01/02/25 - Sedges - Brick Lake

Weight - 34lb 8oz

Catch - 4 Carp, 1 Skimmer

Weather - Grey & cloudy

Match - Bomb & Feeder League - rd 5 (24 fished) - 2nd in section, 8 overall

This was the re-arranged final round, however we only had 24 fishing instead of 40. This meant 16 on Brick and 8 on one side (31-40) on Tile.

Coming into this round I was lying 6^th, courtesy of a lower weight and felt I needed to draw a corner to give me the best chance of winning my section and bolstering my overall weight to claim a top 5 place.

I was near the end of the draw queue with pegs 10 & 40 still in the bag but pulled p11. With Karl Turner on p10 and Chris Ware on p12, I had my work cut out to get any points. As such, I took a positive approach to the match and didn’t bother targeting the skimmers.

On the all-in I started on the pellet cone, fished towards the rope, trying corn, pellet and meat, however after an hour I was still bite less. In the meantime, Karl already had 40lb fishing against the end bank and I knew 2^nd in section was the best I could hope for, so I really needed a big weight to give myself a chance of improving my overall weight.

I had been pinging corn at 16m, and a switch resulted in 3 carp and a skimmer over the next 90 mins, which meant I was lying comfortably 2^nd in section.

Unfortunately, my 16m line just died. I also fed meat at 5m, which was very much a throw away line, which I gave 10min, but never had a bite.

This just left the far line, where I had been pinging 8mm pellet in an effort to pull some fish away from Karl, but as yet I only had a couple of liners. Chris in the meantime was slowly catching me up, netting a big carp and a few skimmers.

With an hour remaining, 8 pouches of pellet were fired onto the far line. 30mins later I caught a 10lber which was my last fish to secure 2^nd in section as Karl won the match.

As the weigh sheets came in, I knew I hadn’t done enough, but it wasn’t until I finalised the results, I realised how close it was, as there were 7 of us all on 9pts for 3^rd spot, however my lower weight aggregate meant I finished 9^th.

At the start of the series, I had targeted a top 10, so happy with 9^th, yet disappointed at the same time. I was the only one with the exception of Jamie Cook (fishery owner) not to have drawn a corner and based on the pegs I’ve drawn did as much as I could.

Well done to Paul Tidball for winning the series and I’m looking forward to next year’s series.

1.    87-12 – Karl Turner P11

2.    55-  8 – Paul Homewood – p35

3.    52-  7 – Dave Romain – p31

4.    49-11 – Steve Jackson – p10

5.    43-  5 – John Moody – p40 

Final league table below.

21/12/24 - Sedges - Tile Lake

Weight - 20lb 12oz

Catch - 3 Carp, 2 Skimmers

Weather - Mostly cloudy, strong westerly

Match - Uzit Bomb & Feeder League - rd 4 (33 fished) - 2nd in section, 15th overall

As the 4^th round of the league was postponed 2 weeks ago due to Storm Darragh, today was effectively the 4^th round (and the final round is now 1^st February).

I was lying 7^th in the league, but there are 5 of us on 5pts and I have the lowest cumulative weight, so today I really wanted to draw a corner and to put a decent weight in the net.

I was a little disappointed with p33, which to be fair is a decent section peg, but I was always going to be fishing for 2^nd as venue regular, Paul Homewood turned up on p31.

It rained heavily yesterday which meant today was going to be tough and I started the match cautiously, trying the lead & bread towards the island, then corn without success. In the meantime, Paul had caught a couple of carp and the writing was already on the wall.

After 30mins, I decided to try the pellet cone (80:20 mix of bubblegum micros and 2mm P-Nut pellet) and double corn and 10mins later I netted my first carp, which was a relief.

I had my 2^nd carp an hour later, again on the pellet cone and corn, but it was fair to say that it was hard going, and other than Paul no one else had caught a carp in my section.

As a backup I had fed groundbait and maggot at 16m in case I needed some skimmers, but I only fished this swim for 15min without success and I didn’t waste too much time trying, as I had already caught a carp, I wanted to concentrate on catching another one or two.

I tried pinging corn halfway to the island, but it was spreading too much in the strong head wind, so I switched to 6mm pellet. Unfortunately, I only caught 1 skimmer over this line. I also tried fishing the method tight to the island and unsurprisingly never had a bite.

With 30mins remaining I eventually caught my 3^rd and final carp, again on double corn and the cone. I did have another bite 5mins before the end on double corn, but it was only a skimmer.

As expected, Paul won the section with 47lb and I was pleased to finish 2^nd in section, which pushed me into 6^th in the league. Fingers crossed for a corner peg and a boat load of fish in the final round.

1.    82-13 – Pete Sivell – p39 (Tile)

2.    78-  3 – Jamie Cook – p9 (Brick)

3.    74-  4 – Dave Wykes – p40 (T)

4.    49-11 – Phil Phelps – p11 (B)

5.    47-  2 – Paul Homewood – p31 (T)

6.    46-10 – Chris Higgs – p27 (T)

23/11/24 - Sedges - Brick Lake

Weight - 24lb 9oz

Catch - 2 Carp, 6 Skimmers

Weather - 2 Carp, 6 Skimmers

Match - Uzit Bomb & Feeder League rd3 (35 fished) - 15th overall, 2nd in section

Following a week of cold weather, storm Bert arrived (although I think we missed the worst of it), which was likely to stir the cold water around and I wasn’t sure where I wanted to draw.

