10/07/22 - Lands End - Match Lake

Weight - 97lb 8oz (9lb 6oz silvers)

Catch - 22 Carp, 8 F1s, 7 Tench, 2 Crucians

Weather - Hot & sunny

Match - Steve Martins Summer Series - rd 4 (15 fished) - 2nd overall, 2nd in section

Coming into the 4^th round of the league I was lying 4^th, a little way behind Pete Ball, Matt Banks and Tony Gilbert, so I needed good section points. With 15 booked in we were all on Match Lake with 2 sections, 1 down each side of the lake.

Looking at recent results it suggested a draw between 19-24 would be a good area, so I was a little disappointed with p16, although when I arrived at the peg there were a few fish showing. However, when Tony drew p24 I thought we were all fishing for 2^nd. The one good thing was this side of the lake would be sheltered from the sun, which I was quite thankful for as it got quite warm today.

As I didn’t get to fish the lake yesterday, I set up a number of rigs to cover my options, including a silvers rig as the results suggested there were loads of silvers (F1s, tench, crucians, skimmers) to be had. However, as usual paste (Blue Ice : Kriller) was going to be my main focus.

Plumbing up revealed it was only 2ft in the deepest part and the lakes really need some water.

On the all-in I soon mugged a carp, before they quickly sulked away or refused to take the bait. I didn’t waste too much time on this, before switching to fishing paste against the far bank in the shadow of the opposite tree, catching 3 carp before they went scatty and difficult to get a proper bite.

Retreating to a 2+2 line off to my right where I had a fed a few micros and 4s, fishing an expander didn’t produce a bite. A switch to worm was better, catching small tench and crucians, but after 30mins it really wasn’t quick enough, and the line was binned.

Matt Banks on p15 decided to go down his margin early catching 3 or 4 fish and soon overtook me. As I thought I needed to catch F1s and silvers mid-match, which in hindsight was a mistake, I switched to fishing a hair rigged 6mm pellet, tapping in 4s at 14m at the bottom of the far shelf. This was better catching some bigger F1’s and tench, but only 1 carp.

Back on the paste by the island resulted in another 2 carp, before they went funny again, but I was still about 10-15lb behind Matt, who was still taking the odd fish from his margin.

By the halfway point (2¾hrs) I probably had about 30lb. I had been feeding mostly 4s, with a little meat/corn into my right margin, but as yet no bites, so I started to introduce more micros, but again no bites which was a little frustrating and surprising. Therefore, with nothing to lose I mixed up some groundbait with loads of micros to try and pull in some fish.

Fortunately, I managed a couple more carp from the island, but I really needed to catch closer in. I had also started feeding 4s on a 2+2 line, initially as a throw away line, but this turned into a really good area, again catching on paste.

As for my right margin, the introduction of groundbait really helped. Initially I tried meat, then double worm, but was getting messed about by smaller fish, so ended up on paste, rotating between the margin and the 2+2 line.

By all out, I expected to be 4^th in section as I thought Matt might have just beat me, Nigel on p22 was admitting to 110lb and Tony had 4 nets in. As it happened I had slightly more than expected thanks to my silvers, beating Matt by 10lb and Nigel had overestimated weighing in 92lb. As expected, Tony comfortably won the match and section.

My 2^nd in section consolidated my league position with 2 rounds remaining. Overall, an enjoyable day and come the end I wished we had fished a 6hr match, rather than 5.5hrs as I finished the match strongly.

1.    172- 7 – Tony Gilbert – p24

2.      97- 8 – Ken Rayner – p16

3.      91-14 – Nigel Reeves – p22

4.      87- 9 – Matt Banks – p15

5.      79- 4 – Martin Pettifer – p12 

09/07/22 - Lands End - Johns Lake

Weight - 105lb 8oz (7lb 7oz silvers)

Catch - 26 Carp, 7 F1, 4 Roach, 1 Skimmer

Weather - Hot & sunny.

Match - Open (22 fished) - 2nd overall, 1st in section

Back to an old favourite venue that I used to fish most weekends when I lived in Bristol, but it’s been 2 years since I was here, and it was good to catch up with some old faces I haven’t seen for a while.

With 22 fishing we were spread across the match lake and Johns (no3) lake. I was hoping for a draw on match lake as I was due to fish in the next round of Steve Martin’s summer series tomorrow, however I ended up on p58 on Johns lake.

Plumbing up revealed no more than 2ft of water anywhere, which would make spotting feeding fish easier as there would be blumes of mud coming up.

On the all in I tried mugging one or two of the cruisers, but they weren’t interested,

so quickly switched to fishing paste (blue ice : kriller) on the point of the island. This only produced 2 F1.

Next, I tried down by the reed bed to my left and caught 3 carp on paste, before the 4^th was too quick and buried me deep in the reed bed. Whilst trying to free the rig the male joint on the no5 section cracked, so I had no choice but to strip off and go into the reeds to free the rig. The fish was still attached but broke free as I untangled everything.

