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

26/10/25 - Rood Ashton

Weight - 15lb

Catch - 2 Carp, 5 Roach

Weather - Cold, breezy & sunny start, rain later.

Match - Charity Open (22 fished) - 13th overall

Today’s match was a charity event in aid of Ian Barker who passed away earlier this year from cancer. All proceeds, which amounted to £800 would be donated to Prospect Hospice in Wroughton where Ian spent his last days.

The match was fully booked with 22 anglers. As such I knew it would be hard, not helped by a deterioration in the weather as a cold, wet and windy front came in. Therefore, a draw with some open water was required, so I was really disappointed to see p10 staring back at me. A proper no hoper in the top corner of the lake which is usually never used. I’ll be honest I nearly didn’t bother and had it not been a charity match I would have gone home.

Anyway at the peg I checked the water temperature which read 8.4c, a drop of 4c in a week just confirmed what I feared.

As expected, plumbing up revealed 4ft water up to 5m, before it shallows up further out. In the first hour I tried the method and straight lead cast as far as I dare but never had a liner. I even tried a maggot feeder, just to a get bite without success.

I had brought some maggot, just in case and had fed my short line with maggot over BMGX hoping to catch some roach. Well not even the roach were feeding, which can be a real pest in the summer.

With 2hrs gone I eventually caught a roach on my short line and then a carp much to my surprise that I gingerly played on 0.09 bottom. I did catch another carp with an hour remaining, again on maggot as I couldn’t get a bite anywhere else.

Matt Greaves had drawn p9 and we decided to have a pound, that I took, just beating Matt by 9oz thanks to my collection of roach.

1.    57-10 – Luke Sherman – p7

2.    49-10 – John Pearce – p18a

3.    38-  7 – Dave Keen – p12

4.    33-  0 – Steve Venn – p20

5.    32-15 – Andy Pegler – p11

6.    31-  7 – Dan Barnett – p19

07/10/25 - Rood Ashton

Weight - 54lb 9oz

Catch - 16 Carp

Weather - Cool and blustery.

Match - Tackle Den (14 fished) - 3rd overall

Only 14 today for various reasons, which meant some of the worst pegs could be left out.

More than happy with p21 as it was the end peg on the far bank. The only concern was yesterday’s heavy rain and the impact it would have. Taking the water temperature (11.7c) revealed it had dropped a couple of degrees from last week, which suggested it would be tricky.

On all the all-in I started on a small 30g method feeder cast 30m loaded with Top G groundbait and baninion micros and a 6mm pink gofter. After an hour I had 3 carp for about 5lb. It was a relief to catch as no-one on my bank had a bite yet, however I was a little disappointed with the stamp as usually I would expect to have 10-15lb.

I had intended to fish meat on the pole, however when I realised it was going to be hard I decided to set up a pellet rig with 0.14 bottom to an 18 B960, which is lighter than I would normally go, but there didn’t appear to be many snags in the swim. If the carp rocked up properly, I could still switch to a heavier rig.

After an hour I switched to fishing 10m to my left where I had been pinging 4mm baninion pellets, fishing a hair rigged 6mm baninion pellet. Bites were tentative but at least I was catching, nothing bigger than 3-4lb, plus a couple of 1lb fish and I knew I was beating those along my bank.

I also started feeding 8mm meat (covered in Sludge) and 4mm pellet into my right margin, which was 3ft deep, soon catching a 6lber and then losing an 8lber at the net.

With 2hrs remaining I had 13 fish in the net, mostly from the 10m line and thought I would get a run of proper fish down the margin or over a 25m line where I had been pinging 6mm pellet.

Well, those last 2hrs were extremely frustrating. Over the right margin I was getting liners, losing a couple of foul hookers and only landing one more fish. I never had a bite over the 25m line, fishing the straight lead which to be honest was a surprise as its usually worth a couple of fish.