 

Mixed feelings when I drew p8, as this side of Brick Lake has been hard and I really needed to hope that the corner peg p10 didn’t catch.
 
On the all-in I deposited 3 large feeders of groundbait (50:50 – Black Bubblegum : Black ReAct) and dead maggot at 16m. Whilst that settled, I started on the straight lead towards the rope for 1 small skimmer on bread and another on double corn.
 
After an hour Ken Cocks on p10 already had 3 carp and was easily winning my section as no one else had a carp so far. A switch to a 3-hole mini feeder over the 16m line and I caught 2 more skimmers on dead maggot, losing a 3^rd. I also missed a couple of bites, which were difficult to see in the heavy wind.
 
At the halfway point I was struggling to get a bite anywhere in the swim and then Paul Rossiter on p7 caught a carp. As I was struggling to line up any skimmers and there were no signs of improvement, I decided to stop feeding groundbait and ping corn over the 16m line – I never had another over this line, but it was worth a try.
 
As for the far line I had been using a pellet corn (80:20 mix of Bubblegum Micros : P-nut micros) and catapulting balls of micros in the hope of pulling in some carp from the other side of the rope as the fish seemed to be balled up in front of the pegs opposite.
 
A near 3lb bream, caught on my light lead rig and corn, followed 45mins later by a smaller one, were welcome bonuses.
 
With 90mins remaining I caught a carp on corn, which put me 2^nd in section, however Scott Laver to my left caught his first carp and then lost a 2^nd shortly afterwards. Bob Gullick on p6 was also catching skimmers on a hybrid and I felt I really needed another carp.
 
With 10mins remaining the rod was nearly pulled off the rest and a 10/11lber was safely netted to secure 2^nd in section behind p10, which to be honest I was happy with. The corners were definately the place to be as 6 out of the 8 corners won their sections.
 
As for the league I slipped from 6^th to 7^th, however there are 5 of us on 5pts - I just happen to have the lowest combined weight. So, with 2 matches remaining its incredibly tight.
 
1.    118-15 – Robert Dumitrscu – p11 (Brick)
2.    102-10 – John Moody – p30 (Tile)
3.      93-  6 – Ken Cocks – p10 (B)
4.      80-  0 – Steve Jackson – p40 (T)
5.      72-  8 – Paul Homewood – p12 (B)
6.      57-14 – Pete Sivell – p14 (B)

 

 

09/11/24 - Sedges - Tile Lake

Weight - 58lb 8oz (7lb 8oz - silvers)

Catch - 6 Carp, 5 Skimmers, 1 Eel

Weather - Grey & overcast

Match - Uzit Bomb & Feeder League - rd 2 (39 fished) - 4th overall, 1st in section

The 2^nd round of the Uzit Bomb & Feeder league and we had one drop out so there were 39 anglers. Weather wise we had another day of grey overcast conditions with little wind, which was resulting in many fisheries suffering from oxygen crashes. So, it was no surprise to see the aerator on when we arrived.

I drew p37 on Tile again and again next to Karl Turner who had switched from p38 to p36. £1 side bet was soon placed.

It was noticeable the lake had gone a little clearer from 2 weeks ago. I had considered feeding groundbait at 16m as a back-up line, however I noticed a few skimmers topping in the area so I decided to catapult corn instead and only feed groundbait if I couldn’t catch on corn.

I had 2 lead rods, 1x light and 1x heavier rig, and a feeder rod which never got used.

Starting on the heavier rig with an 8mm pellet and a tea bag (2mm p-nut pellet) in the deep water at the bottom of the island shelve, hoping for an early carp. After a 20min cast I didn’t have a bite.

A switch to the 16m line soon resulted in a skimmer on corn. As for the island swim I had started feeding 8mm bubblegum pellet and fished a pellet corn (mixture of p-nut & bubblegum micros) and caught a 10lber on meat after an hour. However, I couldn’t catch another.

I caught another skimmer and an eel from the short line, but it wasn’t until I cast to the right of my feed by the island with the light rig that I caught another carp.

For the rest of the match, I just kept alternating between the 2 lines to keep catching. With ½ hour remaining I noticed peg 40 land another carp and to be honest I wasn’t sure whether he was ahead of me or not, but I was now struggling for a bite.

With 10mins remaining I tried double corn cast beyond my feed and 5mins later hooked a carp, which I eventually netted 7mins after the all-out. At 16lb 12oz it was certainly worth having as I managed to win the section, beating p40 by 8lb. Needless to say I was quite happy.

1.    97-  3 – Pete Sivell – p30 (Tile)

2.    79-10 – Paul Homewood – p35 (T)

3.    68-13 – Paul Tidball – p13 (Brick)

4.    58-  8 – Ken Rayner – p37 (T)

5.    57-  8 – Dave Romain – p25 (T)

6.    53-  6 – Dan Mitchington – p31 (T)

26/10/24 - Sedges - Tile Lake

Weight - 50lb 12oz

Catch - 6 Carp, 3 Skimmers, 3 Roach

Weather - Cold start. Warm & sunny, no wind

Match - Uzit Bomb & Feeder League - rd 1 (40 fished) - 8th overall, 2nd in section

Today was the first of five rounds of the Uzit Bomb & Feeder league at The Sedges, with a full house of 40 anglers over Brick and Tile lakes.

