2nd, but the last framing position was still up for grabs. Unfortunately I only managed a couple more carp, losing 2 as well. The angler to right on p1 DNW'd with only a couple of carp, so on the day I may not have been in the right area, but still disappointed I couldn't catch more down the margins, or short on meat.

1. 93- 9 - Joe McMahon (Bristol) - p22
2. 92- 0 - John Osbourne (Bristol) - p18
3. 57- 7 - Geoff Francis (Bristol) - p8
4. 52- 1 - John Clarke (Bristol) - p6
5. 46-12 - Ken Rayner (Colmic) - p3
6. 41- 0 - Martin Rayet (Bristol) - p10
Silvers
1. 11- 8 - Dave Wilmott (Bristol) - p13
2. 11- 0 - Mike Nicholls (Silverfox) - p28
3. 4-12 - Dave Haines (Bristol) - p16

22/04/17 - Sedges - Tile

Weight - 4lb 8oz
Catch - 5 Skimmers, 1 Carp
Weather - Mostly sunny, north westerly breeze
Match - Coops Guru series - rd 3

The less said about today the happier I will be!

Drew p36, which is in the best section this series (p36-p40), so happy with that, but with the wind blowing towards p40 thought I might struggle in the section. But what happened over the next 6 hours was a bit of a head scratcher.

The wind was blowing at me, so fishing the waggler was difficult but there were a few fish showing themselves, however after an hour I managed to hook 2 and lose 2. Several tries with the hybrid feeder didn't produce, which was really frustrating since I was dropping the feeder nice and tight to the island, yet Mark Bellringer on p35 on the other side of the island finished the match with 114lb, mostly on the feeder!

The only fish I caught was on the pole at 13m and 4mm expander and a lost foul hooked carp on the short meat line.

Overall the lakes didn't fish well, due to the carp being pr.e-occupied with eating skimmer spawn, but still a very frustrating day

1. 115-14 - Jamie Cook (Sedges) - p21

2. 114- 2 - Mark Bellringer (Sedges) - p35

3. 69- 4 - Bob Gullick (Mosella) - p38

4. 65- 5 - Lee Thomas - p26

5. 61- 1 - Dom Sullivan (Mosella) - p39

6. 57-13 - Tom Mangnall (Mosella) - p29

Silvers

1. 17-11 - Vic Bush (Mosella) - p34

2. 15- 8 - Mark Wynne (Colmic/Marukyu) - p22

15/04/17 - Viaduct - Campbell

Weight - 142lb 11oz (19lb 2oz - silvers)
Catch - 21 Carp, 11 Skimmers, 5 Tench, 1 Perch
Weather - Sunny, but cool wind
Match - Open - 8th out of 45

Since buying my new Colmic F66 pole, I haven't had the chance to really test it, so fancied a day at viaduct. With 45 anglers booked in, we had Campbell, Cary and 2 banks of Lodge. Everyone wanted Campbell since it's fishing the best at the moment and I was pleased with p128 on the left hand side of the spit. At least I was in the right area with 138lb coming off the peg yesterday.

The breeze which soon changed to a wind was mostly blowing off my right shoulder, which meant plenty of flat water in front of me, thanks to spit protecting me from the worst, but couldn't help think having some ripple would be beneficial.

A very simple bait tray today, 6mm meat, plus a few 8s with a splash of Marukyu Liquid Krill and 6mm Amino+ pellets and some 8s if required.


On the all, some pellet was deposited at 14m and I started at 6m on the meat. After 30 mins I had 2 carp, but a further 15mins later added a skimmer. A switch to the 14m line were I had been pinging 6s and I soon caught a couple more skimmers and a tench on banded 6mm pellet, before landing an 11lber and then a 5lber. I had also been pinging meat to the spit and first drop in resulted in a tench, but it was slow and no carp.

2hrs in and I was level with Chris Davis on p127, but that changed when he decided to fish the straight the lead. I didn't follow, mainly because I wanted to catch on the pole and in hindsight that was a mistake. Instead I stuck with the long pellet line and caught a few more skimmers and a couple of carp, but moving into the 3rd hour that line was fading.

The 3rd hour proved to be a bit of struggle and I relented trying the lead, initially without success, but then had 2 quick fish, but felt I had switched too late. My long pellet line was now only producing small skimmers and a try shallow didn't produce either, so decided to abandon this line hoping my short meat line and the spit swim would come to life.

