24/05/26 - Rood Ashton

Weight - 42lb 4oz

Catch - 7 Carp

Weather - Hot & sunny

Match - Tackle Den (17 fished) - 2nd overall

With Steve Venn away on holiday, it fell on me to run todays match. A significant change in the weather meant today would be hot and it was no surprise to see the fish spawning, which also meant it was likely to be tough day.

Peg 15 along the top bank opposite the island wouldn’t have been my first choice, but at least I would be in the shade for the first half of the match.

In the first hour I caught 3 carp, 2 on the method cast to the island with So Simple Kriller micros and a 6mm yellow gofter and 1 carp on the straight lead and 8mm meat boosted with Kriller Sludge over pinged 6mm kriller pellet at 25m.

Another carp on the feeder and then another on the lead, meant I was up to 5 fish after 2.5hrs. The following 2.5hrs produced nothing. I even tried catching roach to put a few extra pounds in the net but never had a bite.

In the last hour I managed 1 carp on three maggots from the left margin over dumped maggot and micros, with my final carp coming from the right margins on meat.

By the all-out I was pleased when the match finished and was surprised to have come 2^nd overall.

1.   75-  6 - Andy Black - p21

2.   42-  4 - Ken Rayner - p15

3.   39-11 - Michael Triggs - p1

4.   27-  1 - Simon Collins - p14

5.   26-14 - Brian Duckett - p20

18/05 - 20/05/26 - Over 50s Festival

Monday – Day 1 – High p17

Day 1 – 1pts – 74-  9

Day 2 – 3pts – 46-10

Day 3 – 5pts – DNW

Weight - 74lb 9oz

Catch - 31 F1, 3 Carp, 1 Perch, 1 Roach

Weather - Cool, breezy & showers

Position (123 fished) - 21st overall, 3rd on lake, 1st in section

I was very disappointed to draw High Pool, as I had struggled on this lake last year. Peg 17 also meant I was next to peg 15, a well-known flyer.

On the all-in I had considered starting short on pellet, but the wind was forecast to get stronger throughout the match, so I decided to start across whilst I was able.

Feeding stodgy balls of Cocosquid with chopped worm, micros and caster, with worm on the hook I found a flat spot in amongst the far bank reeds. The wind was a pain at times, however after 90mins I had 10 fish for about 12lb and looking around felt I was doing OK.

In the meantime, I had been feeding maggot down both margins (top kit +1) and immediately caught a couple F1s before the swim faded.

I had also been feeding fishery 4s (boosted with Baninion) at 2+2 at an angle to my right in 5ft of water, just as I thought I wasn’t going to get bite I caught a 3lb F1 and ended up staying on this line for an hour catching some chucky F1s all on 4mm expanders.

For the last 90mins of the match it was a case of rotating around my short swims. I had also started feeding 6mm meat (boosted with Baninion) over a top kit +1 line. I hooked a carp on meat, that was obviously foul hooked as it took me into the far bank reeds! I then had a 4lber, before hooking another carp that I thought was hooked properly, before it decided to go mental and broke me.

Next, I caught a couple of F1s, before hooking another carp 10mins from time. Fortunately, this one behaved itself and at 10-11lb was well worth having to help comfortably win the section.

I felt I fished a good match, but was a little disappointed to miss out on a super pool payout by 7oz. Losing those 2 carp, knocked me out of my rhythm for a bit, but I was really pleased to have had a strong start to the festival.