The bank side chatter suggested it was fishing hard, so I decided to fish hair rigged 4mm pellet at 11m slightly to my right tapping a few 4s. This produced a couple of F1s and roach, plus 2 carp, but it was slow going and foul hookers were a pain as the fish wouldn’t settle.

Down the right margin I had been feeding 4s, fishing paste and again it was slow going, therefore I started to feed micros down both margins which really helped. In the meantime, I tried meat at 13m for a further couple of carp and few silver, but again it was slow.

For the 2^nd half of the match, I decided to focus down the margins on paste as these had been the most consistent area. Down the left margin I switched to a fishing a short kit to try and pull the fish away from the reeds as quickly as possible. However, 3 fish still made it. Those 3lbers are so quick. I managed to pull 2 out, but not the 3^rd.

The right margin continued to be slow although it improved later, but the pleasure anglers on lake 4 probably didn’t help.

Whilst fishing the margins I also started feeding 7mm meat at 6m, which proved to be a useful backup line adding some better sized carp late on.

An enjoyable day, chopping and changing to keep the fish coming and I was pleased to finish 2^nd overall.

1.    126- 3 – Vic Bush – p46 (Johns Lake)

2.    105- 8 – Ken Rayner – p58 (J)

3.      86- 2 – Russ Peck – p70 (J)

4.      74-12 – Rod Wootten – p55 (J)

5.      74- 8 – Simon Hawkins – p7 (Match Lake) 

09/05/21 - Lands End - Match Lake

Weight - 47lb 8oz (15lb 7oz - silvers)

Catch - 7 Carp, 44 Tench, Crucians, F1s, Skimmers, Roach & Rudd

Weather - Strong southerly breeze, mostly sunny, becoming increasingly cloudy.

Match - Haines Summer Series - rd 1 

Today was the first round of the Haines Summer Series run by Steve Martin and we were at a much changed Lands End, a venue where I was previously a regular, but stopped going following my move to Melksham from Bristol. This was my first visit since Gary made some significant changes. So the venue looked great with much of the bushes and trees cut back as well as new platforms. Also 170 carp had been removed from Match lake and put into I believe no.4 lake and replaced with F1s, crucians and tench. I think resolving the low water levels and silt should be the next task.

Originally, we were supposed to be on Match and Speci lake, but due to a booking error we only had Match lake. Fortunately, a couple dropped out today leaving 17, which still meant the pegging would be a little tight, but not too bad.

I found myself on p11 and my section ran from p10 to p17. Looking at past results p11 best weight was 37lb, with the better weights typically coming from between 13 to 17. That said the southerly wind was blowing into my bank and I fancied it for a few.

On the all-in I started short on pellet, hoping for an early carp, but only caught tench, crucians and F1s. I tried by the island, which resulted in very little. So, decided to concentrate on the short line and later an 11m swim at the bottom of the far shelf, feeding 4s (flavoured with So Simple Blue Ice) and occasionally micros, fishing a 4mm expander. To be fair it’s been quite good, catching mostly tench, a few crucians and F1s, plus a big skimmer. However, I noticed that those opposite in my section were now regularly catching carp and I really to catch a few myself.

I had been pinging pellet towards the rope at 14m and started to feed pellet by the p12 pallet in preparation, but unfortunately the long pinging line only produced more small tench and I never had a bite by the p12 pallet.

In the end I managed to find some carp in the last 90mins (5.5hr match) toss potting 6s, with a hair rigged 6mm kriller pellet 16m along the end bank, although the wind made things a little uncomfortable at times.

Come the end, I had the best weight on my bank, but struggled to compete with the pegs opposite, who had also lost as much as they caught! To be honest I was left wondering whether I should have switched to fishing the end bank sooner, as I was only 12lb off claiming 2^nd in section, instead of 5th.  On reflection the fact I had so many small fish in front of me and the fact I could only catch carp in one area would suggest I was on the fringe of the main school.

1. 87-  0 - Cosmo - p16

2. 59-  1 - Nigel Reeves - p13

3. 57-  5 - Steve Martin- p17

4. 54-  6 - Allan Oram - p15

5. 47-  8 - Ken Rayner - p11

 

26/03/17 - Lands End - Speci

Weight - 15lb 4oz
Catch - 25 Skimmer, 12 Roach, 1 F1, 1 Hybrid
Weather - Bright & sunny. Easterly breeze
Match - 1st out of 33 - silvers

The final round of the Winter League and I would have preferred to be competing for the overall positions, but a couple of poor early draws saw me targeting the silvers instead. With one round left I was leading the silvers league and there were 6 anglers competing for the top 2 postions. Rich Lovering was one of those, lying in 2nd place and we ended up in the same section, p33 for Rich and P31 for me. At least I could keep an eye on Rich as he was opposite me. This meant one of us was going to miss out, leaving the door open for Mike Duckett, who if he won his section was guaranteed to finish in the top 2.