The spit proved to be best, by fishing 8mm meat and feeding 6s, catching mostly carp with a couple more tench and a big perch. My short meat line was real disappointment, with only a couple of fish coming from it, but overall felt I was in for a strong finish.

With an hour to go the wheels fell off a little. I was on 19 carp and thought about grabbing my 4th net once I landed my 20th. 5 lost fish later (1 bust me on the straight lead, because I was trying to bully it too much, 1 found the sanctuary of the brambles to my right and the hook pulled out of an 8lber at the net) I eventually put the 4th net in, but was only able to add 1 fish to it.

A really frustrating last hour. In hindsight had I switched to the lead earlier and landed those lost fish, bearing in mind I had only lost 1 carp in the previous 5hrs I should have had a 180lb+. That said it was nice to put together a weight of carp and I was lucky enough to pick up the section money by double default, thanks to a couple of anglers going over their net limits. Thanks Emma.

As for the pole, I have so much more confidence in it following today. Some of the fish hooked by the spit dived back towards the nearside brambles and the pole took on an alarming bend, but there no creaking or groaning. I was very impressed. I know there are some die hard Diawa fans out there, but genuinely if you want a strong, yet stiff pole take a look at the F66.

1. 206- 3 - Chris Davis (Yate) - p127
2. 190-10 - Jack Billet (Viadcut) - p129
3. 180- 8 - Jake Froggatt - p111
4. 174- 1 - Kieran Bailey - p110
5. 156-13 - Chris Davies - p116
6. 151- 7 - Roy Worth (Viaduct) - p80
Silvers
1. 40-12 - Sam Powell (Preston) - p88
2. 35-12 - Steve Jackson (Viaduct) - p69
3. 30- 4 - Nigel Easton (Viaduct) - p64
4. 25- 4 - Dave White (Viaduct) - p131
5. 22- 2 - Nigel Bartlett (Sensas) - p102
6. 19- 2 - Ken Rayner (Colmic/Marukyu) - p128

08/04/17 - Sedges - Tile

Weight - 23lb 12oz
Catch - 8 Skimmers, 2 Carp
Weather - Bright & sunny. South easterly breeze
Match - Coops Guru Series - rd 2 - 14th out of 20, 3rd in section

After my 2nd in section in the first round, I was looking forward to getting good points and a good days fishing this round.

I was happy to draw p25 and with the breeze blowing at me and later cross me felt I could be in for a good day. Well I just had one of those days when I couldn't make anything work.

After an hour I was still bite less having tried the method to the island, the waggler and the long pole. Fortunately not much had been caught in my section (21-25) and there was still plenty of time.

Since the carp weren't playing ball I spent the next hour at 13m fishing expander, priming a shallow line at 16m, as well as feeding 11s towards the rope. 5 Skimmers got me off the mark, but I really needed some carp.

Switching to the shallow pole I managed an 8lber and thought here we go, but no more followed except for an skimmer. Another skimmer on paste and I felt it just wasn't going to happen.

What was really frustrating was being unable to catch except for 1 carp on the waggler, particularly since Mark Wynne and Lee Thomas either side of me were both catching. It felt like I was in dead zone. In hindsight I think feeding 11s to get the distance in the wind was a mistake and I should have been satisfied with feeding 8s at a shorter distance, which I started to do, but lost the rig when I caught it in the tree behind me. Rather than waste time re-setting it, I stayed on the pole hoping the fish would turn up later in the match, they didn't.

Got a battering either side, but felt the fish were in pockets and not really feeding properly yet, which was echoed by a couple of others.

A disappointing day, where I tried to make something happen on a day I think being patient would have been better. Still managed 3rd in section which I hope will be my dropper for the series. Congratulations to Dave Romain for breaking the match record, I think there were a few fish down that end of the lake.

1. 311-15 - Dave Romain - p31

2. 102- 7 - Jamie Cook (Sedges) - p40

3. 98-11 - Tom Mangnall (Mosella) - p29

4. 96-10 - Mark Bellringer (Sedges) - p33

5. 85- 2 - Mark Wynne (Colmic) - p26

6. 77- 7 - Dom Sullivan (Mosella) - p30

.

26/03/17 - Lands End - Speci

Weight - 15lb 4oz
Catch - 25 Skimmer, 12 Roach, 1 F1, 1 Hybrid
Weather - Bright & sunny. Easterly breeze
Match - 1st out of 33 - silvers

The final round of the Winter League and I would have preferred to be competing for the overall positions, but a couple of poor early draws saw me targeting the silvers instead. With one round left I was leading the silvers league and there were 6 anglers competing for the top 2 postions. Rich Lovering was one of those, lying in 2nd place and we ended up in the same section, p33 for Rich and P31 for me. At least I could keep an eye on Rich as he was opposite me. This meant one of us was going to miss out, leaving the door open for Mike Duckett, who if he won his section was guaranteed to finish in the top 2.