Fortunately, I managed a couple more fish over the 10m line, but a lost a proper fish at the net. As things weren’t going as well as expected I cupped groundbait, micros and a few bits of meat 10m down the left margin in 2ft of water. This produced 1 carp, before the roach moved in.

At the all-out I knew I had beaten the anglers down my bank, but I was concerned the stamp of fish might leave me short, as normally 16 carp would go 65-80lb and I’ve probably missed out on 2^nd place.

Picking up 3^rd place meant that is now 8 straight pick-ups, which is my best run of results.

1.    72-14 – Vince Grillo – p6

2.    64-  1 – Simon Collins – p14

3.    54-  9 – Ken Rayner – p21

4.    49-  6 – Pete Phillips – p4

5.    45-15 – Matt Greaves – p5

01/06/25 - Rood Ashton

Weight - 22lb 10oz

Catch - 8 Carp

Weather - CLoudy with sunny periods, windy.

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

A nice short drive for a change to Rood Ashton. With 18 booked in, it was nearly every peg in and with the strong wind blowing into peg 1, I fancied drawing the bottom end of the lake but ended up on p14 on the top bank with the wind coming off my back.

I started on the method feeder with micros and a little groundbait, fishing a 6mm orange or pink wafter, cast towards the island. It took 45 mins to get a bite and a further 3 carp followed over the next 30mins, losing a 4^th (and biggest) at the net.

I caught my 4^th fish on meat and straight lead at 25m where I had been pinging 6mm pellet. By the end of the 2^nd hour, I netted my 5^th fish back on the feeder and I thought I had a reasonable start.

Over the next 3hrs I never had a bite no matter what I tried. I had been feeding meat and micros down my right margin and just micros down the left. With an hour remaining I eventually had a bite on paste down the left margin but was a little slow to react and the fish successfully made it to a snag. 15mins later I had another bite on paste, and I was quicker this time and managed to net my 6^th fish. I never had another bite down the margin, which to be honest I couldn’t quite believe.

2 more carp on the straight lead and meat concluded what was a boring match, but at least I managed to top up my hooklength box! As expected, the bottom end of the lake and woodside bank proved to be best.

1.    85-14 – Steve Venn – p19

2.    72-  5 – Andrew Black – p4

3.    58-  4 – Matt Gale – p1

4.    47-  7 – Bobby Moore – p18

5.    42-  3 – Pete Philips – p21

6.    37-  7 – Matt Greaves – p2

06/10/24 - Rood Ashton

Weight - 86lb 12oz

Catch - 17 Carp, 2 Roach

Weather - Cloudy and breezy. Rain late on.

Match - Tackle Den (11 fished) - 3rd overall

For various reasons we were low on numbers today, which at least meant there would be fewer poor pegs in the bag. The good news was we could still drive round the lake, helped by loads of wood chipping being laid down in the worst affected areas during the previous rain. The question however, was, would the forecasted rain later in the day start before or after the match?

I drew p18 on the far bank opposite the island, but I would have preferred p20 or p21, but with the wind blowing into my bank I was hopeful.

I started on the method cast ¾ of the way towards the island. I didn’t wish to cast any closer due to the various snags by the island. After 3 casts on the method without any indications, I wasn’t convinced the feeder was the right approach, so switched to an 8mm red pellet and a tea bag covered in p-nut oil, resulting in my first carp. The 2^nd hour was better adding another 5 carp, mostly on 8mm meat covered in a-krill cloud and a pellet cone with bubblegum micros.

The 3rd hour was disappointing with no more fish. In the meantime, I had been feeding meat and 4mm pellet at 11m, but only caught a couple of roach and a crayfish, so I started feeding meat and micros down the right margin.

Fortunately, the fish returned over the far line adding another 4 fish, plus 2 from the right margin, but roach playing around with the bait were being a real pain.

With 45mins remaining, I felt I was behind all 3 anglers to my left and needed to get rid of the nuisance roach and catch some margin fish. So, I opened another tin of meat and fed both margins, just as the rain started. The right side was still full of roach, however 5 fish from the left margin in the last 30mins for 30lb was really useful to win my side of the lake and finish 3^rd overall.