Another cold night, an easterly wind was still blowing and bright sunny conditions meant the prospects for a good days fishing weren't good.

On the all in micros and a little groundbait was deposited at 14m, left and right. Starting on the banded 4mm amino+ pellet and toss potting a few at a time, I worked my way along the bottom of the far shelf hoping for an early big F1 or skimmer. After 30mins I did have a big F1 and a 12oz skimmer, unfortunately Rich got off to flyer, catching 2 F1s and quite a few skimmers.

To be honest I wasnt that concerned, because the problem with the p33 was the lack of space, which meant your options are limited, However Rich was doing well and kept catching over the next 2 hours.

A switch to a my main rig (SM chimp 0.4g) and 4mm expander, I started catching skimmers. By rotating left and right I kept them coming, slowly catching Rich.

I had been feeding caster at 4m, but only had 4 roach off this line all match, which was disappointing as I had hoped to catch more from here. Even feeding caster down by the left hand pallet failed to produce a bite, so I had to make the long lines work.

By refeeding new swims and continue rotating I managed to keep the skimmers coming, a number of which were in the 12oz-1lb bracket. Just as I thought I might have caught Rich up he landed a big 2-3lb skimmer, fortunately 5mins later I had one of my own.

The second half of the match saw me catch more fish, but Rich kept chipping away with the odd better fish, although he was now being troubled by carp. With an hour to go my swims were fading and started loose feeding 4s to my left, which was a risk with a number of carp moving around, but it is a tactic I've used in the past and caught some quality skimmers. Indeed I managed a few more skimmers to keep the pressure on Rich.

With 10 mins left a switch to banded 4mm pellet, hoping for a better skimmer. A 10oz hybrid was the result and felt I had enough to win, but then Rich nets another F1 and I really wasn't sure. Rich was first to weigh and to be honest he had more than I expected, fortunately that hybrid proved crucial I as weighed 7oz more. Without the hybrid I would have finished the league in 3rd and out of the money. Tight margins!

A special thank you to Andy Seery 'So Simple' for sponsoring the league and well done to all the winners.

1. 162-15 - Gary O'Shea (Preston) - p18
2. 119- 2 - Tony Rixon (Mosella) - p13
3. 79-15 - Lewis Jones (Thyers) - p27
4. 77-15 - Russ Peck - p29
5. 65- 7 - Steve Hutter (Marukyu/PR floats) - p34
6. 60-12 - Andy Hembrow - p55

Silvers
1. 15- 4 - Ken Rayner (Colmic/Marukyu) - p31
2. 14-13 - Rich Lovering - p33
3. 14- 9 - Mike Duckett (Lands End) - p20

12/03/17 - Lands End - Johns Lake

Weight - 52lb 11oz (18lb 3oz - silvers)
Catch - 18 Skimmers, 8 Roach, 6 F1s, 2 Perch, 1 Rudd, 7 Carp
Weather - Mostly cloudy.
Match - Winter League rd 5 - 2nd out of 33 - silvers, 1st out of 5 - silvers section

After yesterdays match I really needed a good day today. This being the penultimate round of the Winter League it was my turn for Johns Lake. Holding a fragile lead on the Silverfish League I needed another silver section win to consolidate my position.

Whilst I wasn't too concerned were I drew, because at this time of year the fish start to spread out, however ideally wanted 1 of the bottom 4 pegs (41,42,68 & 70) because they are usually the most consistent areas for silvers.

Fortunately I drew p41, would have preferred p42 but I was happy enough. Rich Lovering who was just behind me in the league drew p66 in the other section, but was moaning about it being no good, until I pointed out that silvers was won from his peg in the last round.

2x rigs were set up to fish the open water, one for hair rigged pellet and the other for soft pellet. I had another rig to fish caster short and a rig to fish caster down each margin.

On the all in, I went out to 13m tapped a few 4s out via the toss pot with a banded 4mm pellet and was soon attached to an 8lb carp. Next put in I had a pound skimmer, then an F1. For the next hour so I tried various spots at 13-14m toss potting 4s and continue to pick up decent skimmers and a couple of F1s, before it slowed.

A switch to feeding micros/4s and trying to catch from the one spot with the expander rig resulted in another run of fish. Again I had to move around the peg, but I was catching.

The surprise was my short caster line, which only produced a couple of small roach, so gave up on it half way through.

I had also started feeding caster down each margin. The right hand produced a decent perch, plus a few roach and carp. The left hand side which was a little shallower only produced carp, but I wasn't too concerned because I hadn't seen anyone put together a net of silvers so the section points were secured.

Rich Lovering was moaning away, claiming he could only catch small skimmers and this would be his dropped result, however he managed 9lb of them which was just enough to win the silvers sections. He looked a lot happier.

Overall a much better day than yesterday, where I managed to stay top of the silvers league, but its incredibly tight with 6 of us potentially able to claim the top 2 pay out positions.