Another cold night, an easterly wind was still blowing and bright sunny conditions meant the prospects for a good days fishing weren't good.

On the all in micros and a little groundbait was deposited at 14m, left and right. Starting on the banded 4mm amino+ pellet and toss potting a few at a time, I worked my way along the bottom of the far shelf hoping for an early big F1 or skimmer. After 30mins I did have a big F1 and a 12oz skimmer, unfortunately Rich got off to flyer, catching 2 F1s and quite a few skimmers.

To be honest I wasnt that concerned, because the problem with the p33 was the lack of space, which meant your options are limited, However Rich was doing well and kept catching over the next 2 hours.

A switch to a my main rig (SM chimp 0.4g) and 4mm expander, I started catching skimmers. By rotating left and right I kept them coming, slowly catching Rich.

I had been feeding caster at 4m, but only had 4 roach off this line all match, which was disappointing as I had hoped to catch more from here. Even feeding caster down by the left hand pallet failed to produce a bite, so I had to make the long lines work.

By refeeding new swims and continue rotating I managed to keep the skimmers coming, a number of which were in the 12oz-1lb bracket. Just as I thought I might have caught Rich up he landed a big 2-3lb skimmer, fortunately 5mins later I had one of my own.

The second half of the match saw me catch more fish, but Rich kept chipping away with the odd better fish, although he was now being troubled by carp. With an hour to go my swims were fading and started loose feeding 4s to my left, which was a risk with a number of carp moving around, but it is a tactic I've used in the past and caught some quality skimmers. Indeed I managed a few more skimmers to keep the pressure on Rich.

With 10 mins left a switch to banded 4mm pellet, hoping for a better skimmer. A 10oz hybrid was the result and felt I had enough to win, but then Rich nets another F1 and I really wasn't sure. Rich was first to weigh and to be honest he had more than I expected, fortunately that hybrid proved crucial I as weighed 7oz more. Without the hybrid I would have finished the league in 3rd and out of the money. Tight margins!

A special thank you to Andy Seery 'So Simple' for sponsoring the league and well done to all the winners.

1. 162-15 - Gary O'Shea (Preston) - p18
2. 119- 2 - Tony Rixon (Mosella) - p13
3. 79-15 - Lewis Jones (Thyers) - p27
4. 77-15 - Russ Peck - p29
5. 65- 7 - Steve Hutter (Marukyu/PR floats) - p34
6. 60-12 - Andy Hembrow - p55

Silvers
1. 15- 4 - Ken Rayner (Colmic/Marukyu) - p31
2. 14-13 - Rich Lovering - p33
3. 14- 9 - Mike Duckett (Lands End) - p20

25/03/17 - Sedges - Tile

Weight - 35lb 1oz (5lb 7oz - silvers)
Catch - 5 Carp, 6 Skimmers
Weather - Bright & sunny. Cool north easterly wind
Match - Coops Series - rd 1. 11th out of 20, 2nd out of 5 - section, 2nd in silvers

Today was the first round of a 5 match series run by James Cooper and sponsored by Guru. All 5 matches will be on Tile lake with 4 sections of 5. My draw put me on p31, which was my first ever corner at Sedges and its a flyer with 3 tons coming off the peg in the last 4 matches. However, my initial excitement was tempered a little, because these weights came come when there was a south westerly wind blowing into the corner. This week has seen the wind switch around to a easterly and the last 3 nights has been close to freezing.

When I got to my peg it was flat calm and the general conconsus was I should be Ok for the section, however it was expected the fish would follow the wind at the other end of the lake.

Today was also the first outing for my new Colmic F66 pole (I will do a write up once I have used it a few times), I just hoped I would catch a few fish.

On the all in a few 6mm amino+ pellet (which smell lovely) were deposited at 13m and I started on the waggler and 8mm pellet, but almost immediately knew it didn't feel right because the wind was cutting across me, pulling the waggler through too quickly. By pinging 8mm pellet towards the aerator I did manage 2 carp later on in the match, but bites came almost as soon as the pellet hit the water.

A switch to the 13m line and a banded 6mm pellet I caught a couple of decent skimmers and bumped another. A switch to fishing expanders on a lighter elastic only resulted in smaller skimmers, but unfortunately they soon disappeared.

