26/04/26 - Harescombe - Match

Weight - 58lb 3oz

Catch - 20 Carp, 2 F1, 1 Skimmer

Weather - Warm & sunny

Match - Open (13 fished) - 2nd overall

Decided to fish todays Open in preparation for the Pole Masters next weekend where I will be defending my title.

I drew p29 which ironically was the peg I won from to claim the Pole Masters title, although recently it has been in poor form, however when I arrived there were a few fish moving around.

As I didn’t know what to expect I set up 8 rigs (and only caught on 3).

On the all-in I started on paste (So Simple Top G) feeding a few Baninion 4s and micros tight to the island, immediately netting a carp. I then noticed a number of fish moving down the right margin and spent the next hour catching 6

more fish over 2 swims (1 at 1 top kit plus 1 and the other at 13m).

The next hour was a struggle catching only 1 more carp. I did try an open water swim at 13m hoping to catch a few skimmers before the carp got back on the feed but I only caught 1 skimmer on dead maggot and lost a carp at the net. As I couldn’t get any more bites, I soon binned this line.

Back down the right margin I switched to feeding meat (boosted with Kriller Sludge) with some micros. This revitalised the swim as I started to catch again, finding it best to re-feed the swim after each fish and try another swim, before returning.

I caught a few extra fish from my short margin on paste but also lost a couple as I tried to pull the fish away from diving under the spillway. A short meat line didn’t produce a bite, probably because it was a little too deep and the swim by the island also failed to produce.  

My final swim was down the left margin at 13m that was only 18ins, fed with Top G groundbait and dead maggot, fishing dead maggot on the hook.

At the all-out I was hopeful I had done enough for a pickup and I was pleased to have finished 2^nd, although Charlie on p7 should have won, but went over on one of his nets losing it completely.

1.    73-  8 – Mick O’Brien – p11 (incl. 25lb of silvers)

2.    58-  3 – Ken Rayner – p29

3.    56-14 – Adrian Narbeth – p20

4.    50-13 – Allan Oram – p24

19/04/26 - Woodland View Front Deans

Weight - 38lb 8oz

Catch - 14 F1, 2 Carp, 2 Skimmers

Weather - Warm & sunny

Match - Tackle Den (18 fished), 9th overall, 5th in section

I got some really good information before fishing this match and the first point was draw an end peg. Well, I managed that with p17, although I was a little concerned that the wind was blowing down the other end. The bigger issue though was the pegging. Steve relied on a local angler to help out and for some reason he included p16 that Steve ended up drawing and judging by the amount of reeds hadn’t been used for a while. Neither of us were very happy as the pegs were a little cozy and it meant I was restricted to fishing out front and to my left.

On the all-in I started on pellet at 3+2, but never had a bite. A switch to fishing maggot tapping in maggot and micros at 3+2 to my left produced 2 F1s, but it was slow going.

By the end of the first hour, I was up to 4 F1s, including a decent F1 from my right margin on a top kit.

After 90mins I tried my shallow maggot line that I had fed from the start, more in hope than expectation as the weather was very bright and with the wind blowing down the other end meant it was mostly flat in front of me. Within 5mins I had an F1 on the jigger and another on a light rig through the water, but I just felt I was wasting time and decided to stopping feeding to concentrate on my short line and margin. As an aside I noticed John on p13 (who is a good shallow angler try later in the match without much reward, so I felt happy with my decision).

Initially, I caught a couple of F1s on maggot down each margin, but the action didn’t last. As the match progressed, I tried feeding more heavily to make something happen which it didn’t.

My most productive line was at 3+2 to my left that periodically produced a few F1s and a carp. In the last hour I tried upping the feed, cupping a ¼ cup of maggot and micros, which produced some better stamp fish including a carp of 8½lb, unfortunately losing a 2^nd.

At the weigh-in the majority of weights came from the other end of the lake and I at least managed to beat everyone (except for p21) from p11 to p28, and I’m sure I could have caught a few more fish if it wasn’t for the tight pegging.

1.    66-  3 – Matt Greaves – p29

2.    52-  4 – Darren Lawrence – p33

3.    51-11 – Kev Parry – p7

4.    51-  0 – Simon Collins – p21

5.    48-  7 – Terry Arnold – p1

18/04/26 - Ivy House - Old Match Lake

Weight - 93lb 8oz

Catch - 36 Carp, 6 F1

Weather - Sunny & breezy

Match - Open (14 fished) - 2nd overall

A return to Ivy House and an open on Old Match Lake organised by Mitch Rowlands. I haven’t fished this lake since last summer and I was told there were plenty of bites to be had.

I was happy to draw p1, which has been the form area recently. There wasn’t much to report in the first hour only catching a small carp and a F1 on the method by the small island, plus a carp from the 13m line on 6mm pellet over 4s boosted with baninion.

At the start of the 2^nd hour, I noticed a few fish moving between the islands and tried the straight lead and 6mm expander, which resulted in 5 carp and I was up and running.

I kept the 13m line primed, pinging 4s. When I switched it took 10 minutes to get going and for the next 2hrs I had a really good run tapping in 4s with a 6mm hair rigged pellet.

Come the 4^th hour I lost my way a little and I switched to a new 13m line closer to the end bank. I kept catching but not as quickly as before and the average stamp were slightly smaller.

I also started feeding 4s and some corn down the right margin, initially catching on 6mm pellet, but when I tried corn, I just got indications from the small fish, so I decided to stick with 6mm pellet. I kept feeding 4s and corn, although in hindsight I should have fed heavier with micros and corn to draw in the bigger fish and only realised this a little too late.

