27/02/22 - Goodiford Mill

Weight - 28lb 11oz (3lb 10oz)

Catch - 5 Carp, 13 Skimmers, 9 Roach

Weather - Bright & clear. Cold south easterly wind

Match - So Simple League rd 1 - 8th out of 18 (3rd in section)

What started as an idea, developed quickly and 18 So Simple members signed up to what should be a very interesting 8 match league. Interesting because there are 2 rounds at Goodiford Mill and Todber, plus 4 rounds at Durleigh. So, a real mix of venues and I am personally looking forward to catching a big bag of bream from Durleigh.

There always seems to be something going on when Andy is around and he didn’t disappoint, getting his car stuck in the soft grass verge, which took the efforts of most to push him out, only to realise he managed to beach himself on a hidden tree stump!

Back to the match and p29 for me. My peg had a small island which was covered in brambles at 17/18m slightly to my left and the back of the island at 25m. Space was a little tight with Andy Bull to my right on p28 next to the end bank.

Plumbing around revealed a shallow bar

comes off the island and then 4.5ft to 5ft elsewhere. Following last weeks match it looked like silvers may prove important, so 2 balls of BMG: FA1 with micros and dead maggot was deposited at 6m.

Whilst that settled, I was hoping for an early pull on a small method cast other side of the bar. I also started pinging 6s onto the bar, but after 50mins and 1 roach I had to try my silvers line to catch

Unfortunately, this line proved to be slow. In the meantime, Andy landed his 3^rd carp on the method cast into the corner by the sunken

trees, leaving me with no choice but to cast tight to the far bank trees (and snags) to get a bite and I soon landed my first carp.

The rest of the match was a real struggle. I did manage 2 more carp from the far bank, however Andy kept catching. I simply couldn’t pull the fish out of the corner, but to be fair to Andy, he kept pinging pellet into the corner to keep the fish in his swim.

I managed a few more silvers from my short line, but would catch a few before they back

offed and just wouldn’t settle.

With 2hrs remaining I started feeding 4s and corn down my left margin. Fortunately, I managed a 9lber and then a 5lber on the all out to sneak 3^rd in section. 2^nd in section was 64lb and I simply don’t think that was in the peg.

So, a steady start to the series and I am looking forward to the next round at Todber.

Finally thanks to Simon Poynter for the photos.

1^st 172- 0 – Elliot Fay – p12

2^nd 76- 3 – Chris Ware – p7

3^rd  69- 9 – Andy Bull – p28

4^th  67- 1 – Dave Wykes – p51

5^th  64- 1 – Karl Turner – p21

20/02/22 - Todber - Ash

Weight - 49lb 13oz

Catch - 17 Carp

Weather - Increasingly wet and windy

Match - Winter League - round 4 (48 fished) - 4th in section

The 4^th and final round of the winter league, and my turn for Ash Lake. The weather was going to play a big part in the day again, with storms Dudley and Eunice creating havoc during the week, and strong winds up to 50mph were forecast for today.

The team draw put me on p68. Not a great draw this series with 70 & 71 being the dominant pegs in the section, so 3^rd in section was likely to be the best I could achieve unless the fish had moved.

On the all-in I started on the straight lead and punched meat cast to the far bank which resulted in a carp after 10mins. No more bites followed, but I noticed those catching to my right were on the method, so switched to a small banjo feeder with Blue Ice RTGs and a 6mm yellow gofter and caught 3 carp quite quickly before I couldn’t catch for over an hour.

I hadn’t set up a long pole rig as the forecast wind was due to increase. Instead, I fished a mini cage feeder, filled with meat and meat on the hook, and pinging meat over the top. Initially all I got were little knocks from skimmers, before eventually catching a couple of carp.

However, there just didn’t seem to be a volume of fish in my area of the lake as both Chris and Matt either side of me were also struggling. In an effort to make something happen I started catapulting small balls of micros to the far bank and kept pinging meat at 14m, as well as feeding meat and hemp on a 2+2 line.

Well in the end I alternated between the far bank and the 14m line but couldn’t catch more than a couple of fish off either line before having to switch. As for the short pole line, I foul hooked and lost 2 carp.

At the weigh-in I beat Chris and Matt, to claim 4^th in section, but the 3 of us were bottom on the lake and a reflection of how the past 6 weeks has gone for me.