1. 133-12 - Barry Byrd - p15 Top

2. 120-15 - Steve Daley - p14 High

3. 118-  4 - Jason Jones - p30 Top

4. 113-13 - Steve Parry - p1 Canal

5.   96-  5 - Simon West - p29 House

6.   95-  1 - Dave Hawkins - p17 New

High Pool

1. 120-15 - Steve Daley - p14

2.   75-  0 - Glenn Cousens - p50

3.   74-  9 - Ken Rayner - p17

4.   45-  0 - Andy Jackson - p36

Tuesday – Day 2 – High p38

Day 1 – 3pts – 21-  7

Day 2 – 3pts – 28-10

Day 3 – 5pts – 24-  3

Weight - 28lb 10oz

Catch - 16 F1, 1 Perch, 1 Skimmer

Weather - Showery & breezy

Position (123 fished) - 102nd overall, 12th on the lake, 3rd in section

High Pool again for me, but this time p38 and I was reliably told it was one of the worst pegs on the lake and plumbing up revealed why. I had 5ft of water on a top kit, levelling out to 6ft further out. Fortunately, the margins were only 2.5ft deep either side, but shelved away quickly, and I expected this would be where I caught most of my fish.

On the all-in I started across by the spit, fishing my groundbait mix from the previous 2 matches. After 15mins I caught a F1 on worm and lost another 30mins later. I did try later in the match and caught another F1, but the wind was making presentation difficult. In fact, the 2 anglers on the spit who fished to the corner, caught very little so I don’t think there were many fish in the area.

I tried fishing pellet over 2 lines catching 4 F1s and a skimmer, and it was very slow going.

My best area was the left margin on maggot.

I felt I was ahead of the 4 anglers I could see in my section, but felt I needed a carp, so I dumped micros and 4s at 10m to my right and I had been feeding meat on my top kit next to my nets.

Fishing paste over the micros produced a small F1 and my meat line also only produced 1 F1.

The 2 anglers in my section (p27 & p30) that I couldn’t see, both beat me and as it happened I only missed out on 2^nd in section by 3lb and a bonus carp would have been handy, but it wasn’t meant to be.

1. 101-10 - Steve Parry - p31 House

2.   98-13 - Barry Byrd - p30 Top

3.   95-10 - Carl Lee-Hopps - p27 New

4.   82-15 - Simon Penny - p1 Canal

5.   81-10 - Roger Hayton - p11 Canal

6.   76-  6 - Dave Hawkins - p17 New

High Pool

1.   76-  6 - Barry Hickford - p15

2.   62-  3 - Martin Rayet - p48

3.   53-  9 - Mick Stamp - p6

4.   39-11 - Craig Middleton - p27

Wednesday – Day 3 – Extension p29

Day 1 – 1pts – 71-  8

Day 2 – 3pts – 47-  6

Day 3 – 5pts – 42-  9

When I drew this peg I thought I had a chance of finishing the festival strongly.

The island was 16/17m away, but with New Pool directly behind me it wasn’t really practical to fish to the island. So, the plan of action was to start on pellet, catch on caster shallow as it was a little warmer today and down my margins.

Starting on pellet at 2+2 I only had 1 small F1 and was soon trying my margins on maggot, with the right side being the best, but action was slow going.

I tried fishing worm over ground further down my right margin on the other side of the gap,

which produced a few fish, but once again it was slow going.

I had primed a shallow caster line but only caught 4 F1 despite trying different shallow rigs.

In the last 2 hours I just tried to focus on my margins, plus a new 2+2 line where I fed caster, catching on worm.

The problem was I would only catch in fits and starts, and I never caught any carp or the bigger F1s. I just felt with the wind blowing down the other end of the lake, it had pushed those fish further down the lake.

I was really disappointed with how my match went, finishing the festival 48^th so an improvement on last year’s 61^st place.

1. 100-  9 - Laurie Laing - p1 Canal

2.   99-13 - Dave Traunter - p10 New

3.   99-  3 - Harry Billing - p13 Canal

4.   98-  4 - Barry Byrd - p30 Top

5.   94-  8 - Craig Middleton - p5 Extension

6.   91-12 - Mark Ord - p31 House

Extension

1.   94-  8 - Craig Middleton - p5

2.   79-15 - Simon West - p19

3.   76-  2 - Gary Donaldson - p13

4.   68-14 - Denis Lutwyche - p38

Summary

My intention was always to improve on last years 61^st place, which I achieved, however it could have been so much better.