1. 179- 4 - Craig Edmunds (Mosella) - p33
2. 141-10 - Shawn Kitteridge (Thyers) - p18
3. 109- 1 - Tony Rixon (Mosella) - p40
4. 103- 8 - Paul Elmes (Mosella) - p13...
5. 88- 8 - Russ Peck  (Lands End) - p51
6. 80-14 - Pete Nurse - p18
Silvers
1. 19-12 - Mike Duckett (Lands End) - p34
2. 18- 3 - Ken Rayner (Colmic) - p41
3. 18- 0 - Rob Watts - p11
4. 17- 6 - Andy Hembrow - p5
5. 14-14 - Emma Drysdale (Legacy Tackle) - p29
6. 13- 8 - Tony Rixon (Mosella) - p40

19/02/17 - Lands End - Match

Weight - 38lb 10oz (6lb 12oz - silvers)
Catch - 5 Carp, 3 F1s, 3 Skimmers, 4 Roach, 1 Perch
Weather - Mild and mostly cloudy
Match - Winter League rd 4 - 3rd out of 33 silvers (12th overall)

It was back to a random draw today and to be honest I wasn't concerned about which lake to draw. After 3 rounds my league hasn't quite gone to plan, were any pick up in the overall league was unlikely, but a top 2 position in the silvers league was a definite possibility since I was lying 3rd.

Have to say I was more than happy to draw p20, since it made up my mind to target the silvers, because with the current flyers of p11, 13 & 15 were in my section it was unlikely I could compete. Also having won the silvers from p19 yesterday and winning the silvers in round 3 from this peg 2 weeks ago I was hopeful of another good day.

For company was Joe McMahon on p18 and Rich Lovering on p22 (in a different section) who was also hoping for a day on the silvers as he was lying 2nd in the silvers.

Tactics would be similar to yesterday, so started on the corn without feeding and in the first 90 mins I picked up 3 carp and more importantly 3 F1s. Despite trying various spots I caught all the fish from 1 spot slightly to my right at the bottom of the far shelf.

After those initial 90mins I fed gonuts black micros in 2 spots at the bottom of the shelf. A switch to fishing maggot over caster at 7m where I had fed from the start proved fruitless and down by the p19 pallet also proved disappointing, catching only caught a 1lb perch on caster.

In fact the remainder of the match was really frustrating, I managed to pick up 3x 12oz skimmers on 4mm expander over the micros, but nothing else. It was strange, because all my usual 'tricks' to catch were failing me.

I knew Russ Peck on p11(in my section) had caught 2 decent skimmers for about 5lb and could very easier steal the silvers section points. As I struggled to get bites I started to be more aggressive with my feed to try and pull in some fish, but all I ended up doing was killing my swim.

A bit of a tense end to the match and was relieved when Russ hadn't added to his 2 skimmers, which meant I had won my section for silvers. Rich got pipped for his silvers section points by 1oz - thanks Dave Hodgson!

As expected Bob Gullick on p13 and Steve Hutter on p15 came 1st and 2nd in section, so the decision to focus on the silvers proved to be the right one since I am now leading the silvers league.

1. 156-13 - Bob Gullick (Mosella) - p13

2. 129-14 - Nick Duckett (Lands End) - p7

3. 106- 9 - Steve Hutter (Garbolino) - p15

4. 78-11 - Rod Wootten (Lands End) - p55

5. 71- 1 - Andy Hembrow - p32

6. 58- 8 - Martin Rayet (Bristol) - p31

Silvers

1. 16- 8 - Mike Duckett (Bristol) - p41

2. 14-12 - Andy Hembrow - p32

3. 6-12 - Ken Rayner (Colmic) - p20

4. 6-10 - Emma Drysdale (Legacy Tackle) - p68

5. 5- 8 - Gary O'Shea (Preston) - p61

6. 4-12 - Bob Gullick (Mosella) - p13

League Tables below 

18/02/17 - Lands End - Match

Weight - 25lb 6oz (16lb 14oz - silvers)
Catch - 6 Roach, 5 Skimmers, 3 F1s, 3 Perch, 1 Tench, 2 Carp 
Weather - Mild and mostly bright
Match - Open - 1st out of 14 - silvers (4th overall)

I made a very late decision to fish, since I was expecting to return from a couple of days in Christchurch with Sue today (Saturday), but managed to get away a day early, which was handy. One afternoon I left Sue with her mother and took a walk along the Royalty stretch of the Avon, including the famous parlour swim. Couldn't see any fish due to some extra water in the river, but it certainly looked inviting as did a number of other swims.

Back to today I arrived in plenty of time to have one of Di's breakfasts and those in the café loved the fact I blanked at Viaduct, all the one liners were coming out.

With 14 anglers today, we were all on Match lake, so very few spaces for the fish hide, but everyone still wanted the pegs at the top end of the lake, i.e. 11, 13 & 15. I was first into the draw and pulled 19, which is usually worth a few a fish so at least I should have a days fishing and if there weren't many carp in residence then you can usually catch a few silvers.

