28/09/25 - Witherington Farm - Inner Snake

Weight - 20lb 7oz

Catch - 3 Carp, 1 Roach

Weather - Drizzly start. Warm & sunny later.

Match - Tackle Den (20 fished) - 6th overall, 2nd in section

The last time I fished the Inner Snake Lake was 13 years ago and the feedback when requesting up to date information was not to bother!

We had 20 today and I would have been happy with any of the 3 corners of the triangular lake. I ended up on peg 2 (permanent peg 68) which had some reeds on the far bank and I was hopeful of a few fish.

As the lake was down by 2ft, plumbing up revealed only 40cm (16in) on the far bank and the deepest spot I could find was down the near margins at 55cm (22in) deep.

Not much to write about. After an hour and no bites, despite trying the pole, method and straight lead, I started feeding maggot at 6m. I eventually caught a roach on maggot and thought about sticking with it, but the fish was tiny. Brian to my right had already caught a few roach but had nothing of any size and I decided to return back to focusing on the carp, as I just couldn’t see me building any weight.

As not much was showing anywhere, I decided to focus with fishing paste on the far bank. I caught my first carp 2hrs into the match, my 2^nd with 45mins remaining and the 3^rd 20mins later.

I also tried meat over a short line and groundbait/dead maggot down the margins, but no signs of any fish. I have to say this is probably the worst commercial lake I have fished in a long time.

On a positive note, I tried a new So Simple groundbait called Top G, which has a garlic smell. In the later stages of the match, I fed some loose groundbait in with the paste to create some scent in the water and caught the 2 late carp. As there were no carp caught either side of me, I did feel feeding quite negatively along the far bank and using the paste as a target bait was the right on the day.

I had the best weight on my bank, finishing 2^nd in section and as expected 2 of the corners were the place to be.

1.    39-  3 – Bobby Moore – p7

2.    34-  4 – Vince Grillo – p12

3.    24-  7 – Stuart Sutton – p13

4.    22-  4 – Matt Gale – p14

5.    21-  6 – Pete Philips – p17

6.    20-  7 – Ken Rayner – p2 

 

 

25/09/25 - Harescombe - Match

Weight - 51lb 2oz

Catch - 13 Carp, 5 F1, 11 Skimmers, 1 Roach

Weather - Cold start, sunny, gusty northerly breeze

Match - Open (18 fished) - 3rd overall, 2nd in section

Today was the last day of a 2-week holiday, which included a week away in Thasos Greece for a much needed break and a last bit of sun.

With 18 booked on and fully booked, it meant the fishing would be tough going and an end peg would be ideal. I was happy to draw p12 and whilst it wasn’t an end peg it is a peg that offers some shallower water across where the bank has collapsed.

On the all-in I started at 14m to my right (as p13 was empty) on corn and then 4mm pellet, hoping for an early carp, but after 30mins I only had liners.

A switch to fishing a 4mm expander at the bottom of the far shelf resulted in my first fish, a roach. Next put in I had 4lb carp. By toss potting a tiny nugget of groundbait (Coco Squid: Crushed Expander) and baninion micros I was getting bites from small skimmers. As no one else was catching I stuck with it hoping some better fish would turn up which they didn’t.

As the swim seemed to be full of small fish, I moved a metre to my right, still feeding a nugget of micros/groundbait and this produced another 2 carp, before the skimmers returned.

Another move to my right produced my best run of fish and I felt I was doing well. When the swim slowed, I moved further right.

Throughout the match the northerly wind had been troublesome, but manageable. However, with just over an hour remaining a stronger gust of wind blew my rig into an overhanging bush and I lost the whole rig!

As I only had an hour remaining, I decided against setting up a new rig and tried my short meat line, margin and tight across in the shallow water.

I was disappointed, although not surprised not to get a bite short or down the margin. Fortunately, I caught 4 carp from the far bank on baninion boosted corn, over micros and groundbait, although I lost 2 to a sunken branch (informed Gary who will deal with the offending snag).

That last hour was quieter than I had hoped and I felt I may have slipped down the frame. I was pleased to finish 3^rd overall and as expected the 4 end pegs all picked up. However, losing my rig to the bush, then losing 2 fish to a snag and a change of tactics probably cost me 2^nd if not the win.

1.    59-10 – Tim Hadland – p3

2.    55-  2 – Luke Seabrook – p16

3.    51-  2 – Ken Rayner – p12

4.    50-15 – Allan Oram – p15

5.    49-  4 – Steve Brown – p9

07/09/25 - Lavington - Ellis

Weight - 86lb 2oz (6lb 6oz - silvers)

Catch - 11 Carp, 9 Skimmers, 1 Roach, 1 Perch

Weather - Thundery showers in morning, clearer in the afternoon.

Match - Club (14 fished) - 2nd overall

No fishing last weekend as Abi and I stayed over at friends, for a welcome break.

Today was the John Lowe Memorial following Johns passing over 3 years now. With 14 booked on, Martin was able to give everyone a spare peg either side, but it was expected to be a tough match.

I was happy with p10. It’s normally the end peg, however with the extra anglers, I had Tim Lynch on p13. As I had no island to target the rods stayed in the bag and as I wasn’t sure how the lake would fish, I decided to cover all options as the start and see how it goes.

On the all-in I fed 2 balls of groundbait (Coco Squid : Crushed Expander) with kriller micros and 4s at 11m in 6ft of water, plus pellet and corn (covered in Baninion Boost) at 11m off to my right.

Whilst that settled I cupped in a small amount of 7mm meat (covered in Sludge Boost) by the right hand lillies. I caught a micro perch on the first drop in and then a 8lb carp on the second.

No more followed so I rotated between the groundbait swim where I picked up small skimmers on 4mm expander and 3 better skimmers on corn over the 11m right hand swim.

At the halfway point (5hr match) I felt there were 3 anglers leading the way, but generally it seemed to be slow going for most. As I wasn’t catching much in my deeper water swims, I decided to focus on the margins, targeting the left side where it was 2ft deep with CoCo Squid paste over micros and 4s and by the right side lillies where it was 3ft deep.

I had to keep rotating swims to keep catching. The right side produced the better stamp fish up to nearly 11lb and quickly caught up those ahead of me.

A moment of frustration was seeing someone’s rig (attached to a carp) move into my right-hand swim. When the float dipped, I hooked the rig rather than the carp. Unfortunately, the rig was hooked in the tail and after 5mins eventually I lost the fish in a snag, after it trashed my left-hand margin. I did recover the errant rig which I returned to its owner Paul Fryer at the end of the match.

After the commotion the fish returned, although it was not as prolific as I hoped. In hindsight, I may have fed too much down the left margin, as I struggled to get a clean bite in the last 15mins. Even fishing double corn didn’t help.

On the all-out I thought I was in with a shout of framing. Fortunately, the stamp of fish I caught helped me to 2^nd place.

1.    99-10 – Andy Almond – p23

2.    86-  2 – Ken Rayner – p10

3.    76-14 – Paul Fryer – p2

4.    73-  8 – Martin C – p6

5.    69-  6 – Steve Musitano – p31

Silvers

1.    19-13 – Steve Musitano – p31

2.    18-  8 – Tom Ince – p19

3.    16-  4 – Tim Lynch – p13