23/06/24 - Witherington Farm - Cottage

Weight - 58lb 10oz

Catch - 10 Carp

Weather - Warm & sunny

Match - Tackle Den (20 fished) - 3rd on lake, 8th overall

I was looking forward to this match, as I won the corresponding fixture last year with 186lb on paste and planned to do the same again regardless of which lake I drew.

However, since last year the fishery was underwater for most of the winter thanks to the river being flooded, which resulted in lost fish. More recently, I found out after the match, there was an algae problem on Cottage that resulted in an oxygen crash last week!

Even without knowing that I wanted to be on Selwood, but I drew p10 on Cottage, which was opposite the island. When I arrived, there were plenty of fish blowing and I thought I might catch a few.

Well, it was a struggle. I started at 8m on paste (Uzit GLM), feeding 4mm p-nut pellet and was surprised not to get a bite, although I eventually netted a foul hooker.

Jason Crump to my left caught a couple of fish on the straight lead cast to the island and after his 3^rd fish it prompted me to try the method. This resulted in an immediate response netting a 4lber. The hook pulled out of the next one, but then I couldn’t get another bite. Neither could Jason, although Dave Keen on the right-hand bank was catching casting a method to the island.

I kept pinging 6s to the island and I managed another carp on the straight lead and 8mm pellet later. I did consider whether to set up a meat rig, but decided against it preferring to stick with the paste hoping the fish would get their heads down, particularly as no one was really running away with it and most were struggling.

That said, in hindsight I wish I had brought some worm, as Crumpy caught a few fish on it during the middle part of the match, when the fish were really moody. There was plenty of blowing in the peg, but it just felt like the fish didn’t want to feed in the silt.

Eventually, with 90mins remaining I started to get clean bites on my 8m paste line and caught 6 carp before the end of the match. The surprise was I never had a bite from either of margins, despite feeding them from the start.

I finished the match 3^rd on the lake, just behind Jason and as expected Selwood was the better lake to be on.

1.    103-  8 – Andrew Black – (Selwood)

2.      81-  8 – Dave Keen – (Cottage)

3.      78-10 – Dan Barnett – (Selwood)

4.      70-  5 – Bobby Moore – (Selwood)

5.      66-10 – Cliff Dutton – (Selwood)

6.      65-12 – Matt Greaves – (Selwood)

20/06/24 - Ivy House - Heron

Weight - 230lb 11oz

Catch - 146 Carp, 34 F1s

Weather - Warm & sunny

Match - Open (5 fished) - 2nd overall

As I had a load of spare (vac packed) caster due to over ordering I decided to book into the open at Ivy House on Heron Lake hoping for a day’s shallow caster fishing.

There were only 5 booked fishing, although I was told 10 had booked in. At least we had plenty of space and I drew p4.

I started on paste (top kit plus 1), whilst I primed my shallow line and after 30mins had 14 fish, however except for 2 decent size carp the fish were 12oz or less. In that time everyone else was catching F1s shallow.

A switch to shallow and I caught F1s, but after an hour the F1s were replaced by small carp despite trying different depths.

To give the line a rest I tried the right margin on a top kit with Uzit GLM paste and started to catch some better sized carp, but still had the odd tiny one. I fed caster down my left margin and caught, but the average stamp was on the smaller side.

I must admit I lost my way a little mid-match trying to keep the margins and shallow lines going. Every time I returned to the shallow line, I would get a couple of F1s, before the small carp returned, as it became obvious the F1s wouldn’t settle in the bright flat conditions.

With 2hrs remaining I binned the shallow line to concentrate on the 2 margins, converting the left margin from caster to paste. The move worked as I had a strong end to the match.

Dave won the match, as he managed to catch more F1s shallow and then had a good run-on pellet down his margin. I had more fish, but just too many small fish.

1.    254-  0 – Dave Willmott – p2

2.    230-11 – Ken Rayner – p4

3.    191-  4 – Tim Hadland – p8 

16/06/24 - Harescombe - Doughnut Lake

Weight - 32lb 10oz

Catch - 17 Carp

Weather - Warm and sunny. Breezy at times.