Down the end bank at 14m I fed some meat & hemp and eventually had a 12lber on meat, but it was a loner. A switch to feeding pellet resulted in another carp on 6mm expander, but again it appeared to a loner. I had wanted to fish longer down the margin, but the wind was proving to be a real pain cutting across me, pushing the rig away from where I wanted it.

With 2 hours to go, it was obvious the lake was fishing hard, in particular my section. Dave Romain next to me thrashed the waggler most of the day and only had 4 carp to show for his efforts, but it was Martin Heard on p33 who was leading the way catching mostly on the waggler in the ripple off the island. So far I had left the area down the bank towards the overhanging tree as a safe zone if needed and it was now needed. A carp on the straight lead and meat almost immediately,it looked like a good idea, but yet again it was a loner. Even tried the method fished as tight as I dare to the tree didn't produce. There simply wasn't any volume of fish in the swim and it was turning into a classic case of right peg wrong day.

Fortunately I managed 2nd in section so not a complete bust, but the real bonus was picking up £40 for 2nd in the silvers. 

Overall the lake didn't fish as well as expected and the recent colder weather left it mark.
1. 136-14 - Jamie Cook (Sedges) - p40
2. 132- 1 - James Cooper (Guru) - p37
3. 95- 2 - Paul Homewood - p39
4. 74-14 - Dave White - p30
5. 74- 4 - Dom Sullivan (Mosella) - p38
6. 54-13 - Martin Heard (Mosella) - p33
Silvers
1. 6- 1 - Vic Bush (Mosella) - p29
2. 5- 7 - Ken Rayner (Colmic/Marukyu) - p31
3. 4- 4 - Jamie Parkhouse - p34

18/03/17 - Sedges - Tile

Weight - 110lb 5oz (10lb 12oz - silvers)
Catch - 17 Carp, 7 Skimmers, 1 Goldfish
Weather - Windy, mostly cloudy and overcast
Match - Pairs Series - 2nd round - 4th out of 34 overall , 1st in section

The last 7 months has certainly been an interesting time in my fishing. Really proud to have been asked to be part of Colmic South West, which then triggered a 10 week period were I struggled to catch and string any results together! Fortunately since the new year I have started to pick-up again and now the Colmic team is sponsored by Marukyu. I have used some of their products in the past, such as the JPZ pellts and 131 groundbaits, and I'm really looking forward to using more of their products. I would also like to thank Mark Poppleton, because without his efforts the sponsorship with Colmic and now Marukyu wouldn't have happened. My job now is to do justice to both brands.

Back to todays match and following our disaster in the first round Mark and I were effectively fishing for pride. It was my turn to draw and put Mark on p19 (brick Lake) were 100lb came from last week and I was on p27 (Tile Lake) which was in a decent area.

My section included Ben Hagg on p26, Dave White (p28) and Nick Veale in the corner (p30), so a tough section. It was also a lively section with Jamie Parkhouse on the other side of Ben in the next section. Dave in particular kindly reminded me of my 10lb from the previous round - more than once!

One of the nice things about Sedges is the venue rarely fishes the same the following week. Today there was a strong westerly wind, which was blowing off my back, which would make presentation easier, however I was concerned the fish would follow the wind to other side of the lake. I set up a 4g loaded insert waggler, a small hybrid feeder, a straight lead and just the one pole rig to fish banded pellet in 6ft of water. A shallow rig was also set up, but never got used.

On the all in a half cup of 6s covered in some Marukyu Halibat boost juice at 14m and I started on the waggler & 8mm pellet set at 2.5ft. After 15mins and no bites, prompted a switch to the feeder, which produced a 12oz goldfish.

After 40mins this was my only fish, but everyone was struggling, except for Jamie who had a good start on his pole line.

A switch the pole, fishing banded 6mm pellet was slow initially, but my pinging 6mm pellet I started to string a few fish together including a couple of decent size skimmers and 2 carp, before the line died. This now put me roughly level with Ben, but Dave had yet to catch and Nick in the corner was being hampered by the anglers walking around the canal lake.

A switch back to the waggler were I had been pinging 8mm pellet towards the end of the island (wind assisted) resulted in catching carp over the next couple of hours fishing between 2-3ft deep. Fishing in the ripple was important, because when ever there was a lull in sport corresponded with the wind dropping. What was also noticeable, I caught most of my bigger fish in open water up to 12lb 12oz, away from the island were I was pinging pellet.