On the all in I started on corn without introducing any feed to see what fish were in the swim. The float hardly settled off the point of the island and I was attached to a tench. Rod Wootten next to me on p18 was still potting out his bait. Next put in I netted an F1, which was a nice start.

After an hour I only managed to add 1 carp, despite the fact there were a number showing themselves around the island, but they weren't interested in feeding. With no further bites I feed some gonuts black micros in 2 areas along the bottom of the far shelf.

It became obvious that pegs 13 and 15 were catching as was peg 1 and 24, so the carp appeared to have pushed to either end of the lake and any chance of an overall pick up was looking slim.

The remainder of the match was focused on fishing soft pellet over micros to catch some silvers, but it was proving tricky, since I couldn't get more than 1 fish from any one swim before I had to refeed, leave and try elsewhere.

I also fed caster to my left by the bush which produced 2 decent perch on prawn, plus a good skimmer on caster. I also lost 2 decent fish when the hook pulled, which was annoying.

Rod had managed a couple of decent skimmers on meat over pellet, but was generally stuggling. The only other angler I needed to worry about was Paul Faires on p7 who was catching consistently albeit mostly small roach.

I just kept plugging away picking up the odd fish and by the all out felt I had done enough to win the silvers, which is how it turned out.

The water was still very cold, however a couple more weeks of this mild weather and the fish should start waking up properly.

1. 74- 2 - Eric Fouracre (Mosella) - p13
2. 41- 3 - Russ Peck (Lands End) - p1
3. 38-12 - Rich Heatley (Bristol) - p15
4. 25- 6 - Ken Rayner (Colmic) - p19
5. 25- 0 - Matt Baber (Bristol) - p11
6. 21- 2 - Dave Wescott (Lands End) - p24
Silvers
1.16-14 - Ken Rayner (Colmic) - p19
2. 10-10 - Paul Faires (Thyers) - p7
3. 7- 0 - Mike Duckett (Lands End) - p5
4. 6-10 - Rod Wootten (Lands End) - p18

05/02/17 - Lands End - Match

Weights - 21lb 10oz (14lb 7oz - silvers)
Catch - 11 Roach, 10 Skimmers, 2 Perch, 1 F1, 1 Hybrid, 1 Carp
Weather - Cold start. Mostly cloudy with a northerly breeze
Match - Winter League - rd 3 - 1st in silvers (15th out of 33 overall)

The 3rd round of the winter league and it was my turn for Match lake. With more anglers on the lake than yesterday the expectation was someone would be on a ball of fish and the favoured area would be the top end of the lake i.e. p11, p13 and p15.

In the knockout I had Gary O'Shea who drew p15, so it was going to be a tough ask to get through to next round, particularly when I ended up on p20, which during this series has been poor. However I was optimistic because yesterdays winner came from p19. As for my section Roger Crago was on p11, Judith drew p13 for Tony Rixon, Gary on p15, Joe McMahon on p16 and Dale Howson on p18. Paul Elmes to my right was in the next section on p22.

On the all in I started on corn without feeding searching the swim for some carp. I had a few liners in one spot, but no proper bites, so switched to a maggot rig off bottom, which just produced a couple of roach. I could already hear Tony and Gary catching and knew I was falling behind in the section.

With an hour gone I feed some Gonuts black micros plus some 4mm expanders to my right at the bottom of the shelf and caster to my left. Whilst that settled I tried maggot over a short caster line which I had feed for the previous hour, but never had a bite. I also tried caster down by the p19 pallet, but again no bites which was worry. In fact despite feeding caster here all match it only produced 1 roach.

Back to my long lines, by continually rotating left and right, the right hand swim started to produce a few skimmers including a couple of 2lbers to 4mm expander and a 7lb carp. The left hand caster swim only produced roach and a couple of small perch, so this was converted to a pellet line as well.

By going slightly longer left and right I managed to keep picking up fish and started to feel I might get a chance of picking up in the silvers and this became my focus for the rest of the match, because there were definitely very few carp in the area. I could see Chris Fox opposite on p5 catching a few F1s and skimmers and felt with 90mins left he was slightly ahead of me, although he tried telling me he only had 5lb.

Those last 90mins proved to be difficult as the fish backed off. A try on top of the shelf only produced a couple of roach, so not too much time was wasted here.

With 30mins left, I decided to dump 1/2 pot of micros into the left hand swim. First put in after 15mins I quickly had a decent skimmer on 4mm expander. A roach and then another decent skimmer soon followed to make me feel more comfortable about beating Chris. With 2mins to go a switch to the right hand swim produced a 1lb hybrid, so a really good last 15mins where I probably added 4-5lb to my weight.