1.    134-15 – Pete Phillips – p6

2.    100-  7 – Matt Greaves – p2

3.      86-12 – Ken Rayner – p18

4.      83-13 – Andrew Black – p4

5.      78-  8 – Dan Barnett – p21

  

26/05/24 - Rood Ashton

Weight - 72lb 3oz

Catch - 15 Carp, 2 Roach

Weather - Dry start, but thundery and very wet late on.

Match - Tackle Den (14 fished) - 1st overall

No fishing last weekend as I travelled up north to see the in-laws and the weather was lovely. Back to this weekend and the weather has turned cooler, with more rain forecast. When will it end?

For today’s match we only had 14 fishing, as a number of regulars were fishing a 3-day festival at Hillview. At least it meant the worst pegs could be left out, however the change in weather had impacted recent results with only 50 odd pound required to win a midweek match.

I found myself on p16 behind the island which is a reasonable area and made a change from drawing on the ‘lawns’ bank for the last 4 matches.

On the all-in I started on the method cast to the island, but after 30mins I hadn’t had a bite, although I could see fish moving around, which was a worry. An early look on meat at 11m to my left next to the overhanging branches only produced 1 roach.

In the meantime, I started pinging 6mm p-nut pellet and fished the straight lead with meat. I soon switched to an 8mm p-nut pellet as the roach were being a pain and I eventually caught my first carp after 90mins. Another 4 followed in the 3^rd hour and I hoped this would be a sign the fish had arrived, but the 4^th hour only produced 1 carp on the 11m line which I had converted to a paste line. The slowdown coincided with the wind picking up and the incessant rain.  I also lost 2 carp, a 6lber where the hook pulled at the net and another that found a snag by the island, losing my whole rig, which didn’t improve my mood.

The 5th hour produced another 2 carp on paste at 11m and the fish eventually turned up in the last hour down my right margin where I had been feeding meat covered in Uzit A-krill cloud, catching 5 carp and a further 2 on paste at 11m.

I was little surprised to have won and thankful for catching 3 carp in the last 10mins for 22lb which helped swing the result my way. No catch shot as it was still chucking down.

1.    72-  3 – Ken Rayner – p16

2.    67-  7 – Brian Duckett – p21

3.    63-  4 – Pete Philips – p3

4.    57-10 – Matt Greaves – p20

5.    47-10 – Cliff Dutton – p6

06/05/24 - Rood Ashton

Weight - 21lb 8oz

Catch - 3 Carp

Weather - Bright start, rain later.

Match - Wiltshire Angling Open (20 fished)

I didn’t fancy travelling too far on a bank holiday and booked into the Wiltshire Angling open and it was fully booked with 20 anglers.
 

Like last week, everyone wanted to draw the far bank, so I was really disappointed to draw p4. I did win from the peg last year, deepdown felt I would be fishing for section only, as this area has been fishing hard.
 
Whilst I expected it to be hard, I didn’t expect it to be as hard as it turned out. Based on last week’s match I thought the feeder would dominate again, although there were a few fish showing themselves close in and I hoped to catch on the pole late.

I caught my first fish after nearly 3hrs on the straight lead and meat, at 20m where I had been pinging 6s. At this stage 4 carp was winning the section and thought if I could get a run of fish I would catch up.
 
However, it never happened. Unbelievably, I couldn’t get a bite on the method, yet last week it was the only method I could catch on!
 
At the halfway stage I started feeding my margins, pellet and paste to my left, and meat and micros to my right. I eventually caught 2 carp on meat late on to conclude a really difficult day. At least I had plenty of time to top up my hooklength box.
 
I didn’t hang around for the full results, but I knew my section was won with only 50lb. I used to enjoy fishing here, but it is becoming obvious that there are not the same volume of fish compared to a few years ago.

28/04/24 - Rood Ashton

Weight - 48lb 3oz

Carp - 11 Carp

Weather - Wet & cold overnight. Cool and breezy.