Match - Open (12 fished) - 10th overall

A first trip to the Donut Lake, which was formally a silvers lake. As the name suggests the lake is in the rough shape of a donut being 14-16m wide, around a central island. Plumbing up was interesting, as there was no margin or shelfs, as the bank slopped away to around 8ft deep. As for the far bank, that plumbed up a little all over the place. I think the general feeling was that whoever dug the lake was drunk at the time.

However, since Gary has taken over the fishery, the lake has been restocked with carp averaging 1.5lb where 70-80lb has been needed to win and further improvements are planned.

P10 was my home for the day and based on the couple of matches held so far I didn’t get the feeling it was a particularly good area and when I got to my peg I had no cover along the far bank, and it was the full 16m wide.

I had been told pellet was the way to go and being new fish reared on pellet that made sense. As such I decided to focus on 6mm expander, feeding 4s and micros.

I had the majority of my fish in the first half of the match, catching my 1 and only fish short, with everything else caught at 16m from the far bank. The second half was more of a struggle not helped by a side wind making presentation difficult. I did try fishing the method across and I came back onto the short line which I had kept topped up with pellet without success. I even gave caster shallow a go, but just couldn’t get a bite anywhere.

In the last hour when the wind dropped a little, I caught a couple more fish from the far bank but it was all a little too late.

In hindsight, I didn’t make the most of the peg. I should have probably switched to fishing hard pellet and/or set up a rig to fish in the deeper water, although in reality I didn’t feel there were many fish in the area.

I look forward to returning, hopefully on a few fish.

1.    86-  9 – Allan Oram – p26

2.    71-  3 – Mick O’Brien – p6

3.    67-  5 – Elvis – p19

4.    65-12 – Adrian Hill – p2

15/06/24 - Harescombe - Match Lake

Weight - 61lb 13oz

Catch - 21 F1s, 12 Carp, 1 Skimmer

Weather - Changeable! Wind, rain, flat calm, sun, heavy hail, thunder.

Match - Summer Series rd 2 (14 fished) - 1st overall

The 2^nd round of the summer series and I was reasonably happy to draw p12 thinking it would be a decent section peg.

On the drive up the temperature gauge on the car read 10c and it was quite windy as we were setting up. After my last couple of matches I decided to simplify my approach, focusing on meat and pellet, so no paste or caster.

On the all-in I started on 4mm p-nut pellet at 3+2 to my right just past some weed and lost the first 3 fish, which wasn’t the start I wanted. I then switched to fishing meat covered in U-Zit A-Krill cloud, switching between 2 short lines and by the end of the first hour had 8 fish, mostly F1s.

The second hour was strange. The weather couldn’t make up its mind with the wind blowing one way then the other, or it just went flat calm. My short lines had dried up and switching to the bottom of the far shelf only resulted in 1 small carp, which was surprising, although no-one seemed to be catching much.

After 45mins of inactivity I switched to fishing tight to the far bank where it was a little shallower, alternating between 2 spots, tapping in some meat with 2mm p-nut pellet. Initially, it was slow going, but as the match progressed the 2 swims got stronger. The wind, however, was a nightmare at times and not to mention the heavy hailstorm which wasn’t pleasant.

I was pleased to be at least catching regularly although a little concerned (unnecessarily) that I was catching more F1s than carp and any carp I did catch were smaller or the same size as the F1s.

With an hour remaining of the 5.5hrs, the far lines were fading. I had been trickling meat and micros into the left margin and meat at 2+2. A switch to the left margin produced a run of F1s including some proper lads up to 3lb and then I had a couple more fish from the 2+2 line. 

I thought I had 45-50lb, so a little surprised to weigh 61lb, as I had obviously underestimated how big some of those F1s were.

As it turned out I got the all-important section win and I'm now just leading the series courtesy of a weight advantage.