Come the weigh in Tony and Gary did the business and I finished 3rd in section, but won the silvers which after yesterdays disappointment I was really pleased about. As for the overall league I'm now too far behind to claim a top 4 position, although in the Silvers league I'm in a good position lying 3rd overall

1. 132- 9 - Tony Rixon (Mosella) - p13

2. 104- 6 - Craig Edmunds (Mosella) - p55

3. 70-12 - Gary O'Shea (Preston Inv) - p15

4. 50- 9 - Adrian Jeffery (Bristol) - p37

5. 45- 8 - Dave Wescott (Lands End) - p32

6. 41-15 - Emma Drysdale - p7

1. 14- 7 - Ken Rayner (Colmic) - p20

2. 12- 0 - Chris Fox (Bristol) - p5

3. 10- 9 - Steve Hutter (Garbolino) - p66

4. 7- 4 - Joe McMahon (Bristol) - p16

5. 5- 9 - Mike Duckett (Lands End) - p36

6. 4-13 - Nick Chedzoy (Preston Inv) - p51

League tables below

04/02/17 - Lands End - Match

Weight - 7lb
Catch - 4 Roach, 3 Perch, 2 Hybrid, 1 F1, 1 Tench, 1 Skimmer, 1 Rudd
Weather - Cold overnight, bright and sunny.
Match - 8th out of 8

After a weeks worth of mild and wet weather, Mike said pleasure anglers had been catching well, however an overnight frost was likely to have an impact.

With only 8 anglers today, pegging the lake was always going to be difficult, because the fish tend to move into the quite areas. However, at the draw I questioned why p3 had been included and immediately said that would be a peg to avoid. Well I talked myself into drawing it and needless to say I wasn't happy. To be fair the peg does have it's day and it can produce silvers, but I would have preferred to have been somewhere else.

Anyway, I spent the first 45mins of the match looking for a carp, losing one under the platform of p2 and that was the only carp I hooked all day.

The rest of the match was difficult to say the least, it was just a case of catch a fish and then try a different area of the lake. As a result I couldn't get into any rhythm. I had a couple of small fish on maggot over caster, a decent tench on caster over caster by the p2 platform. Where I had fed micros and groundbait produced a couple of hybrids, but its wasn't great.

I had also been pinging 4s to the p4 platform all match, but never had a bite which was a surprise.

Lets just say I was happy to get home.

1. 29-12 - Tim Ford (Preston Inv.) - p19
2. 28-14 - Russ Peck (Lands End) - p21
3. 23- 0 - Mike Duckett (Lands End) - p15
4. 21-10 - Rod Wootten (Lands End) - p6
Silvers
1. 11-10 - Rod Wootten (Lands End) - p6
2. 9-12 - Mike Duckett (Lands End) - p15
3. 8-12 - Dave Wescott (Lands End) - p13

I

28/01/17 - Lands End - Speci Lake

Weight - 6lb 3oz
Catch - 1 Carp, 1 Perch
Weather - Mostly sunny and showers
Match - 10th out of 13

Originally there was 16 anglers booked in today, including 2 anglers who haven't fished Lands End before but confirmed they would definitely fish. Well the draw time arrived and they weren't here, but Mike decided to give them the benefit of doubt and thought they would arrive soon. Needless to say they never did and in the end we only had 13, but the draw had already been completed with 10 pegs on Match and 6 on Speci. In hindsight it would have been better to have all 13 pegs on Match Lake.

I was pleased to draw p33 particularly after being on p34 last sunday. However I was also a little apprehensive because with so few people (4 in the end) on the lake, as well as being iced up for most of the week, the anticipation was the fish would find the quiet areas of the lake.

And that's how it turned out. I started on corn and lost a foul hooker after 15mins. With no further bites or liners, I fed some micros/groundbait by the aerator and caster down the left hand bank on the hour mark.

The left hand swim started showing signs of life, when I bumped a perch on prawn, then lost a good perch as I shipped back, which I was a little upset about, because I thought I had properly set the hook.

Eventually landed a carp after 3hrs, followed soon afterwards by a 2lb 2oz perch, both on prawn. I actually spent most of the last 2 hours on prawn feeding caster down the left hand bank, since I couldn't see me getting into the overall frame, but thought if I could catch a few more big perch then I might sneak into the silvers.

Well it just didn't happen and Matt next to me on p34 didn't even have a bite! At least this week's weather will be milder and hopefully the fish will start feeding.

1st - 29-12 - Allan Oram (Dynamite Baits) - p19
2nd - 25- 0 - Eric Fouracre (Mosella) - p21
3rd - 21- 4 - Rich Lovering (Bristol) - p40
4th - 19-15 - Stuart Barnett (Bristol) - p32
5th - 16- 3 - Derek Beard - p3

Silvers
1st - 12-12 - Allan Oram (Dynamite Baits) - p19
2nd - 10-13 - Roy Myers - p13
3rd - 8- 8 - Mike Duckett (Lands End) - p5

22/01/17 - Lands End - Speci

Weight - 43lb 13oz
Catch - 5 Carp, 4 Perch
Weather - Cold, most bright and sunny
Match - Lands End 'So Simple' Winter League - rd 2 - 4th out of 31 overall, 2nd on lake

I was 2 short today, I knew about one in advance, but the other was too hungover. He has subsequently apologised and will be paying their pools.