I drew p37 which was in a decent area on Tile, although p39 and p40 were going to be tough to beat for the section points.

As I felt skimmers might be important in this league, I had a little practice on the Wednesday before (on p22) just to sort out my rigs and play around with a few ideas. I ended up catching 30lb of skimmers, on dead maggot over groundbait and later on corn which proved to be really good. So, I had a plan, target the island to start and feed corn (covered in Uzit P-nut cloud) at 13/14m as a backup.

Well, it was a very slow start for everyone. I started on the tea bag and 8mm pellet, with 2x 15-minute casts, as I didn’t feel regularly casting a method was the right way to start. However, after no bites I tried the method and then the maggot feeder, eventually catching a 9lber after 1hr 40mins.

I kept plugging away but with 90mins remaining I had only added 3 roach, despite rotating methods and even trying my corn line without success. In my mini section of 5, Nige Jeffery (p36) had 1x 12lber plus a couple of skimmers, Karl Turner (p38) had 2 carp, Nick Chedzoy (p39) had 4 carp including a 15lber and Shane Padbury on p40 was struggling. So, no one was running away with it, and I knew it would be hard, but not this hard. As well as having every peg in, the bright flat conditions weren’t helping.

Returning to my short corn line produced a carp, which was very welcome and then in the remaining hour I caught a further 4 carp, plus 2 skimmers on corn and another skimmer under my rod tip on meat.

I must admit I felt I got out of jail in that last hour, and I was relieved to have finished 2^nd in section to Nick and a reasonable start to the league.

1.    104-10 – Jamie Cook – p33 (Tile)

2.      83-  0 – Luke Fothergill – p21 (T)

3.      78-  8 – Robert Dumitrescu – p23 (T)

4.      71-10 – Dave Romain – p10 (Brick)

5.      64-  8 – Chris Ware – p14 (B)

6.      63-  6 – Nick Chedzoy – p39 (T) 

19/09/21 - Sedges - Tile Lake

Weight - 45lb 3oz (11lb 12oz - silvers)

Catch - 5 Carp, 6 Skimmers

Weather - Warm, sunny start. Became cloudier and windier

Match - Haines Series (14 fished)

The final round of the Haines Summer Series and to be honest it has not gone well for me, compared to coming 2^nd and 3^rd in previous years. And this match really reflected how my league has gone.

I haven’t been to Sedges for 2 years, but had a clear plan of attack in mind. i.e. a feeder to the island, waggler to fish shallow ¾ of the way across with 8mm pellet, 2+1 meat line and finally the margins. I also set an 11m skimmer line fed with micros & corn just in case it was hard.

Starting on a large method with Kriller & Blue ICE RTG’s, with a yellow 6mm gofter I had 2 carp in the first 45mins.

A switch to the waggler didn’t produce. In fact, I tried the waggler periodically throughout the match without success.

The 11m line fizzed like a jacuzzi, but getting proper bite was difficult and I just had to wait, catching 3 skimmers on worm, but it was far too slow.

The feeder to island was proving frustrating as there was some discarded line attached to the island. Although I had a further 3 carp, I also lost 2, including the feeder that snagged up on that line.

As for my short lines. Initially my meat line didn’t produce anything until I big potted some meat and hemp, which provided 3 decent bream, before I got silly bites from roach, which meant no carp in the area.

Finally, my margins, where I had hoped to catch late never happened. I had been feeding heavily with micros, a few 4s and corn, fishing paste over the top. Other than 1 foul hooked fish I never had any signs of fish which was a surprise, although the wind had picked up and was blowing down the far bank where they were catching down their margins in the ripple.

I finished 3^rd in section, missing out on 2^nd by 5lb, so those 2 lost carp proved costly. Steve won the section and 2^nd overall with 136lb next to me, catching on the method and the waggler fishing 6mm pellet.

Overall finished the league 9^th and well done to Steve Martin for winning it again, as well as organising the series.

27/05/17 - Sedges - Tile

Weight - 37lb 8oz
Catch - 4 Carp, 7 Skimmers
Weather - Cloudy start, sunny later, but windy
Match - Coops/Guru Series - Final Round - 2nd in section, 8th out of 14

This series hasn't gone that well for me, due to a couple of iffy draws and some poor decisions, although I think its fair to say the venue has been quite patchy and not fished as well as it could. This was probably the reason why we had 6 no shows, which upset a few people and is a match organisers nightmare for a whole host of reasons.

Anyway, I drew p35, which I felt would be at the wrong end of the section since the wind was blowing into p31 where it was expected Jamie Parkhouse would win the section, if not the match.

Following the mini heat wave, it was noticeably cooler today, but still fancied it to catch shallow on the pole. Starting on the meat feeder (as I caught a few better fish on it in the last round) the wind was blowing the feeder away from the island and I need to punch the feeder to get it close enough. This wasn't working, so switched a hybrid feeder which was a easier and I was able to put it down the side of the island. Unfortunately, it didn't produce, in fact the venue owner and league leader, Jamie Cook was to my left on p36 and he only had 2 carp after an hour fishing the feeder.