The first day, everything just clicked, making the right decisions at the right time, which resulted in the best score and weight from the peg over the 3 days.

The second day was just hard work from a poor peg and I was pleased to have claimed 3^rd in section, as well as achieving the best weight over the festival.

At the start of the third day was I was lying 27^th, by the end of the day I dropped to 48^th. A really disappointing day. If I’m honest I felt the fish just weren’t here on the day, but its difficult to ignore there were significantly better results from the peg over the previous 2 days.

Overall, it’s always a tough one to compete with the locals and ‘full-time’ anglers, but I really enjoy fishing the venue as you usually get plenty of bites and I have booked in for next year.

As for my partner in crime, Matt finished 49^th, helped by drawing p6 on House twice!

17/05/26 - Tunnel Barn - Extension

Weight - 66lb 15oz

Catch - 39 F1, 20 Carp, 1 Skimmer

Weather - Cloudy & breezy

Match - Open (73 fished) - 31st overall, 3rd on lake

Today was the practice open for the Over 50s festival that Matt Greaves and I signed up for another go.

Last year was all around caster shallow, meat and paste (for those few that fish it). However, this year has been much cooler leading up to the festival, so Matt and I weren’t sure how much of the caster we had to pre-order we would use, plus we had to make a late order for maggot.

I drew p3 on Extension and had considered starting on maggot over 2 short (2+2) lines. Instead, I decided to start on pellet, feeding fishery 4s boosted with Baninion, fishing a 4mm expander.

Surprisingly I spent the first 90mins fishing between the 2 lines, putting 20lb in the net.

As the swim faded, I tried both my margins fishing maggot, but couldn’t get a bite, so I then switched to fishing 16m to the island. It was a slow start, which meant I had a poor 30/45mins after switching from my pellet swim.

Fortunately, by tosspotting stodgy balls of So Simple Cocosquid groundbait mixed with chopped worm, micros and caster, I started to catch on worm, including some better stamp F1s and carp. I ended up staying on this for 2hrs hour and other than Aiden Mansfield on p9 I couldn’t see much else being caught.

In the last hour, I had hoped to finish in my margins, feeding maggot down the left and pellet down the right. Well, the maggot swim was disappointing, and I soon switched to feeding my stodgy groundbait fishing worm over the top. I kept feeding pellet down the right margin picking up the odd better stamp F1.

At the weigh in I thought I had won my section, before realising my section didn’t include the 2 end pegs, but the pegs on the opposite side of the lake and the section was won from p23 with 70lb.

1. 142-12      Nigel Seabright - p5 Top

2. 138-  4     Dan Lee - p16 Top

3. 134-  1     Dave Scott - p11 Top

4. 130-  3     Jack Arblaster - p31 New

5. 128-12     Tom Need - p13 Top

6. 115-  6     Jamie Adcock - p9 Canal

Extension

1. 101-13     Aiden Mansfield - p9

2.   70-13     Darren Parrish - p23

3.   66-15     Ken Rayner - p3

4.   66-  0     Steve Page - p19      

10/05/26 - Windmill

Weight - 4lb 8oz

Catch - 1 Carp

Weather - Cool & breezy

Match - Tackle Den (19 fished) - 18th overall

This is a venue I didn’t particularly like when I first fished it 10yrs ago and the last match here a few weeks ago did nothing to change my mind.

I drew p5 and when I looked at past results I knew I was in trouble and hoped for 5 or 6 bites.

The wind was a cold northerly blowing left to right which meant fishing 16m to island wasn’t going to be possible, so I pinged 6mm kriller pellet to the island fishing the straight lead over the top. I caught my one and only fish on meat after 1¼hrs.

I fully expected another and I did catch but lost it at the net.

I fed micros and 6mm pellet at 6m fishing paste or worm but never had a bite.

Down my margins I fed meat and lost a foul hooker 5mins from the end.