Match - Tackle Den (15 fished) - 6th overall, 2nd in section

Following a cold wet day yesterday and more cold overnight rain, the general feeling was the lake would fish hard. The good news was the ground was still hard enough to drive around the lake, you just had to avoid some soft spots.

At the draw I wanted to be around the big island or on the far bank. Unfortunately, I was disappointed to draw p3, which has been a poor area of the lake so far this year and was told I would be looking for 10 bites.

The plan of attack was quite simple. Start on the method to the small island opposite, feed 6mm pellet at 20m to fish the straight lead and feed meat down each margins, although the pole line was more out of hope than expectation.

It took me 55mins before I netted my first fish, after switching from a 6mm yellow wafter to 8mm meat soaked in A-krill cloud, fishing with P-nut micros and Uzit GLM Betaine Green groundbait, with a squeeze of GLM or Krill.

It’s fair to say the action was steady rather than hectic. After initially casting every 5mins, I found it best to wait 10mins, with bites coming between 6-9mins. If I didn’t get a bite after 2 casts, I would switch to the 20m line without success, but usually I would get another fish on the feeder when I returned.

It was noticeable I needed to keep feeding the groundbait to keep the fish coming and later on switched back to fishing a yellow wafter.

The last hour was quite disappointing as my feeder line had dried up and I couldn’t get a bite over the 20m line and my margins were full of roach.

In the end I only lost 1 carp and a small fish (which I think was a carp), and as expected the majority of the weights came from around the large island or the far bank. Even Pete who won our section was able cast long to the island, so the fish have yet to properly spread out.

1.    129-13 – Andrew Black – p20

2.      72-  8 – Danny Barnett – p19

3.      70-  8 – Bobby Moore – p13

4.      66-  5 – Pete Philip – p6

5.      50-  0 – Ian Barker – p18

06/08/23 - Rood Ashton

Weight - 30lb 4oz

Catch - 8 Carp

Weather - NW breeze, sunshine and showers

Match - Tackle Den (19 fished) - 12th overall, 3rd in section

After yesterday’s wind and rain, I felt it would fish hard, particularly with 19 fishing. There was also a large marquee, with adjoining toilets on the top bank that had been used for a wedding do the night before and a couple tents also housed some of the guests! I’m sure it sounded like a good idea when they agreed to camp beside a lake in early August.

P14 put me on the top bank just past the marquee and it was a little busy with the campers trotting to and from the toilets as I was setting up.

On the all-in I started on a small method with a 6mm yellow or orange wafter ¾ of the way across to the island and I netted 3 carp in the first hour. A reasonable start and I thought if I kept picking up the odd fish, I might be alright until the last 2 hours when I would go down the margins and catch a few lumps.

Sadly, it didn’t happen that way, as I only
had 1 fish in the next 3hrs again on the feeder, although losing 4 fish to snag didn’t help.

I tried paste down my left margin and meat to my right but could only get bites from roach.

By gradually casting closer to the island, I managed to net another 4 carp in the last 2 hours, to finish a rather boring match. A disappointing match, but with a 21lb and DNW either side there just didn’t seem to be any volume of fish in front of me.

At least I had a short journey (12mins) home.

1.    70-  7 – Bobby Moore – p20

2.    68-10 – Dave Keen – p21

3.    65-13 – John Williams – p12

4.    57-13 – Brian Duckett – p19

5.  51-  9 - Ann Dee - p20a

09/07/23 - Rood Ashton

Weight - 93lb 3oz

Catch - 19 Carp

Weather - Mostly sunny, breezy, 1 shower

Match - Match Den (18 fished) - 1st overall

A nice short trip to Rood Ashton and I hoped it would fish better than when I was last here in April. There were supposed to be 20 fishing today, however a van breakdown reduced our numbers to 18.

Peg 4 for me which was the same peg as I struggled from the last time I fished here, so I was a little disappointed. Starting on a 20g method with micros and orange 6mm wafter at 40m produced a bite after 15mins, but the hooked pulled at the net.