1.    61-13 – Ken Rayner – p12

2.    50-14 – Tom Driver – p29

3.    35-  0 – Andy Jane – p15

4.    33-15 – Andrew Turell – p20   

08/06/24 - Harescombe - Match Lake

Weight - 59lb 3oz

Catch - 23 Carp, 9 F1s, 1 Skimmer

Weather - Sunny, with cloudy periods and breezy.

Match - Summer Series rd1 (14 fished) - 2nd in section, 3rd overall

The 1st round of Harescombe Summer series, with the best 6 matches out of 8 counting. After Thursday’s match I had a fair idea how I wanted to approach the match and decided to bring some meat just in case.

I was happy to draw p14 and started on Uzit GLM paste at 2+2, however this wasn't as good as Thursday, catching only 5 fish after 45mins.

Switching to the primed shallow caster line only produced 1 F1, so I didn't waste too much time on that, although the breeze was swirling around making it hard to accurately feed. Next, I tried toss potting caster and corn with corn on the hook which worked well on Thursday, but not today, adding only a handful of fish.

With 3hrs remaining of the 5.5hrs I was struggling and falling behind those around me. I decided to ditch the caster and switched to toss potting 6mm meat covered in Uzit A-krill cloud and a few p-nut micros along the far bank. It was like flicking a switch, by rotating left and right I started catching mostly carp, wishing I had done this sooner.

With an hour remaining I needed to rest the far bank swims and tried my margins which I had also fed with meat and micros but didn’t have a bite, which was frustrating as I saw Steve Brown on p10 catching down his. I also fed meat at 2+2 and caught a couple more carp, but not quickly enough. The rest had helped the far bank swims as I had another run of fish, although the wind was becoming troublesome.

With 2mins remaining after netting another carp, I decided to try the short meat line and hooked another carp just before the whistle to finish the match strongly, but ruing not getting right to start with.

I was happy to finish 2^nd in section behind Ian Didcote who was subbing for Mark Saunders and a good start to what should be a competitive league.

1.    76-13 – Andy Jane – p22

2.    75-  0 – Ian Didcote – p4

3.    59-  3 – Ken Rayner – p14

4.    53-  0 – Steve Brown – p10

06/06/24 - Harescombe - Match Lake

Weight - 44lb 1oz

Catch - 16 F1s, 9 Carp, 6 Perch, 2 Roach, 1 Skimmer

Weather - Sunny with cloudy periods

Match - Open (14 fished) - 3rd overall

As the Summer Series is due to start on Saturday, I decided to book into Thursdays affordable open. The match lake has only been re-opened for a couple of weeks to allow the restocked fish, mostly F1s time to settle and it would be a case of trying to work out what works.

Recent results suggested the far bank would be the place to draw so I was a little disappointed with p4, however today was about trying a few things to see what worked, focussing on caster shallow.

On the all-in I started at 2+2 fishing paste whilst priming my caster line. After an hour I had 8 F1s up to 2lb+, which was a good start, and it was time to try the shallow caster line but all I caught were perch and roach. I kept going hoping the F1s/carp would switch on but they didn’t and I probably spent too much time making it work.

As the shallow line was a bust, I switched to tapping in 4mm p-nut pellet with 4mm in the band, fishing tight to the far bank, which produced a couple of F1s before the swim faded.

Next, I started feeding caster and corn via a toss pot with corn on the hook at the bottom of the far shelf and had a decent run of carp, which pulled me ahead of the anglers around me.

The last 90mins, however was frustrating as I caught very little. I thought I would catch down the margins and in hindsight I think I may have overcooked it.

In the end I was pleased to finish 3rd overall, although I felt I could have won had I done better from the margins.

1.    51-  0 – Kev Parry – p12

2.    48-14 – Andy Jane – p16

3.    44-  1 – Ken Rayner – p4

4.    39-  3 – Phil Auger – p23

02/06/24 - Manor Farm - Windmill Lake

Weight - 46lb 13oz

Catch - 27 F1s, 1 Skimmer

Weather - Warm and sunny. Breezy at times.