For this 2nd round, ice breakers were in evidence again, which meant another hard match was likely for most. It was my turn for Speci Lake and was relieved to be handed p34, which usually produces a few fish. My section included Adrian Clark (p25), Roger Crago (p31), Joe McMahon (p32) and Mike West (p33), so all the better pegs on the lake.

Fortunately the left hand side of my peg was ice free and the ice that was in front of me was quite thin and would soon melt away. Plumbing up revealed it was a little deeper off the point of the island, the problem however was the light and reflections, which meant spotting my float was a nightmare, made worse by the sun being directly on front.

On the all in I decided to fish the lead and double corn off the point of the island, because it was easier than struggling to see my float. Mike West was still potting out bait when the tip went round and a 5lber was netted. Well that was the blank saved. Next cast the tip went round again and this time it felt like a much better fish. At 15lb 1oz it was very welcome and the pressure was now off with 20lb in the net after 15mins.

Staying on the tip for a further hour didn't produce any bites. By this time the ice that was in front of me had mostly disappeared, so fed 2 spots at the bottom of the far shelf with a pinch of micros in front and groundbait and micros to my right. It was the swim to my right that produced all my perch and a carp to single maggot.

Fishing on top of the shelf didn't produce anything, not even a liner. With the sun moving round I tried fishing off the end of the island, but discovered I couldn't get in too tight due to some line and snags. Fishing a little off the island I managed a carp on corn, but it was more luck than judgement because spotting the float was still very difficult.

After a slow start, Joe on p32 had picked up fish along the end bank as well as losing a few and it looked likely he was going to win the lake. With half an hour to go I couldn't get a bite anywhere, so finished the match on the tip and corn again. Fortunately I managed an 8-9lber with 10mins remaining .

1. 151-12 - Craig Edmunds (Mosella) - p13

2. 65- 6 - Nick Chedzoy (Preston) - p15

3. 52- 4 - Joe McMahon (Bristol) - p32

4. 43-13 - Ken Rayner (Colmic) - p34

5. 35-14 - Mike West (Bridgwater) - p33

6. 25- 7 - Stuart Barnett (Bristol) - p41

Silvers

1. 14- 4 - Martin Rayet (Bristol) - p5

2. 8- 2 - Rich Lovering (Bristol) - p42

3. 6- 0 - Rod Wootten (Bristol) - p1

4. 5- 9 - Stuart Barnett (Bristol) - p41

5. 4- 8 - Mike Duckett (Lands End) - p55 

6. 3- 5 - Adrian Clark (Bristol) - p25

21/01/17 - Lands End - Match Lake

Weight - 9lb 6oz (1lb 15oz - silvers)
Catch - 2 Carp, 4 Perch
Weather - Freezing. Bright & sunny
Match - Open - 5th out of 14 (2nd in silvers)

I have to say on the drive down the temperature gauge in the car read -5c and I was really questioning why I was bothering. However one of Di's breakfast soon cheered me and there were 14 of us, which meant 10 on match and 4 on Johns (no3) lake.

I drew peg 1 which usually holds a few fish and I could also easily break the ice along the end bank. In fact breaking the ice was probably the most exciting part of the day.

On the all I wasn't quite ready so chucked the straight lead and corn out towards the overhanging pipe. 10 minutes later I netted a 5lber. Unfortunately no more followed, I tried down by the right hand tree throughout the match on various baits, but never had a bite.

I spent most of the match, fishing 16-17m down the end bank, feeding a small amount of gonuts black groundbait in the deeper water. Fishing maggot over the top I managed another smaller carp and a couple perch. Fishing tighter to the end bank only produced 1 perch.

A tough day for most and I managed to sneak a pick up for 2nd in silvers. Paddy Curry opposite on p24 managed 1 carp and a couple of small silvers. Allan Oram to my right on p3 had 2 skimmers and a few bits to win the silvers pool. However the majority of the fish appeared to be down the other end of the lake, with Russ Peck winning from p15 and Dave Wescott was 2nd from p13.

It could have been worse, I could have been sat at Todber, where only 10lb was needed to win! Spring cant come quickly enough.

1. 74-15 - Russ Peck (Land End) - p15

2. 31- 4 - Dave Wescott (Lands End) - p13

3. 22- 6 - Rod Wootten (Lands End) - p10

4. 10- 0 - Allan Oram (Dynamite Baits) - p3

5. 9- 6 - Ken Rayner (Colmic) - p1

Silvers

1. 5- 1 - Allan Oram - p3

2. 1-15 - Ken Rayner - p1

08/01/17 - Lands End - Johns (no3) Lake

Weight - 31lb 4oz (16lb 12oz - silvers)
Catch - 31 Skimmers, 7 F1s, 1 Roach, 1 Rudd, 2 Carp
Weather - Mild & overcast
Match - Open - 2nd in silvers, 5th overall.

