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

08/03/17 - Sedges - Tile

Weight - 40lb 10oz (15lb 3oz - silvers)
Catch - 6 Carp, 18 Skimmers, 1 Tench
Weather - Mild & showers
Match - Costcutter - 2nd out of 8

With the upcoming pairs series this Saturday and the individual league starting in 3 weeks time, I really wanted to have a practice to get back in tune with the place, because its been a nearly a year.

When ever you turn up at Sedges you cant help but be impressed at how well kept the venue is. Today there were only 8 of us, including Mark Poppleton, my partner for the pairs series. the concensus was the weather report of heavy rain had put off a couple from turning. So we could at least stay clean (relatively speaking) Jamie pegged us along the road bank of Tile and I ended up with p23. Mark drew next to me on p22.

I hadn't done much prep, particularly for my rods, so kept it simple with a straight lead rod and a small hybrid feeder. I did have a waggler rod already set up, but after a couple of casts it wasn't right and never got around top sorting it put properly. 2 pole rigs were also set up, both 0.14 bottoms, 1 to target the deep water at 13m and 6m, plus another to fish up the near shelf. I had considered setting up a proper skimmer rig, but to be honest with only 2 pay outs today carp needed to be my main target.

On the all in micros and few 4s were introduced at 13 and 6mm meat and hemp at 6m. Started on the straight lead and bread towards the island.

After 15mins I landed my first carp and was soon attached to another before the hooklength snapped. Schoolboy error, because when I was landing the first carp the line had snagged on its dorsal fin and I really should have checked it, but didn't. On the hour mark my 2nd carp was safely netted. With no further bites, a switch to 13m and 4mm expander resulted in a 3lb+ tench which was a nice start and I was soon catching skimmers, toss potting micros/4s every fish, but think I over did it as bites slowed.

Mark had also switched to his pole line, but catching more quickly by pinging pellet. More pinging and less toss potting brought the fish back and had a nice little run of skimmers up 3lb, before they backed off again.

A 3rd carp mid match on the lead/bread kept my total ticking over, but it was obvious the majority of fish were the other side of the rope. As for my meat line that was a complete bust, despite several attempts during the match I never had a bite. Fortunately 3 carp on the lead & bread by the island in the last hour helped, bring my total to 6.

I had seen a few fish being caught, but it didn't appear anyone was running away with it and when the all out was called was hopeful of framing. By the time the scales arrived 28lb was the best weight, which I knew I would beat since I estimate I had about 35lb. As it was I had more silvers than expected my weighing 15lb of silvers. Mark had 18lb of silvers, which was the best silvers on the day, but only 4 carp to finish with 32lb. The angler on the end peg had a good last hour fishing against the end bank, weighing 10lb of silvers, but his 5 carp weighed 33lb to beat me of by 4lb.

Overall an enjoyable return to the venue and between us a couple of pointers for Saturdays pair's match.

1. 44- 5 - Rob Dodds (Sedges) - p21

2. 40-10 - Ken Rayner (Colmic) - p23

3. 32- 6 - Mark Poppleton (Colmic) - p22

4. 28-11 - Nick Selway (Sedges) - p29

11/03/17 - Sedges - Brick

Weight - 10lb 9oz
Catch - 5 Skimmers, 1 Carp
Weather - Mostly cloudy, cool south easterly
Match - Pairs Series rd 1 - 33rd out of 34.

The first round of the pairs series and I was really looking forward to it. Mark did the honours with the draw, handing me p4 and p32 on Tile for himself. Neither pegs were great, but ultimately we were only fishing for our 4 peg section.

To be honest my day didn't get any better, as in hindsight I killed my swim at the start, introducing 3 balls of groundbait and micros at 13m.

Starting on the straight lead towards the rope, didn't produce any bites regardless of what I put on the hook. A switch to the feeder resulted in a 1lb skimmer, but again no more bites.

An hour into the match and it was time for the pole and after 10mins realised I had made a mistake. Trying to be positive for the skimmers back fired, as feeding micros and 4s was the way forward. Mind you, bumping 3 skimmers didn't help my cause.

Pushing out to 14m helped a little but bites were at a premium. My section included pegs 1,3 and 5. The angler on p1 had already caught a couple of carp, Rich Coles on p3 had a couple of skimmers, as had Vic Bush on p5 and I was falling further behind.

My short line were I had fed pellet hadn't produced a single bite. There were a few carp boshing mostly on the other side of the lake, so I setup a waggler to fish half depth with 8mm pellet. On the 3rd cast I had a 6lber and thought I might be able to rescue my position. Unfortunately not, as I didn't have another bite. Out of desperation I kept firing 8s over the waggler line hoping to pull some fish into the swim, but it just didn't happen.