After an hour a switch to the short meat line produced a couple of skimmers and then an 11lb carp, before it dried up. The next 3hrs proved to be a real struggle, the only fish I had was on the shallow pellet line at 14.5m, but the wind had also picked up making any sort of presentation difficult. One severe gust of wind caught the pole dragging it to my right. I wasn't quick enough and the pole tip caught the water, whilst the gust continued to push me and my no3 section (no4 section on other poles) snapped! Gutted! Nothing to do with the pole, the same gust of wind also nearly blew my top kits out of the pole roost. Thanks to Mark for lending me a spare section I was able to continue, but my head was gone for a short  while as I was seriously pissed off.

Once I got myself together, I tried catching down my margin but with no bites over the regularly fed meat, decided to cup in 2 pots of micros/4s originally mixed up for the feeder, down the edge. Fortunately that had the desired effect and caught 2 carp.

As expected Jamie Parkhouse won my section and came 2nd overall and surprisingly I finished 2nd in section, as everyone struggled in the wind. The more sheltered side of the lake was the place to be.

Well done to Jamie Cook, Martin Heard and Bob Gullick who framed in the league and all received Guru goodies. Also thanks to James Cooper for running the series.

1st 129- 2 - Mike West (Somerset Carpenters) - p29
2nd 116-12 - Jamie Parkhouse - p31
3rd 104- 8 - Martin Heard (Mosella) - p40
4th 101- 9 - Jake Alden - p30
5th 82- 4 - Paul Tidball - p28
6th 72-12 - Mark Poppleton (Colmic/Marukyu) - p25

13/05/17 - Sedges - Tile Lake

Weight - 68lb 5oz (10lb 1oz - silvers)
Catch - 6 Carp, 7 Skimmers, 1 Eel
Weather - Mostly sunny and southerly wind
Match - Coops/Guru series - rd 4 - 6th out of 19, 2nd in section

With no fishing last weekend, I was looking forward to getting out again and catching a few. So far this series things just haven't clicked the way I would have liked them, which meant any chance of claiming a top 3 position had gone. However there were still 2 matches to go and an opportunity to sort out those things that hadn't clicked, namely my feeder fishing and catching short on meat.

Speaking to Jamie at the draw, he said the bream had started spawning again and a difficult day was likely, with the carp gouging themselves on spawn.


Drawing p28 looked like a decent area with the wind blowing into that end of the lake. As for the section Jamie Cook was on p26, Dave White p27, Mark Wynne p29 and Jim Jenner in the corner on p30, so a tough section.

Looking at the peg and breeze, it looked like today would be a day to catch shallow, well that's what I thought. As such a shallow rig was set up for the pole, as was a waggler. So far I haven't had much luck on the method feeder and instead decided to try the meat feeder to see if that would make a difference. Finally I had a meat rig to fish short and rig to fish for skimmers which I hoped wouldn't be required.

On the all in I started on the meat feeder, but it wasn't until the 30th minute that I had my first carp an 11-12lber. A second of similar size was put in the net after an hour, but it was painfully slow.

Dave had managed 1 carp shallow and Mark had 2 shallow on the pole, which made me think today was definitely a day to catch shallow. I had kept pinging pellet, but never had a bite on either the pole or waggler, although the wind was starting to pick up blowing down the lake making fishing both methods difficult, it was a surprise that I couldn't catch. In fact neither Dave or Mark caught any more shallow, very strange.

With 2.5hrs gone and no further fish, I decided to cup in some groundbait at 11.5m. Well that proved to be a waste of time with only 1 8oz skimmer. I kept rotating between the shallow lines and the feeder and when I had 2 quick fish on the feeder I thought at last they had arrived, again I was disappointed with no more bites. This was proving really frustrating.

My first drop in on the short meat line, produced an immediate bite, which turned out to be a near 2lb eel, followed immediately by a skimmer. In the meantime Dave still only had 1 carp and Mark had a couple on the feeder/lead, however Jamie was beginning to run away with it fishing the feeder, which also proved he didn't need a corner to catch.

Another try on the short meat line didn't produce, but wind meant the lake was now towing and my 0.3g carrat just wasn't right, so changed to 0.5g powetrap which sat better, but still no more bites. I had also noticed small fish, probably motherless minnows, playing keepy uppy with my meat as I was throwing it and wondered how much was actually getting to the bottom. To combat the little blighters, I started cupping 10 bits of meat which seemed to help, because with 75mins left I caught a decent skimmer, followed by another and then a carp which weighed 12lb 4oz.  I had another, lost foul hooker and ;landed a couple more skimmers, but with 20mins left I couldn't get another bite.

I had also feed the margins, initially with meat and then with groundbait, but never had a bite all match.

By the all out Dave had long since packed up, Mark had the same number of carp as me, but not the quality, surprisingly Jim struggled in the corner and Jamie had over 100lb, which meant I was 2nd in section picking up the section money by default.

Pleased with the result on what was a difficult day for most. Surprisingly the pegs on the opposite bank out of the wind proved to be best.