I was really pleased to hear the whistle and hope the next time I fish here I can draw a decent peg.

1.    58-14 – Bobby Moore – p12

2.    55-11 – Cliff Dutton – p14

3.    40-13 – Darren Lawrence – p11

4.    36-12 – Andy Burns – p9

5.    35-15 – Alistair Tilney – p21   

09/05/26 - Tunnel Barn - New Pool

Weight - 60lb 8oz

Catch - 24 F1, 6 Carp, 5 Perch, 1 Skimmer, 1 Gudgeon

Weather - Sunshine & cloudy

Match - Catchybait Open (58 fished) - 22nd overall, 4th on lake

With a view to practicing for the over 50s festival in 2 weeks I booked onto this Catchybait match over Club, Extension, House and New. Being a Catchybait match it meant natural baits only, caster, maggot and worm, but no groundbait or worm soil to be fed.

The draw put me on p40 New. A quick chat with a couple of locals confirmed what I thought. Not the best area, but at least I could try to win my 5-peg section.

Plumbing up revealed the deepest part of the swim was 3ft at 5m and at 14m to the right of the island. On the all-in I decided to try worm over toss potted caster by the island but I couldn’t get a bite. I tried maggot, again with no bites which was a worry, but I couldn’t see much being caught elsewhere.

The lack of action prompted a switch of hook

from a 16 B911 to an 18. I also started tapping in maggot to the left of my original swim next to the island, catching a F1 and then a small perch, but then I couldn’t get another bite.

A brief look over my short maggot line resulted in an F1, before again catching another perch.

Back to the island I decided to use a bigger toss pot of maggot and caught an 8lb ghostie which was a real bonus but I could only catch 1 more F1.

The next couple of hours was spent nicking

the odd fish from various areas of the swim, including down the right-hand bank all on maggot. I did try catching shallow on caster without success before switching to maggot catching only 3 fish, so hardly prolific.

With 90mins remaining I probably had about 25lb, before my 2+2 left margin kicked off where I had a really good run on maggot. I also had a couple of better fish including a 4lb carp from my shallow right margin on a top kit where I fed heavily with caster and maggot with 3 maggots on the hook. I just wished we had another hour.

When I saw the weigh sheet, I was pleasantly surprised to see I had come 4^th on the lake and managed to pick up the section albeit by default.

1.    120-12 – Matt Redman – p35 Extension

2.    109-11 – Leon Seabright – p27 Extension

3.    103-  9 – Cary – p19 Extension

4.      97-  8 – John Laycock – p21 Extension

5.      93-  2 – Tom Scholey – p23 New

6.      90-  3 – Roger Hayton – p19 Club

New Pool

1.    93-  2 - Tom Scholey - p23

2.    85-  9 - Cody Ruston - p44

3.    66-  8 - Dean Richmond - p29

4.  4.    60-  8 - Ken Rayner - p40

03/05/26 - Harescombe - Match

Weight - 23lb 3oz

Catch - 5 Carp, 3 F1, 3 Skimmers

Weather - Sunshine & cloud

Match - Pole Masters Final (18 anglers) - 12th overall

So, the final and I drew p11 which didn’t qualify yesterday, however I still fancied it and hoped there would be a few more carp around, rather than F1s. I was drawn next to Andy Pollard again and I had Gary Etheridge the other side.

On the all-in I tried paste against the island, hoping for an early carp, but had no bites.

I had been feeding maggot over a short line and this produced a couple of F1s and skimmers, but this swim soon faded.

I really expected to catch in the shallow water by the island and did net a small carp on meat, but surprisingly I couldn’t get another. I tried dead maggot over tosspotted groundbait pushing the rig tight against the island to minimise foulhookers but I just couldn’t get a bite and still managed to foul hook a fish.