With no more bites on the feeder, I tried paste at 12m where I fed 4s and I lost another carp at the net, before eventually netting a 12ozer and that was it after an hour. The second and third hour I only managed to add a further 4 on the method.

Other than 1 lost fish on the feeder to an unseen snag I didn’t catch anything during the fourth hour and news was filtering down that the lake was fishing hard with 30-40lb being the best weight from my side of lake.

Fortunately, a few fish turned up down my margins in the last 2 hours, catching on paste over 4s under the left-hand branches and double 8mm meat over meat (feeding 3 small tins) tight to right hand margin. The paste produced more fish, however the fish on the meat were a bigger stamp. 

So at least I had an enjoyable finish to the match and to be honest I was a little surprised to have won as I expected the far bank to have fished better than it did.

1.    93- 3 – Ken Rayner

2.    70- 6 – Matt Greaves

3.    55-15 – Terry Arnold

4.    55-10 – Dan Barnet

5.    52-  0 – Steve Venn

01/05/23 - Rood Ashton

Weight - DNW

Catch - 1 Carp

Weather - Mostly cloudy, cool NW breeze

Match - Wiltshire Angling Open (20 fished)

With the improving weather I was hoping for a decent day. This was tempered a little when I drew p7 which hasn’t been great recently, but when I arrived there were a few fish crashing around.

After 2 hours I hooked a carp on the method at 40m, only for it to snag me after a few seconds and I lost the lot. I kept switching between the feeder (either fishing just micros, just groundbait or a mixture of both) and the straight lead at 16m over loose fed 6s fishing either meat or pellet, hoping (and expecting) the fish to turn up. They never did.

With an hour remaining I netted my 1 and only carp on the feeder. I couldn’t believe how poorly it fished. Gary Etheridge was next to me on p8 had 1 carp early, got bored and caught 8lb of roach on a top kit, before foul hooking a carp at the death.

I don’t think I did much wrong, as everyone struggled, even the form pegs on the opposite bank. As for my section Ady McTiffin won it with 2 early carp, followed up with 29lb of roach on the whip!

I didn’t hang around for the full results.

16/04/23 - Rood Ashton

Weight - 25lb

Catch - 6 Carp, 2 Roach

Weather - Cool and cloudy

Match - Open (11 fished) - 7th overall

After last week’s match I was looking forward to coming back and managed to jump on a match organised by Andy Bright. Everyone wanted to draw the far bank, however I ended up on p4 so I would be able to watch the anglers opposite all bagging!

Only 37lb came off the p4 last week and not much was caught from the peg during a match on Thursday. So, a tough day was likely.

First cast on the method at about 35m produced a carp after 2mins. I then had to wait over 3hrs for my next bite. I tried the lead and meat at 20m where I had been pinging  8s and the 11m pole again with meat, without success although the roach seemed to be enjoying the meat.

I kept pinging pellet at 20m hoping the fish would finally get their heads down. However, I had to switch from hair rigging meat to pellet due to the roach which is never a good sign. I did catch 3 fish, but never felt there were many fish in the area.

I only caught 1 more on the feeder, which just left the margins. I fed meat and micros to the left, which just encouraged the roach and meat only to the right where I had 1 carp.

So not a great day. As expected, the top 2 came from the far side. Pete next to me on p5 came 3^rd just fishing a method with meat at 16m pinging 4s over the top. Perhaps I was too positive, but I had to be positive to pull in a few fish. The anglers to my right only had 1 fish a piece.

1.    181-15 – Pete Phillips – p20

2.    110-13 – Andy Bright – p21

3.      92- 0 – Pete Burns – p5

4.      83- 6 – Mick W – p18

 

10/04/23 - Rood Ashton

Weight - 88lb 4oz

Catch - 16 Carp

Weather - Wet start, heavy showers and sunny periods. Increasingly windy.