1. 144- 7 - Martin Hear (Mosella) - p38
2. 114- 2 - Jamie  Cook (Sedges) - p26
3. 114- 1 - Paul Tidball - p39
4. 91-15 - Bob Gullick (Mosella) - p25
5. 79-10 - Tom Mangnall (Mosella) - p36
6. 68- 5 - Ken Rayner (Colmic) - p28

Silvers
1. 12- 4 - Bob Gullick (Mosella) - p25
2. 10- 1 - Ken Rayner (Colmic) - p28
3. 9- 8 - Vic Bush (Mosella) - p37

22/04/17 - Sedges - Tile

Weight - 4lb 8oz
Catch - 5 Skimmers, 1 Carp
Weather - Mostly sunny, north westerly breeze
Match - Coops Guru series - rd 3

The less said about today the happier I will be!

Drew p36, which is in the best section this series (p36-p40), so happy with that, but with the wind blowing towards p40 thought I might struggle in the section. But what happened over the next 6 hours was a bit of a head scratcher.

The wind was blowing at me, so fishing the waggler was difficult but there were a few fish showing themselves, however after an hour I managed to hook 2 and lose 2. Several tries with the hybrid feeder didn't produce, which was really frustrating since I was dropping the feeder nice and tight to the island, yet Mark Bellringer on p35 on the other side of the island finished the match with 114lb, mostly on the feeder!

The only fish I caught was on the pole at 13m and 4mm expander and a lost foul hooked carp on the short meat line.

Overall the lakes didn't fish well, due to the carp being pr.e-occupied with eating skimmer spawn, but still a very frustrating day

1. 115-14 - Jamie Cook (Sedges) - p21

2. 114- 2 - Mark Bellringer (Sedges) - p35

3. 69- 4 - Bob Gullick (Mosella) - p38

4. 65- 5 - Lee Thomas - p26

5. 61- 1 - Dom Sullivan (Mosella) - p39

6. 57-13 - Tom Mangnall (Mosella) - p29

Silvers

1. 17-11 - Vic Bush (Mosella) - p34

2. 15- 8 - Mark Wynne (Colmic/Marukyu) - p22

08/04/17 - Sedges - Tile

Weight - 23lb 12oz
Catch - 8 Skimmers, 2 Carp
Weather - Bright & sunny. South easterly breeze
Match - Coops Guru Series - rd 2 - 14th out of 20, 3rd in section

After my 2nd in section in the first round, I was looking forward to getting good points and a good days fishing this round.

I was happy to draw p25 and with the breeze blowing at me and later cross me felt I could be in for a good day. Well I just had one of those days when I couldn't make anything work.

After an hour I was still bite less having tried the method to the island, the waggler and the long pole. Fortunately not much had been caught in my section (21-25) and there was still plenty of time.

Since the carp weren't playing ball I spent the next hour at 13m fishing expander, priming a shallow line at 16m, as well as feeding 11s towards the rope. 5 Skimmers got me off the mark, but I really needed some carp.

Switching to the shallow pole I managed an 8lber and thought here we go, but no more followed except for an skimmer. Another skimmer on paste and I felt it just wasn't going to happen.

What was really frustrating was being unable to catch except for 1 carp on the waggler, particularly since Mark Wynne and Lee Thomas either side of me were both catching. It felt like I was in dead zone. In hindsight I think feeding 11s to get the distance in the wind was a mistake and I should have been satisfied with feeding 8s at a shorter distance, which I started to do, but lost the rig when I caught it in the tree behind me. Rather than waste time re-setting it, I stayed on the pole hoping the fish would turn up later in the match, they didn't.

Got a battering either side, but felt the fish were in pockets and not really feeding properly yet, which was echoed by a couple of others.

A disappointing day, where I tried to make something happen on a day I think being patient would have been better. Still managed 3rd in section which I hope will be my dropper for the series. Congratulations to Dave Romain for breaking the match record, I think there were a few fish down that end of the lake.

1. 311-15 - Dave Romain - p31

2. 102- 7 - Jamie Cook (Sedges) - p40

3. 98-11 - Tom Mangnall (Mosella) - p29

4. 96-10 - Mark Bellringer (Sedges) - p33

5. 85- 2 - Mark Wynne (Colmic) - p26

6. 77- 7 - Dom Sullivan (Mosella) - p30

.

25/03/17 - Sedges - Tile

Weight - 35lb 1oz (5lb 7oz - silvers)
Catch - 5 Carp, 6 Skimmers
Weather - Bright & sunny. Cool north easterly wind
Match - Coops Series - rd 1. 11th out of 20, 2nd out of 5 - section, 2nd in silvers

Today was the first round of a 5 match series run by James Cooper and sponsored by Guru. All 5 matches will be on Tile lake with 4 sections of 5. My draw put me on p31, which was my first ever corner at Sedges and its a flyer with 3 tons coming off the peg in the last 4 matches. However, my initial excitement was tempered a little, because these weights came come when there was a south westerly wind blowing into the corner. This week has seen the wind switch around to a easterly and the last 3 nights has been close to freezing.

When I got to my peg it was flat calm and the general conconsus was I should be Ok for the section, however it was expected the fish would follow the wind at the other end of the lake.

Today was also the first outing for my new Colmic F66 pole (I will do a write up once I have used it a few times), I just hoped I would catch a few fish.

On the all in a few 6mm amino+ pellet (which smell lovely) were deposited at 13m and I started on the waggler and 8mm pellet, but almost immediately knew it didn't feel right because the wind was cutting across me, pulling the waggler through too quickly. By pinging 8mm pellet towards the aerator I did manage 2 carp later on in the match, but bites came almost as soon as the pellet hit the water.