10lb was a miserable return for the peg. Had I been less aggressive at the start and simple fished pellet, I'm confident I would have had 15lb of skimmers as both Rich and Vic had done, and then probably nicked a couple of carp. Only 30lb won my section which turned out to be the worse section over the 2 lakes, as the rest of the complex fished really well.

Mark had a tough time from his peg which has a reputation of being poor. Fishing for pride in the next round! 

If I cant catch because of the draw, then I don't tend to beat myself up, however to mess up the way I did today, well I was pretty angry with myself.

1. 99- 3 - Ben Hagg (Guru) - p11
2. 189- 7 - Tom Mangnall (Mosella) - p31
3. 144-12 - Dan White (Garbolino) - p25
4. 121- 3 - Dave Romain - p21
5. 119- 0 - Luke Pester - p10
6. 110- 9 - Keith Bilder - p20

05/03/17 - Viaduct - Cary

Weight - 30lb
Catch - 2 Carp, 2 Skimmer, 1 Hybrid
Weather - Very windy, heavy showers
Match - Winter League rd 5 - 10th out of 19 section

So to the last round of the winter league and following a good start in the first 2 rounds, however poor draws in the last 2 proved to be a bit of disaster for team Colmic, leaving us in 8th. It was down to Calum Craig to draw us some flyers so we could hopefully make the top 5. Well I wasn't complaining about my draw, p100, which won the lake is the last round and has been a good area for skimmers.

As a team we needed to make up 18pts to have any chance of getting into the top 5, so decided to be really positive focusing solely on the lead, fishing for carp - boom or bust! I would have to forego the silvers, but to be honest, with winds forecast to gust 40mph, blowing left to right I was glad to leave the pole in the bag.

As for the rest of the team, Nick Merry ended up on p131, Mark Poppleton p70, Martin Preston p51 and Calum probably drew himself the worst peg on p20.

After 30mins I had 1lb skimmer on corn, my next fish was a big hybrid again on corn after approximately 2hrs, but as yet no carp. Ricky Mills to my left on p102, plus pegs 77 and 78 were all catching, as were the anglers at the other end of the lake (p90 & p94) and I was falling further behind.

The 2 anglers to my right hadn't caught and any indications I had all came to my left opposite the vacant p101. I was briefly attached to carp which came off, which was annoying. But at least it suggested there were some carp in the area.

I had been pinging corn and some meat at 13/14m, but only caught 1 small skimmer. With 30mins left the tip finally went round went round and a proper carp was attached picking up my 8mm punched meat.

Needless to say I was relieved to have landed it and just needed another tug. Fortunately I got one in the same area to my left, giving me an extra 26lb in the last 30mins and 10pts, which was much better than the 3pts I was potentially staring at. It was just a shame the fish didn't move out of Ricky's swim a little earlier. The 2 anglers to my right weighed 3lb and 15lb, so not many fish in the area.

As for the team we finished 5th on the day, with Mark winning Lodge and Nick doing well from Campbell. Martin was a little unlucky on Match lake, due to the 'spring' mini section fishing so well for the first time this year and Calum as expected struggled from his poor draw.

Overall we finished 8th, which considering the 2 poor draws in rounds 3 & 4 we were reasonably happy with.

Overall:
1. Lee Werrett (Natural Talent) - 116lb - peg 127
2. Clayton Hudson (Future Networks) - 110lb 14oz - peg 113
3. Paul Greenwood (M5 Angling) - 106lb 15oz - peg 129
4. James Knight (Somerset Angling) - 103lb - peg 38
5. Ricky Mills (Moaning Maggots) - 101lb 11oz - peg 102
6. Glyn Reynolds (Viaduct All Stars) - 99lb 4oz - peg 128
Silvers:
1. Andy Power (PI Thatchers) - 32lb 11oz - peg 61
2. Sam Powell (PI Thatchers) - 31lb 10oz - peg 37
3. Jon Gray (Somerset Angling) - 22lb 12oz - peg 12
4. Phil Hardwick (Moaning Maggots) - 21lb 1oz - peg 71
5. Paul Faiers (2nd Time Lucky) - 17lb 5oz - peg 56
6. Andrew Cranston (PI Thatchers) - 16lb 12oz - peg 125

Team Points On The Day:
1. Natural Talent - 70
2. Thatchers Vets - 67
3. Mosella Bathampton - 64
4. Silverfox - 62
5. Colmc SW - 59
6. Somerset Angling - 58
7. Maver Cadbury Angling - 56