As for the team, we were only 2pts away from claiming 5^th overall, but we couldn’t recover in time from the poor team draw in the first 2 rounds. Oh well, always next year.

1^st 224-12 – Craig Edmunds – p77 (HG)

2^nd 174- 6 – Dave Romain – p59 (HV)

3^rd 173-  0 – Guy Manton – p54 (HV)

4^th 172-  8 – Mark Poppleton – p88 (HG)

5^th 168-  0 – Lee Jan – p90 (HG)

6^th 165-10 – Andy Power – p84 (HG)

17/02/22 - Goodiford Mill - Main Lake

Weight - 16lb 3oz (5lb 14oz - silvers)

Catch - 3 Carp, 21 Skimmers, Roach, Perch and Gudgeon

Weather - Increasingly windy, mostly cloudy with sunny periods

Match - So Simple (18 fished) - 14th overall, 4th in section

A message to Andy suggesting a practice session at Goodiford before the start of next weeks league, turned into an 18 pegger. We had the whole lake, so plenty of space, although there were very few pegs that didn’t have a snag of one sort or another in it.

Ideally, I would have preferred to draw around the main island; but I ended up on p38 at the bottom of the right hand arm and the shallowest peg on the lake. I really didn’t fancy it, although I was assured it has won matches in the past, but l just felt it had the look of a boom or bust peg.

At the start the wind was very manageable and I set up a swim at 14.5m to fish expanders, feeding 4s and micros. Starting on a small method, blue ice RTG’s and blue ice groundbait, with a 6mm yellow gofter cast towards the clean area of the far bank. With no bites after 30mins, I just felt it was too shallow, so tried by the sunken tree to my left, but again no bites.

A switch to the pole resulted in a few small skimmers on 4mm Janners, but the wind had picked up meaning I had to come back to 13m. I kept plugging away, switching to double dead maggot, but fishing was still difficult, although a big perch of 1-11 was a welcome addition. Ideally, I should have fished shorter for the silvers, as the wind was becoming increasingly strong, but I was hoping by continually feeding 4s and micros I would pull in a few carp. In the end the wind became too bad, and I had to put the pole away to save any breakages.

When the wind allowed, I had been feeding 8s towards the sunken tree and towards the end bank, and so far, I hadn’t had a bite on either the feeder or straight lead. With 90mins remaining, a switch from the method to a small 24g banjo resulted in my first carp by the sunken tree, which I promptly lost at the net. Fortunately, I netted 2 carp, plus a few skimmers over the next 40mins and thought I could have a strong finish, but the swim died on me and I couldn’t get a bite anywhere else.

By casting a little tighter to the tree, I caught another carp before the end of the match.

So, not great on the fishing front, but it was great to catch up with some people I haven’t seen for a while, as well as meeting up with some new faces who will be fishing the league. Overall, the fishing was hard for most, but what was evident is you can’t ignore those silvers as there were several good silvers weights.

Well done to Elliot on the comfortable win. Hopefully those carp will spread out a little for next week’s match and I can get a new drawing arm.

1^st 148-13 – Elliot Fay – p36

2^nd 60-14 – Kelvin King – p23

3^rd 32-12 – Mike Duckett – p21

4^th 24- 7 – Bruce Hunt – p28

5^th 23- 7 – Andy Seery – p2

Silvers

1^st 24- 7 – Bruce Hunt – p28

2^nd 20- 6 – Andy Seery – p2

3^rd 17- 3 – Chris Ware – p1

12/02/22 - Todber - Hillview

Weight - 83lb 10oz

Catch - 20 Carp

Weather - Sunny, cloudy period. Strong southerly wind.

Match - Open (28 fished) - 10th overall, 2nd in section.

28 of us over Hillview and Ash, but after a mild week, it was cold yesterday and today it was blowing a bit.

I am due a draw on a few fish and when I opened the ticket to see 46 staring back at me again, I did think oh FFS! I was prepared to fish for silvers, but when I got to my peg the cold southerly wind was blowing straight into my face and I didn’t fancy battling the wind by fishing the pole. During the week a few fish had been caught in the area, although most seemed to be hanging around 47 & 48 between the islands, so I settled on the idea of fishing the straight lead or feeder. I had set up one pole rig to fish meat short, but never had a bite on it.