My best run of fish was at 14m to my left where I had been pinging 4mm Baninion pellet, with a hair rigged 6mm pellet.  Catching 4 carp in a 30min spell had me thinking I might push for the section. Alas, the swim died on me, not least helped by me pushing it too hard trying to encourage more carp to feed.

I had a really disappointing match, I think it was a case me trying to fish the match I wanted to fish rather than fish the match I should have, which was maggot, as the top 3 all caught using maggot.

Well done to Luke Seabrook for winning.

1.    67-10 – Luke Seabrook – p17

2.    51-  1 – Elvis Randall – p19

3.    48-12 – Andy Pollard – p12

4.    48-  2 – Dave Romain – p23

5.    45-  5 – Mick O’Brien – p15

6.    41-  4 – Mick Gale – p25

02/05/26 - Harescombe - Match

Weight - 32lb 6oz

Catch - 15 F1, 4 Carp

Weather - Sunny & warm. Cloudy later.

Match - Pole Masters Qualifer (36 fished) - 11th overall, 6th on the lake

Today was the qualifier for the Pole Masters, with 18 anglers each on Doughnut and Match Lake, the top 9 from each lake would fish the final on Match Lake.

I decided to fish Match Lake and drew p25. I must admit I had mixed feelings after Thursdays match, but once again the wind was blowing into the end bank and there were a few fish showing.

Following Thursdays match, I decided to bring some live maggot, although I hoped I wouldn’t need them. On the all-in I started on paste against the far bank, but only had a few knocks from small fish, so I didn’t waste too much time.

I tried maggot down my left margin and over a short line but couldn’t get a bite!

After 90mins I caught my first fish on 6mm baninion pellet over 4mm baninion pellet at 13m to my left.

I then had 3 fish on dead maggot over Top G groundbait against the end bank but never had another fish here for the remainder of the match. Next, I tried fishing maggot shallow into the corner, catching 1 F1, but presentation was a pain due to bits of grass and scum snagging on the rig.

I had already tried fishing meat into the corner without success, but when I returned tapping in meat (boosted with Baninion) with micros I started to catch a few F1s. When the swim faded the left margin produced a further 3 fish, again on meat.

In the meantime, I had been pinging 4mm pellet at 14m off to my left and fortunately this produced 3 carp on 6mm pellet which proved very useful.

By the all-out, I wasn’t sure I had qualified as I felt I had to work hard to put fish in the net. As it happened, I had a 5lb buffer and was relieved to have qualified. Andy Pollard next to me won the lake with 75lb all on maggot.

1.    75-13 – Andy Pollard – p23

2.    54-15 – Jamie Durrup – p2

3.    46-  4 – Mick O’Brien – p12

4.    39-10 – Alistair Tilney – p29

5.    34-11 – Steve Partington – p20

6.    32-  6 – Ken Rayner – p25

30/04/26 - Harescombe - Match

Weight - 13lb 3oz

Catch - 7 F1, 1 Skimmer

Weather - Sunny, warm & windy

Match - Open (13 fished) - 9th overall

I jumped onto this open in preparation for the weekends Pole Masters and I was happy to draw p24.

As I had caught well on meat and paste on Sunday, I saw no reason to do anything different. With the wind blowing into the end bank, there was plenty of scum and carp and I thought I would be in for a good day!

I started on paste expecting an immediate response but I had nothing. In fact, it took 1hr 45mins before I caught an F1 on meat down the right margin.

With all the carp sitting in the scum I tried dobbin for them, even dropping a pellet in amongst a pod of 6 fish without a bite which was really frustrating. The wind also switched round and scum drifted down the other end of the lake, taking the carp with it.

I did catch a few more F1s late down the right margin on meat and dead maggot and groundbait down the left margin.

Phil next to me fished maggot all day to claim 3^rd, so obviously I got it very wrong on the bait front.

1.    73- 3 – Mick O.Brien – p13

2.    57-14 – Luke Seabrook – p29

3.    45-  4 – Phil Auger – p22

4.    42-  9 – Luke Fothergill – p10