Match - Wiltshire Angling Open (18 fished) - 1st overall

The dry weather of the previous 3 days was replaced by more rain, which meant we were not able to drive around the lake to our pegs, which you can normally do at this time of year, as many parts were still very boggy. P20a meant a long walk around the lake to the far side. Fortunately, I had already lightened my kit to make it easier to push my trolley, but I was still blowing a bit!

I had at least drawn the right area, as there had been a couple of ton weights from this side, with 200lb winning last week from p21, although I was a little concerned about being between 20 & 21, which was a little tight. I was also sat on the drain, which meant I had the constant sound of water rushing down the overflow, which Joe Shepherd had nicknamed the torture peg as he was sat on it last week. The peg was also a bit of a parrot cage with overhanging branches making casting a little awkward.

Starting on a small method at 40m, I had a 1lb carp on the 2nd cast, but nothing else during the first 30mins.

Switching to the pole at 11m where I had fed meat and micros, I had to wait for my first fish on 8mm meat, but by continually toss potting meat I started to put a few fish in the net. Unfortunately, the wind started to pick up, so I dropped back to 10m to help with presentation. However, the wind just got stronger, as did the tow and I fouled hooked the next 2 fish, losing 1 of them, before the swim died.

In the meantime, I had fed 8mm pellet at 30m and tried the straight lead with meat, but only had 1 fish, losing another to a snag. As the wind and tow was getting worst, I tried catapulting meat at 14-16m, fishing the straight lead over the top, but no bites.

Fishing down my left margin didn’t produce either as the tow was worse here as it was amplified by the water rushing down the overflow. As for my right margin, I could only fish a top kit, otherwise I would be interfering with p20, but I at least managed to catch 2 carp.

Moving into the final hour, I had 3 fish quite quickly on the straight lead and meat as the fish finally got their heads down over the 8mm pellet, but the ducks were a pain and at one point I had 4 of the little buggers diving down, which just unsettled the fish in the shallow water.

Back on the pole, by switching from a 0.3g to 0.4g rig I managed another few fish from the 10m line, which meant I probably put about 40lb in the net during the last hour.

The guys either side of me were estimating the same weight of 70-75lb. As it was, we were all slightly out and I was pleased to have just edged it. In hindsight I lost my way a little during hours 4 & 5 as I tried to find the best way of catching but I was pleased to have had a strong finish. Had the weather been a bit kinder I think at least 120lb was on the cards.

1. 88- 4 – Ken Rayner – p20a

2. 86- 0 – Pete Phillips – p21

3. 83-10 – Alan Gibbs – p20

4. 81- 1 – Mayo – p5a

5. 80-12 – Pete Neate – p6

13/03/22 - Rood Ashton

Weight - 38lb 4oz

Catch - 7 Carp

Weather - Mostly sunny with a strong south westerly breeze.

Match - Wiltshire Angling Open - 5th out of 14 (2nd in section)

With not many options available this Sunday I booked in on the Wiltshire Angling open at a venue I enjoy fishing and its only 10mins from home.

No complaints about the draw as I drew the right side of the ‘lawns’ and in the right area of the lake.

Being only a couple of feet deep, the question was it is a little too early for a decent day, as I don’t normally fish here until April. I really didn’t expect to catch on the pole, so just set up 2 rods, a method for casting into the middle and a straight lead to fish at 20/25m over pinged pellet and meat. I never had a bite on the short line, meaning everything came on the feeder.

I eventually caught my first carp after 75mins on a 6mm pink gofter but had to wait another hour for my next one. By this time everyone around me had started catching a few and to be honest I was getting a bit frustrated as I couldn’t catch as quickly. This frustration wasn’t helped when I lost 4 fish on the bounce, as I think the hair wasn’t sitting right, resulting in poorly hooked fish. A change of hooklength resolved that problem.

In hindsight (and speaking to those that caught) I should have mixed up some groundbait and not simply relied on feeding (cool ice) micros. So, a big mistake on my part and the stupid thing is I recognised this point halfway through the match but still decided to stick with micros! 