On the all in I fed 3 large cage feeders of micros and corn (boosted with baninion) at 16m. I started off fishing the straight lead with either 8 or 10mm punched meat in the deeper water off the island and 20mins later caught a 4lber. After 2hrs I only had 2 carp in the net, whilst those around me were catching and I felt the writing was on the wall again, I then had a run of 5 carp up to 10lb from the island which made me feel happier.

On the 16m line I had been fishing a pellet cone and corn to try and concentrate some feed in the same area, and it started to work as I began to put a run of fish together, switching to the island whenever it went quiet.

With 45mins remaining the 16m line seemed to dry up and I switched to feeding meat catapulting 2 pouches every cast which resulted in a couple more fish.

I was glad when the match finished as my hands were freezing and I was surprised to finish 2^nd in section. However, I was also a little annoyed at myself, as I lost 3 carp over the short line which snapped the hooklength by having the clutch set too tight and another where the hook pulled out on the whistle. Either of those fish would have given me the section win and with a little more care 4^th overall was a possibility.

1st: Trigger 106lb 8oz (60 HV)

2nd: Dwayne Seed 103lb 8oz (49 HV)

3rd: Martin McMahon 99lb 8oz (59 HV)

4th: Rocky 98lb 2oz (70 Ash)

5th: Pemb Wrighting 94lb 8oz (61 HV)

Silvers:

1st: Pete Neate 22lb 2oz (36 HV)

2nd: Paul Holland 19lb 8oz (67 Ash)

3rd: Jack Jones 17lb 4oz (62 Ash)

06/02/22 - Todber - Hillview

Weight - 74lb 10oz

Catch - 25 Carp

Weather - Gales, some showers

Match - Winter League (48 fished)

The 3^rd round of the Winter League and it was Mark Wynne’s turn for the draw and to be fair anything would have been better than what we have drawn so far.

It was my turn for the better half of Hillview and at least a few fish. I was handed p50, which so far has been 5^th and 2^nd in the last 2 rounds, it also won yesterday’s open, although I later found out that p49 wasn’t drawn.

I had joked on Facebook with Chris Martin who has also had a torrid set of draws, that we would be on 49 & 50, and guess who was on 49?

The weather today was horrendous, gale force winds blowing left to right, meant a straightforward approach of fishing the tip. I also set up a couple of pole rigs to fish down the margin and at 2+1 if the wind dropped sufficiently.

On the all-in I cast ¾ of the way across with the straight lead and meat, but the tip didn’t go round. Casting shorter and it was the same result! In the meantime, everyone else seemed to be catching and I thought ‘It’s going to be one those days!’. I eventually caught after 45mins by casting as far left as I dared but I was already 20-30lb behind everyone.

The next hour produced a fish most casts, before they drifted off and it was a case of just being patient. I tried to my right but didn’t have a bite although Steve Martin was catching well on p52.

With 90mins remaining, I had 5 fish in 5 casts towards the far bank and was hoping for a late run. There were signs the wind may be dropping and I was hopeful of catching on the pole late.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work out as I hoped. I had been feeding micros and corn down the margin, but only hooked and lost 2 fish. On the 2+1 line, I fed with meat & hemp and there were obviously a few fish about, as I caught 4 and missed a few bites, but the wind picked up again making presentation difficult.

In hindsight I should have fed meat at 13m and fished the lead over the top. Needless to say I was disappointed to finish 5^th in my 6-man section. Chris had 141lb which was only good enough for 3^rd in section. Fortunately, the rest of the team did the business as we finished 2^nd on the day.

Top 6 Individuals

1- 228- 8 - Andy Power - p70 (ash)

2- 215-11 - Mark Wynne - p88 (HG)

3- 198- 0 - Shaun Townsend - p47 (HV)

4- 193- 0 - Greg Welsby - p87 (HG)

5- 186-14 - Scott Russell - 90 (HG)

6- 179- 1 - Jon Gray - p59 (HV)

Teams on the day

1- SWAS - 9pts (385- 4)

2- Well Drawn - 11pts (446- 3)

3- Trigs Non-Rejects - 11pts (432- 4)

4- Wilts Angling - 11pt (359- 6)

5- Thatchers Vets - 12pts (579- 4)

6- Bruton Bungholes - 13pts (367-10)

7- Trigs Rejects - 15pts (440-11)

8- PI Thatchers - 16pts (433- 1)

9- Tackle UK - 16pts (428-11)

10-Kingfishers - 16pts (218- 3)

11-PR Floats - 19pts (254- 6)

12-Alans Angling - 19pts (227- 2)