With 15 anglers, we had all of lake 3 and one side of match lake.  I definitely wanted a draw on no.3 lake, because it has been the most consistent lake recently. So was really pleased to see p42 staring back at me. A decent draw, at last.and its usually worth a few fish.

The plan was to look for an early carp and if they didn't show try for some silvers since the peg can throw up some decent silvers weight. The only issue on the silvers front was I had Martin Pettifer next to me on p41, John Bradford opposite on p68 and Rod Wootten on 70, so it was likely we would all be targeting the silvers.

On the all in it was straight out with a bit of corn and soon had an F1. Exploring further around the island for bites didn't produce, so wasn't confident there were many carp in the area.

A switch to 14m in a 5ft deep hole off the point of the island where I fed gonuts black micros and black groundbait produced a small skimmer on maggot. By feeding a tiny nugget of micros binded with the groundbait ever 2nd put in, I started catching skimmers and the occasional F1 on 4mm expander.

When the swim needed resting I tried in front of the island where it was a foot shallower and at 5m just past the weedbed, but neither swim produced anything of any significance. However resting the 14m line proved useful as I would have another run of fish. More importantly I was catching more silvers then everyone. Rod & Martin had an intial good hour or 2, but the fish seemed to have backed off for them. I think because my swim was that much deeper the fish seemed more settled in the clear water. John on the other hand started slowly, but was now catching by the weedbed on caster, including some big perch.

With 2 hours to go my 5m line really hadn't produced anything, so decided to switch to feeding meat just in case. And with an hour to go a full pot of caster, dead maggot and groundbait was dumped down the left hand margin.

My long line was starting to really fade and pushing out to 16m helped, producing a few better sized skimmers. With 30mins left, I snagged up and broke the hook length. Knowing it was unlikely I was going to be caught in the silvers, I tried down the left margin with double caster. A 5lb carp hooked in the tail was my reward, followed by a small roach.

A switch to the 5m line with meat with 5mins left and the float went under and initially throught I had foul hooked another carp as it bolted for the aerator and got caught on the rope. Fortunately it freed itself and a rather angry 8lb carp hooked in the top lip was landed 10mins after the all out.

Pleased and relieved to have finally picked up, winning the silvers on no3 lake.

1st 88- 0 - Adrian Jeffery (Bristol) - p51
2nd 47- 4 - Stuart Barnett (Bristol) - p58
3rd 42-10 - Kev Molton (Bristol) - p55
4th 38- 7 - Tony Rixon (Mosella) - p15
5th 31- 4 - Ken Rayner (Colmic) - p42
6th 28- 6 - Steve Seager (Maver) - p62

Silvers
1st 18- 3 - Tony Rixon - p15
2nd 16-12 - Ken Rayner - p42
3rd 11-10 - Joe McMahan - p21
4th 10- 2 - John Bradford - p68

07/01/17 - Lands End - Speci Lake

Weight - 7lb 4oz
Catch - 1 Carp, 6 Perch, 1 Rudd
Weather - Overcast and mild. 
Match - 5th out of 7

Back to familiar ground and was really hoping for a decent draw. With only 7 of us today we decided to fish speci lake since it was the smallest of the lakes and hopefully fewer areas for the fish to back off to.

The draw saw me on p36. Not a great draw, but wasn't overly disappointed until I saw how clear the water was. For most of the week the lakes had been iced over, only defrosting yesterday, so plenty of melt water and this peg usually struggles when its cold and clear

Started off fishing corn along various points along the far shelf hoping for an early carp, but never had a sign of a fish. Switching to the bottom of the shelf, fishing left and right with maggot over micros & groundbait did produce a few micro perch & rudd. After 2 hours hooked a carp in the tail which I eventually landed after it did everything to gain its freedom, including getting behind my keepnets, much to the amusement of everyone! I did foul hook another carp, but this one came off.

The second half of the match I just couldn't get a bite any where. I started pinging 4s to my left, hoping to pull a few carp in for later - never had a bite. Caster/maggot down the bottom of the right hand margin at 14m - produced one perch. I even tried fishing the straight lead further down the peg, but nothing not even a liner.

Russ on p34 had been struggling until he started fishing the end bank in p33. He had 1 carp off the point of the island, but nothing else, which really confirmed there wasn't many fish in the area. Top weights came from the expected areas.

Oh well always tomorrow.

1st 39- 6 - Martin Rayet -p40

2nd 35-15 - Mark Walsh - p30

3rd 33-12 - Russ Peck - p34

Silvers

1st 6- 4 - Martin Rayet - p40

2nd 3-15 - Dave Wescott - p28

3rd 3- 4 - Mike Duckett - p32