In the meantime, Carl on p3 started catching some big fish down his margin on corn and was catching me up, overtaking me in the last 45mins.

As a backup to my margin line I started feeding pellet over a short line and wished I had started feeding here earlier as I had a run of good stamp fish before the all-out.

Overall, it was nice to feed to some bait, and I was pleased to have finished 2^nd overall, although with a few better decisions in the last 2hrs I could have won.

1.    115-  6 – Carl Mulford – p3

2.      93-  8 – Ken Rayner – p1

3.      81-  4 – Gary Etheridge – p9

4.      52-  6 – Mick Gale – p18

5.      45-  0 – Mitch Rowlands – p4

12/04/26 - Windmill

Weight - 24lb 15oz 

Catch - 4 Carp, 1 Perch, 1 Rudd

Weather - Windy, sunshine, showers, hail

Match - Tackle Den (19 fished) - 7th overall, 3rd in section

This match was originally scheduled for Heron Lake at Ivy House; however, it was switched when Heron was ‘sold’ and Andy took a load of fish out of the lake. Since then the sale has fallen through, and I understand the fish have been transferred from the canals back into Heron.

The last time I fished Windmill was 9 years ago when I lived in Bristol and to be honest, I think I only enjoyed 1 of the 4 matches I fished there.

On seeing the lake, it had certainly matured, although there seemed to be plenty of reeds and overhangs for any hooked carp to make their escape.

I drew p16 and looking at results for the past 2 months the peg has only featured once finishing 5^th, so not a great draw. At least I had a spare peg either side of me, which also illustrated it wasn’t the best area. Plumbing up revealed it was 5.5ft down the middle and it was less than 14m to island, which is the narrowest part of the lake.  

However, the wind was again going to play its part, and it was unlikely I could fish the pole to the island as the wind was blowing left to right down the lake. I did plumb up around the island, just in case the wind died down, but every time it looked like the wind was easing it would kick off again!

On the all-in I started across on the method with a mix of So Simple Kriller and Baninion micros, with an 8mm orange gofter. This didn’t produce a bite, neither did fishing the straight lead with meat or 8mm pellet.

With 55mins gone I had 1 liner and had seen very little being caught elsewhere.

As I hoped the carp would feed later in the match I thought I would try for a few silvers on dead maggots over micros and groundbait. I caught 1 small perch and a rudd. Oh well at least I avoided the blank.

In the meantime, I had been pinging 6s across to the point of the island and tried the method, this time with mostly groundbait (So Simple Top G) with only a few micros and a squirt of Top G Smog, fishing a 6mm orange gofter. At last, the tip went round and a 7/8lb carp was in the net.

Later I caught another 2 carp both on the straight lead and a 6mm expander by the island.

I had also fed meat at 2+2 and down the right margin. Neither swim produced a bite, which was disappointing.

To make something happen the right margin received 2 cups of groundbait and micros with an hour remaining. With 30mins left of the match I hooked a fish down the margin, but the hook pulled almost immediately and I felt it was a foul hooker.

Surprisingly I couldn’t catch another fish from the island, and I never had a bite over the short meat line. Back down the right margin with 10mins remaining I eventually hooked a carp on meat, netting a 7lber after the all-out.

I was glad when the match finished.

1.    90-  3 – Steve Venn – p9

2.    62-15 – Alistair Tilney – p8

3.    40-  0 – Vince Grillo – p3

4.    39-15 – Michael Triggs – p11

5.    33-  8 – Liam Reynolds – p25

04/04/26 - Harescombe - Match

Weight - 45lb 11oz

Catch - 13 F1, 5 Carp, 2 Skimmers

Weather - Cloudy, increasingly windy.

Match - Open (9 fished) - 4th overall

More wind was forecast for this match! At least there was no rain forecast and I was very happy to draw p24 as that would be sheltered from the worst of the wind.

As it has been a little milder, I decided to start on a small piece of paste (So Simple Top G) to fish against the island, fishing with a long lash as the wind was still problematic. First drop in and I netted a 3lb carp, followed by 2 F1s in the next 20mins.

I probably stayed on this a bit too long. I did try pellet or meat by the island but couldn’t get any decent presentation.

In the meantime, I fed meat over a short

line and 4mm baninion pellet to my left (with the wind) over what would have been the short line for p23. The meat line didn’t produce a bite, however when I switched to the left-hand pellet line fishing a banded 6mm baninion pellet I caught 2 quick F1s, but other than a skimmer later on never had another bite over this line.

I started another pellet line to my right for no bites (and stopped feeding meat over my short line). In fact, the only place I could catch was tight to the island on paste, but there were a couple of times when the wind spun me around!

With 90mins remaining I was conscious that I was falling behind Luke on p15 and Steve on p18. Also, Andy opposite on p5 was catching a lot of smaller fish.

I was really surprised I couldn’t catch over any of my lines, including fishing by the p25 pallet. The left margin was only 1.5ft deep and I decided to feed groundbait (Top G) and dead maggot.

The first 2 put ins resulted in 2 lost fish. After sorting out my rig and I started to catch on 3 dead maggots, plus a few fish over my short line where I restarted feeding meat.

Come the weigh in I was disappointed to have missed out on 3^rd by an 1oz. Andy had 21lb skimmers on maggot to help him finish 2^nd and Luke caught on hard pellet. I should have finished at least 3^rd as I lost a few fish and had I been able to fish longer I could have caught a few more.

I just feel I’m off the pace at the moment and have struggled a little over the last month or so.

1.    77-  2 – Luke Seabrook – p15

2.    52-  2 – Andy Fry – p5

3.    45-12 – Steve Partington – p18