A switch to the 13m line and a banded 6mm pellet I caught a couple of decent skimmers and bumped another. A switch to fishing expanders on a lighter elastic only resulted in smaller skimmers, but unfortunately they soon disappeared.

Down the end bank at 14m I fed some meat & hemp and eventually had a 12lber on meat, but it was a loner. A switch to feeding pellet resulted in another carp on 6mm expander, but again it appeared to a loner. I had wanted to fish longer down the margin, but the wind was proving to be a real pain cutting across me, pushing the rig away from where I wanted it.

With 2 hours to go, it was obvious the lake was fishing hard, in particular my section. Dave Romain next to me thrashed the waggler most of the day and only had 4 carp to show for his efforts, but it was Martin Heard on p33 who was leading the way catching mostly on the waggler in the ripple off the island. So far I had left the area down the bank towards the overhanging tree as a safe zone if needed and it was now needed. A carp on the straight lead and meat almost immediately,it looked like a good idea, but yet again it was a loner. Even tried the method fished as tight as I dare to the tree didn't produce. There simply wasn't any volume of fish in the swim and it was turning into a classic case of right peg wrong day.

Fortunately I managed 2nd in section so not a complete bust, but the real bonus was picking up £40 for 2nd in the silvers. 

Overall the lake didn't fish as well as expected and the recent colder weather left it mark.
1. 136-14 - Jamie Cook (Sedges) - p40
2. 132- 1 - James Cooper (Guru) - p37
3. 95- 2 - Paul Homewood - p39
4. 74-14 - Dave White - p30
5. 74- 4 - Dom Sullivan (Mosella) - p38
6. 54-13 - Martin Heard (Mosella) - p33
Silvers
1. 6- 1 - Vic Bush (Mosella) - p29
2. 5- 7 - Ken Rayner (Colmic/Marukyu) - p31
3. 4- 4 - Jamie Parkhouse - p34

18/03/17 - Sedges - Tile

Weight - 110lb 5oz (10lb 12oz - silvers)
Catch - 17 Carp, 7 Skimmers, 1 Goldfish
Weather - Windy, mostly cloudy and overcast
Match - Pairs Series - 2nd round - 4th out of 34 overall , 1st in section

The last 7 months has certainly been an interesting time in my fishing. Really proud to have been asked to be part of Colmic South West, which then triggered a 10 week period were I struggled to catch and string any results together! Fortunately since the new year I have started to pick-up again and now the Colmic team is sponsored by Marukyu. I have used some of their products in the past, such as the JPZ pellts and 131 groundbaits, and I'm really looking forward to using more of their products. I would also like to thank Mark Poppleton, because without his efforts the sponsorship with Colmic and now Marukyu wouldn't have happened. My job now is to do justice to both brands.

Back to todays match and following our disaster in the first round Mark and I were effectively fishing for pride. It was my turn to draw and put Mark on p19 (brick Lake) were 100lb came from last week and I was on p27 (Tile Lake) which was in a decent area.

My section included Ben Hagg on p26, Dave White (p28) and Nick Veale in the corner (p30), so a tough section. It was also a lively section with Jamie Parkhouse on the other side of Ben in the next section. Dave in particular kindly reminded me of my 10lb from the previous round - more than once!

One of the nice things about Sedges is the venue rarely fishes the same the following week. Today there was a strong westerly wind, which was blowing off my back, which would make presentation easier, however I was concerned the fish would follow the wind to other side of the lake. I set up a 4g loaded insert waggler, a small hybrid feeder, a straight lead and just the one pole rig to fish banded pellet in 6ft of water. A shallow rig was also set up, but never got used.

On the all in a half cup of 6s covered in some Marukyu Halibat boost juice at 14m and I started on the waggler & 8mm pellet set at 2.5ft. After 15mins and no bites, prompted a switch to the feeder, which produced a 12oz goldfish.

After 40mins this was my only fish, but everyone was struggling, except for Jamie who had a good start on his pole line.

A switch the pole, fishing banded 6mm pellet was slow initially, but my pinging 6mm pellet I started to string a few fish together including a couple of decent size skimmers and 2 carp, before the line died. This now put me roughly level with Ben, but Dave had yet to catch and Nick in the corner was being hampered by the anglers walking around the canal lake.

A switch back to the waggler were I had been pinging 8mm pellet towards the end of the island (wind assisted) resulted in catching carp over the next couple of hours fishing between 2-3ft deep. Fishing in the ripple was important, because when ever there was a lull in sport corresponded with the wind dropping. What was also noticeable, I caught most of my bigger fish in open water up to 12lb 12oz, away from the island were I was pinging pellet.

With 2 hours left I was now leading the section, closely followed by Ben, who fortunately for me had a smaller stamp of fish.

A couple more tries on the pole only produced a couple of skimmers and those carp just didn't want to come in, whilst the anglers opposite in the wind were all catching on the pole. Other than catching a few fish early, no one really caught consistently on the pole.

The last 90mins was a case of picking off fish where I could. A couple more on the waggler and a decent carp on the lead/meat.