With 2 hours left I was now leading the section, closely followed by Ben, who fortunately for me had a smaller stamp of fish.

A couple more tries on the pole only produced a couple of skimmers and those carp just didn't want to come in, whilst the anglers opposite in the wind were all catching on the pole. Other than catching a few fish early, no one really caught consistently on the pole.

The last 90mins was a case of picking off fish where I could. A couple more on the waggler and a decent carp on the lead/meat.

Come the weigh in I felt I was close to a 100lb and was delighted to weigh 110lb, banishing my previous rounds result. Ben finished 2nd with 78lb and Dave had a tough day with 32lb. As it transpired my 110lb was the best weight on my bank, finished 4th overall.

Mark struggled in his section which was won with only 15lb, so not surprise he wasn't too happy. Anyway well done to the winners and looking forward to James Cooper series starting next week.

1st - 160- 5 - Nigel Garrett (Mosella) - p40

2nd - 116-12 - Martin Bilder - p10

3rd - 115- 3 - Keith Bilder - p33

4th - 110- 5 - Ken Rayner (Colmic/Maryuku)

5th - 99-10 - Paul Lock - (Sedges)

6th - 94-10 - Jamie Cook - (Sedges)

1st Keith Bilder and Jack Arpino 2 points 332lb 8oz
2nd Jamie Parkhouse and Paul Homewood 2 points 287lb 12oz
3rd Ben Hagg and Dan White 3 points 437lb 12oz

12/03/17 - Lands End - Johns Lake

Weight - 52lb 11oz (18lb 3oz - silvers)
Catch - 18 Skimmers, 8 Roach, 6 F1s, 2 Perch, 1 Rudd, 7 Carp
Weather - Mostly cloudy.
Match - Winter League rd 5 - 2nd out of 33 - silvers, 1st out of 5 - silvers section

After yesterdays match I really needed a good day today. This being the penultimate round of the Winter League it was my turn for Johns Lake. Holding a fragile lead on the Silverfish League I needed another silver section win to consolidate my position.

Whilst I wasn't too concerned were I drew, because at this time of year the fish start to spread out, however ideally wanted 1 of the bottom 4 pegs (41,42,68 & 70) because they are usually the most consistent areas for silvers.

Fortunately I drew p41, would have preferred p42 but I was happy enough. Rich Lovering who was just behind me in the league drew p66 in the other section, but was moaning about it being no good, until I pointed out that silvers was won from his peg in the last round.

2x rigs were set up to fish the open water, one for hair rigged pellet and the other for soft pellet. I had another rig to fish caster short and a rig to fish caster down each margin.

On the all in, I went out to 13m tapped a few 4s out via the toss pot with a banded 4mm pellet and was soon attached to an 8lb carp. Next put in I had a pound skimmer, then an F1. For the next hour so I tried various spots at 13-14m toss potting 4s and continue to pick up decent skimmers and a couple of F1s, before it slowed.

A switch to feeding micros/4s and trying to catch from the one spot with the expander rig resulted in another run of fish. Again I had to move around the peg, but I was catching.

The surprise was my short caster line, which only produced a couple of small roach, so gave up on it half way through.

I had also started feeding caster down each margin. The right hand produced a decent perch, plus a few roach and carp. The left hand side which was a little shallower only produced carp, but I wasn't too concerned because I hadn't seen anyone put together a net of silvers so the section points were secured.

Rich Lovering was moaning away, claiming he could only catch small skimmers and this would be his dropped result, however he managed 9lb of them which was just enough to win the silvers sections. He looked a lot happier.

Overall a much better day than yesterday, where I managed to stay top of the silvers league, but its incredibly tight with 6 of us potentially able to claim the top 2 pay out positions.

1. 179- 4 - Craig Edmunds (Mosella) - p33
2. 141-10 - Shawn Kitteridge (Thyers) - p18
3. 109- 1 - Tony Rixon (Mosella) - p40
4. 103- 8 - Paul Elmes (Mosella) - p13...
5. 88- 8 - Russ Peck  (Lands End) - p51
6. 80-14 - Pete Nurse - p18
Silvers
1. 19-12 - Mike Duckett (Lands End) - p34
2. 18- 3 - Ken Rayner (Colmic) - p41
3. 18- 0 - Rob Watts - p11
4. 17- 6 - Andy Hembrow - p5
5. 14-14 - Emma Drysdale (Legacy Tackle) - p29
6. 13- 8 - Tony Rixon (Mosella) - p40