Leading up to this match I was on my worst run of results for the last 10 years and was relieved (and surprised) when I picked up the section money, because I didn’t deserve it. However, sometimes to break the cycle you need a bit of luck!

1. 83-  2 - Ian Stainer - p5a

2. 61-  8 - Darryl Mayers - p15

3. 55-  4 - Mayo - p4

4. 42-  8 - Pete Neate - p3

5. 38-  4 - Ken Rayner - p5

27/06/21 - Rood Ashton

Weight - 80lb

Catch - 17 Carp

Weather - Cool and cloudy

Match - Wiltshire Angling Open (16 fished)

I am not sure anyone was actually looking forward to this match, as the lake has been fishing hard. I drew p5 and with the NE breeze blowing right to left I quite fancied it.

The intention was for a simple match, fishing the method long, pinging 8mm pellet at 20-25m and maybe a few fish on the paste by the right-hand tree later.

First cast on the method loaded with So Simple RTGs (Krillers : Red) with a 6mm yellow gofter and the tip went round much to my surprise. As I was playing the fish under my rod tip the hooklength gave way and a 7lber made its escape much to my disappointment. I can only think it caught a root, of which there are many close in. Knowing it was likely to be a low weight affair I felt that fish would cost me.

Back out with the feeder, it was slow going and after 3hrs I had 5 carp, but lost 2 under the trees to my left and right which was frustrating as the peg is quite narrow and any fish that kited left or right were difficult to get back.

Adding a further 5m to the feeder line produced another 4 quite quickly, but it was obvious Kev Hanson on p2 was walking the match by casting a method to the island as every time I looked up, he was catching a fish.

After 4hrs of pinging 8mm pellet at 20-25m, I caught 4 carp on an 8mm red gonut pellet, but surprisingly those were the only 4 fish off this line.

Going into the last hour I caught 3 decent carp on the paste (blue ice:kriller) and 1 more on the feeder.

As expected, Kev easily won the match and that lost 7lber at the start of the match did indeed cost me 2^nd overall, as I finished 4^th, but managed to pick up the section money.

The lake fished better than expected; although fewer fish were caught the average size has increased. 

No more fishing for me for the next 2 weeks, due to family commitments.

1. 124-  0 - Kev Hanson - p2

2.   84-  8 - Steve Garnder - p14

3.   80-  6 - Ian Stainer - p7

4.   80-  0 - Ken Rayner - p5

5.   76-15 - Pete Neate - p19   

02/05/2021 - Rood Ashton

Weight - 24lb 7oz

Catch - 6 Carp

Weather - Cold start, sunshine and showers.

Match - Wiltshire Angling Open - 8th out of 21, 1st in section.

A Wiltshire Angling open at Rood Ashton today and with 21 fishing it was always going to be difficult.

Peg 6 put me on the left-hand side of the lawns, which can be a good area, but with 3 of us squeezed onto the lawns we didn’t have much space. Therefore, decided on a simple plan of fishing the feeder at 45m and feed 8mm pellet at 20m to fish the straight lead later, which has always done well for me in the past. I also set up the 2 pole rigs but wasn’t confident I would catch due to the cold and tight pegging. In fact, only I spent 5mins on the pole.

So started on a small 30g method, fishing micros flavoured with So Simple blue ice and eventually caught my first carp after 40mins on a pink 6mm gofter. I caught steadily throughout at a fish every hour! Most came to the pink gofter and 1 on a yellow.

Despite the lack of action, it was noticeable if I got a bite it would be after approximately 10mins, despite leaving the feeder for 30mins on one occasion. I also had to cast beyond my original line to catch my next fish.

My 20m pellet line never produced a bite and it was obvious the bulk of the fish were on the far side of the lake, where most of the weights came from. Fortunately, I won my section with everyone else only having 2 fish each. I think 59lb won the match, unfortunately no photos as dropped my phone in the lake - not for the first time!

At least today, I managed to restock my hooklength box.