Come the weigh in I felt I was close to a 100lb and was delighted to weigh 110lb, banishing my previous rounds result. Ben finished 2nd with 78lb and Dave had a tough day with 32lb. As it transpired my 110lb was the best weight on my bank, finished 4th overall.

Mark struggled in his section which was won with only 15lb, so not surprise he wasn't too happy. Anyway well done to the winners and looking forward to James Cooper series starting next week.

1st - 160- 5 - Nigel Garrett (Mosella) - p40

2nd - 116-12 - Martin Bilder - p10

3rd - 115- 3 - Keith Bilder - p33

4th - 110- 5 - Ken Rayner (Colmic/Maryuku)

5th - 99-10 - Paul Lock - (Sedges)

6th - 94-10 - Jamie Cook - (Sedges)

1st Keith Bilder and Jack Arpino 2 points 332lb 8oz
2nd Jamie Parkhouse and Paul Homewood 2 points 287lb 12oz
3rd Ben Hagg and Dan White 3 points 437lb 12oz

08/03/17 - Sedges - Tile

Weight - 40lb 10oz (15lb 3oz - silvers)
Catch - 6 Carp, 18 Skimmers, 1 Tench
Weather - Mild & showers
Match - Costcutter - 2nd out of 8

With the upcoming pairs series this Saturday and the individual league starting in 3 weeks time, I really wanted to have a practice to get back in tune with the place, because its been a nearly a year.

When ever you turn up at Sedges you cant help but be impressed at how well kept the venue is. Today there were only 8 of us, including Mark Poppleton, my partner for the pairs series. the concensus was the weather report of heavy rain had put off a couple from turning. So we could at least stay clean (relatively speaking) Jamie pegged us along the road bank of Tile and I ended up with p23. Mark drew next to me on p22.

I hadn't done much prep, particularly for my rods, so kept it simple with a straight lead rod and a small hybrid feeder. I did have a waggler rod already set up, but after a couple of casts it wasn't right and never got around top sorting it put properly. 2 pole rigs were also set up, both 0.14 bottoms, 1 to target the deep water at 13m and 6m, plus another to fish up the near shelf. I had considered setting up a proper skimmer rig, but to be honest with only 2 pay outs today carp needed to be my main target.

On the all in micros and few 4s were introduced at 13 and 6mm meat and hemp at 6m. Started on the straight lead and bread towards the island.

After 15mins I landed my first carp and was soon attached to another before the hooklength snapped. Schoolboy error, because when I was landing the first carp the line had snagged on its dorsal fin and I really should have checked it, but didn't. On the hour mark my 2nd carp was safely netted. With no further bites, a switch to 13m and 4mm expander resulted in a 3lb+ tench which was a nice start and I was soon catching skimmers, toss potting micros/4s every fish, but think I over did it as bites slowed.

Mark had also switched to his pole line, but catching more quickly by pinging pellet. More pinging and less toss potting brought the fish back and had a nice little run of skimmers up 3lb, before they backed off again.

A 3rd carp mid match on the lead/bread kept my total ticking over, but it was obvious the majority of fish were the other side of the rope. As for my meat line that was a complete bust, despite several attempts during the match I never had a bite. Fortunately 3 carp on the lead & bread by the island in the last hour helped, bring my total to 6.

I had seen a few fish being caught, but it didn't appear anyone was running away with it and when the all out was called was hopeful of framing. By the time the scales arrived 28lb was the best weight, which I knew I would beat since I estimate I had about 35lb. As it was I had more silvers than expected my weighing 15lb of silvers. Mark had 18lb of silvers, which was the best silvers on the day, but only 4 carp to finish with 32lb. The angler on the end peg had a good last hour fishing against the end bank, weighing 10lb of silvers, but his 5 carp weighed 33lb to beat me of by 4lb.

Overall an enjoyable return to the venue and between us a couple of pointers for Saturdays pair's match.

1. 44- 5 - Rob Dodds (Sedges) - p21

2. 40-10 - Ken Rayner (Colmic) - p23

3. 32- 6 - Mark Poppleton (Colmic) - p22

4. 28-11 - Nick Selway (Sedges) - p29

02/08/15 - Sedges - Tile

Weight - 38lb 15oz
Catch - 6 Carp, 3 Skimmer, 1 Eel
Weather - Sunny, but very windy
Match - Float Only rd 5 - 22nd out of 39, 3rd in section

Well after a very stressful 10 days with Sue who had 2 ambulance visits to the hospital with a suspected stroke/seizure the good news is it doesn't appear to be quiet so sinister, although a MRI scan has been booked just to make sure. Pretty scary at the time and it does help put things in perspective, not even Paul Elmes attempt to wind me up for the umpteenth time with his PB joke bothered me.

Mike Walker followed me down to the fishery, because he had never visited the venue and didn't trust his sat nav not to dump him in the middle of a field. A quick walk around the lakes with Mike and Chris Fox and we all wanted to draw the windward end of the lakes where a strong wind was blowing. Personally I fancied attacking the skimmers on Brick again.

Into the draw queue. Nick Chedzoy ahead of me pulled p10 (corner), I drew p27, Mike behind me was on p11 (corner) and then I think Tim Ford went on to p40 (another corner). Oh well never mind.

Speaking to Bob Gullick he said P27 was a decent draw, so hopeful of a good day, although the strength of the wind blowing down the lake was a concern.