Match - Tackle Den (22 fished) - 2nd in section, 4th overall

A new venue for me up near Evesham, where you can park behind every peg and the lakes were full of F1s and carp. Originally, we were booked on to Middle Lake, however due to numbers this was moved to Windmill Lake. As we had 22 anglers it still meant some tight pegging was likely.

I drew p9 and was really disappointed when I saw my peg as the reed bed was encroaching in front of the platform and was told ‘we don’t normally put that peg in’. Anyway, after some whinging, I was left with no choice but to strip off and get in pulling up as many of the reeds as I could and I was proud of my work, although I badly sliced my little finger on one of the reeds. Thanks to Pete Phillips next to me on p10 for providing the first aid and plaster.

My plan of attack was always going to be caster shallow. I also set up rigs to fish on the deck. There was no point plumbing further than 2+2 as it was already 5ft deep and only getting deeper. Due to the numbers on the lake, I wasn’t sure whether we would catch short, however I really didn’t expect us to catch long on the deck due to the depth of the lake so felt I had no choice but to set up rigs for the short lines.

Although Pete to my right was quite close, the reed bed to my left afforded me some space to the next angler. So, on the all-in I started at 2+2 to my left on pellet. This produced an F1 almost immediately and with no more bites after 10mins l switched to fishing paste (Uzit GLM & Betaine) next to the reeds, feeding a couple of 4mm p-nut pellet I caught a couple more F1s before hooking a carp which tore down the length of the reeds eventually snagging me and losing the whole rig.

By the end of the first hour I had 5 F1s on the paste, whilst Pete had started shallow and caught a couple of fish. I had decided to prime the shallow swim prior to fishing it and as my reed swim had died it was time to give it a go.

The next 90mins was tricky. The right to left breeze was making feeding caster difficult at 14m and the depth meant it was difficult to find the fish. I had a few on a jigga, before catching some bigger F1s at 18ins on an overshotted rig. However, the fish just disappeared on me. In the end I decided to stop feeding and retried an hour later feeding pellet, but never had a bite.

The rest of the match was mostly spent fishing by the reeds with paste. I had also set up a meat line, but never had a bite.

In the end a tricky day for most with Andy and Ali having good days catching either side of the first island including a number of carp up to nearly 20lb. Despite my moaning at the start, the reed bed proved to be my saviour as the fish wanted to be near some cover.

1.   127-  3 – Andrew Black – p6

2.    121-  8 – Alistair Tilney – p32

3.      51-  2 – Ian Barker – p21

4.      46-13 – Ken Rayner – p9

5.      38-  7 – Bobby Moore – p30

30/05/24 - Lavington - Ellis Lake

Weight - 83lb 11oz

Catch - 12 Carp, 3 Roach, 1 Bream, 1 Tench

Weather - Warm and sunny.

Match - Evening Club (7 fished) - 1st overall

The first evening match of the year, fishing 6 to 9 and we had some decent weather. I drew p1, but on arrival was a little concerned about the lily pads which I felt were a little too close to the platform and would make netting fish difficult. So, a quick chat with Martin and I moved to peg 2.

 
On the all-in I started by the lily pads feeding 8mm meat covered in Uzit A-krill cloud and caught 4 carp up to 14lb, plus a bream and a small tench in the first hour.
 
I had also been feeding pellet and corn to my left, but only got bites from silvers, so I concentrated on the lily pad swim, catching another 4 carp all on meat, during the 2^nd hour.
 
Unfortunately, the 3^rd and final hour was frustrating as I lost a couple of fish due to bad angling. It was also a surprise that I only caught 1 carp from the margins.
 
I did manage another proper carp from the lily pads, plus 2 stockies to end a pleasant evening.
 

1.    83-11  Ken Rayner – p2
2.    70-13  Darren Biss – p22
3.    47-11  Noah – p4