For company I had Billy Grover on p26, Kev Molton p28, Tom Mangnall p29 and Nick Ewers in the corner on p30. So a tough section to get a result from.

After Thursday's match I decided to focus on paste at 5m, instead of meat. In hindsight this may have been a mistake. After feeding 4 balls of groundbait at 13m, I started at 5m fishing paste, which brought little dinks on the float but no fish. I suspected skimmers, so switched to a soft pellet and caught an eel.

A skimmer from the 13m line was the only fish from here purely because the wind was too strong to provide any presentation. Back on the 5m line I added another 2 skimmers on worm, but still no carp. In fact those around me were all struggling.

I kept feeding the 5m line,  hoping to catch later, but it never happen and was left wondering whether I should have switched to feeding meat. Looking at the weigh sheets, the better weights on each lake came from the right hand banks, so perhaps it was simply a case the fish preferred to be that side of the lakes.

In the end I caught all my carp shallow on 8mm pellet at 14m. To be honest I was disappointed I couldn't catch a few more shallow, because I could see Chris Davis opposite catching well shallow. At one point a gust of wind was so strong it spun me round nearly knocking out Kev on the next peg!

As for the margins they were a complete bust and very little was caught in the margins on my side of the lake.

I was glad to hear the all out, because my back was in pieces. Back at the car I was pleased see Mike had won the match on his 1st visit, he certainly had a red letter day. Well done mate.

1st 187- 4 - Mike Walker - p11
2nd 146-11 - Nick Chedzoy - p10
3rd 133- 1 - Gary O'Shea - p31
4th 119-11 - Chris Davis - p34
5th 114- 9 - Tony Rixon - p12
6th 88- 3 - Tim Ford - p40

Silvers
1st 33- 5 - Vic Bush - p14
2nd 30- 6 - Mike Nicholls  - p19
3rd 19- 2 - Leon Hubbard - p15

30/07/15 - Sedges - Brick Lake

Weight - 19lb 8oz
Catch - 29 Roach, 10 Skimmers, 10 Rudd, 2 Hybrids, 1 Perch
Weather - Sunny all day, cool breeze.
Match - Open - 3rd out of 19 silvers (13th overall)

With the next round of the Float Only series at Sedges, a practice match was organised and 19 anglers were booked in on Brick lake.

This is my personal favourite of the lakes at Sedges and after catching 46lb of skimmers last year I was looking forward to hopefully more of the same. Peg 17 put me in the right area and the plan was to look for an early carp, catch some skimmers and then catch some late carp.

For company I had Steve Tucker on p16 and Dave Bacon on p18, not that I could see them thanks to the tall reeds.

On the all in 5 balls of groundbait with some casters and 4mm pellet were deposited at 13m, plus 1/2 cup of meat and hemp at 5m. Starting on the meat whilst the 13m line settled I quickly had a 1.5lb skimmer, which was half the size of the one Tucks netted. This was followed eventually by a small hybrid, but that was it for this line all match despite feeding it all match. Tucks did manage a decent carp over this line, but it was strangely quiet.

After 45mins it was time to try the 13m line with worm on the hook and the float soon popped up with a flying skimmer attached. A second followed, but it was hard going which was a little surprising, because there was a decent ripple, although the ups and downs of the recent weather is enough to upset everyone including the fish.

The pattern for the match was catch 1 or 2 skimmers, before they disappeared , feed then catch another 1 or 2, but there was long periods  between bites. Other than Tucks I couldn't see anyone else catching silvers and by the mid way point I stopped catching completely. So I got off my box to set up another rig to catch roach on caster from the margins, which was going well until I hooked a decent fish which was either a big skimmer or tench, but felt the line grating against something eventually snapping me above the hooklength, which could prove costly.

Another rig was set up and soon catching more roach and rudd. A switch back to the 13m line only produced one more skimmer, so decided to go for broke. 3 more balls were deposited at 14m to my left, plus a cup of caster.

I also decided to try and catch carp. Since the 5m had failed, decided to dump groundbait and caster down the margin. In hindsight this was a mistake. I should have concentrated on the silvers, but I did it with Sundays match in mind. I hooked 3 carp  and all 3 came off. Again I felt them grate against something in the margin, so a little disappointed.

The final 15mins was back out on the 14m line, as was tucks who managed 3 skimmers to my 2. On the all out we both felt we had at least 15lb, but beyond that it was difficult to say since some of the skimmers are a little hollow. Top silvers weight by the time the scales arrived was Tony with 17-10. This was going to be close and so it proved. Tucks weighed 20-10 to my 19-8, although there was still Allan Oram who was also admitting to 15lb. Thanks to a couple of big eels he put 21-4 on the scales, relegating me to 1 out of the money for the 4th time in 6 matches.

Yes, I was a little disappointed, however plenty  to consider for the match on Sunday.

1st 122- 6 - Glenn Bailey - p11
2nd 93- 0 - Steve Jackson - p6
3rd 83- 4 - Tom Mangnall - p1
4th 62- 9 - Gary Flinders - p15
5th 58- 1 - Dave Bacon - p18
6th 53- 2 - Tony Rixon - p7

Silvers
1st 21- 4 - Allan Oram - p19
2nd 20-10 - Steve Tucker - p16
3rd 19- 8 - Ken Rayner - p17