28/05/17 - Viaduct - Campbell

Weight - 77lb 4oz (13lb 13oz - silvers)
Catch - 12 Carp, 12 Skimmers, 2 Roach, 1 Tench, 1 Hybrid
Weather - Warm and mostly cloudy.
Match - Tony's Float Only - rd 1 - 26th out of 40, 5th out 5 section

I was really looking to the first round of 6, of what will be a very competitive series. Today we were at Viaduct, with 20 anglers on Campbell and 20 on Cary. I couldn't believe I drew Campbell again on p114, next to were I was on Thursday and were I came 4th in Norm Sterrys match a few weeks again. So confident of a good days fishing, particularly since I have had in excess 130lb in my last 3 visits.

My section ran from 110 to 114, with Dan White, Bela Bakos, Rich Lacey and Paul Elmes in my section.

On the all-in I started on the meat short and only had a roach. This was not a good sign. I eventually landed a carp, all 1.5lb of it, before I eventually landed a proper carp, but it was really slow. In fact everyone was struggling and the white willow fluff was causing problems for many, although I couldn't use that as an excuse for my struggles.

I had a couple of carp on the waggler and managed to pick up a couple of carp on the meat line in amongst a few skimmers. With 2 hours left I wasn't that far behind Paul on p113 and shaun Townsend on p115 who had a lot of silvers to go with his couple carp.

It was those last 2 hours that I started to fall behind and I couldn't work out why. The short meat line never really got going, but it was my margins that was really frustrating and probably why I tried to push my short meat line too much. I fished the right hand margin in the same way as Thursday, i.e. feeding heavily with caster (since I still had 4 pts left over from the Glebe) and meat, but all I was getting was bitted out of roach. I eventually caught a few decent sized silvers, but no carp. Shaun on the other hand was catching decent sized silvers, plus carp from his margin.

My left hand margin which was shallower, only produced roach bites, so with 2hrs to go fed groundbait, but didn't worked. So I fed a lot more, which did bring the carp in and I managed 3 carp on meat or worm, but it was painfully slow by comparison with those around me.

Have to say I was bitterly disappointed with the way the match went. Speaking to a couple of anglers who have fished the peg recently also commented that have struggled to catch whilst those around them have caught. To be honest I think I just fished it badly trying to force the peg.

Oh well that's my dropper out of the way! Next round is in 2 weeks at Lands End, fingers crossed for a decent draw.

1st 197-13 - Tony Rixon (Mosella) - p88

2nd 187- 6 - Shaun Townsend (Mosella) - p115

3rd 160-15 - Dave Evans - p81

4th 154- 5 - Neil Mercer (Mosella) - p123

5th 151- 5 - Joe McMahon - p124

6th 140- 8 - Shaun Kitteridge (Thyers) - p121

Silvers

1st 29-13 - Shaun Townsend (Mosella) - p115

2nd 21-11 - Paul Faiers (Thyers) - p132

3rd 16-12 - Glenn Calvert - p129

4th 14- 4 - Neil Mercer (Mosella) - p123

5th 13-13 - Ken Rayner (Colmic/Marukyu) - p114

25/05/17 - Viaduct - Campbell

Weight - 136lb 7oz (24lb 14oz - silvers)
Catch - 14 Carp, 22 Skimmers, 5 Tench, 3 Roach, 1 Hybrid
Weather - Very warm and sunny
Match - Cost cutter - 1st out of 35 - silvers, 7th overall

I had intended on fishing a match at Alders Farm Friday for a Marukyu event, however I had to pull out due to a 2nd interview for a promotion at work.

Instead of cancelling my holiday, I shifted it to Thursday so I could fish here and with the first round of the float only series starting Sunday, thought it would be a good excuse to have a days fishing. I also had 10pts of caster left over from the Glebe and didn't want to waste them.

Steve was resting Cary, because it hasn't been fishing well recently, which meant Campbell and Lodge were in today. Obviously everyone wanted Campbell and I was more than happy to pull 115.

With Sunday in mind, the lead rod stayed in the bag, preferring to focus on the pole. Starting short on meat I soon had a decent skimmer, followed by a decent carp and during the first 45mins had another carp and about 8lb of skimmers and tench, so a great start.

In the meantime I feed caster long in preparation for catching shallow. When I switched to the shallow rig I excepted the elastic to be ripped out of the pole. Alas, I gave it 10mins, without a bite and not to be tried again!

I had also started feeding caster and meat down both margins, catching tench, skimmers and the occasional carp down the right hand margin on meat. Strangely the left hand only produced roach.

Since I was building a decent weight of silvers, decided to pot in some caster at 11m, which did produce a few fish, but wasn't as prolific as expected.

The remainder of the match was spent swapping between the margins and short meat line, which started to produce more carp later in the match.

A really enjoyable day, where I managed to qualifier for the silvers all winners final, which to be honest was a relief because in the last 12 months I have finished 2nd, 5 times.

1st 178- 2 - Norm Sterry (Fabtrays/marukyu) - p111
2nd 176-14 - Phil Wilkins - p118
3rd 167-10 - Tony Gilbert (Preston) - p116
4th 157- 2 - Chris Wells - p127
5th 137- 3 - Mark Hollister - p110
Silvers
1st 34-14 - Ken Rayner (Colmic/Marukyu) - p115
2nd 26- 3 - Rob Eagle (Viaduct) - p123
3rd 17-15 - John Bradford - p68
4th 17-10 - Dan Bowen - p126

29/04/17 - Viaduct - Campbell

Weight - 133lb 4oz
Catch - 21 Carp, 2 Skimmers
Weather - Cool easterly wind, mostly sunny
Match - Norm Sterry Open - 4th out of 55

With 55 anglers booked in there were 3 lakes in, Campbell, Cary and Lodge. Everyone wanted Campbell and I was pleased to draw p114, which was definitely in the right area, so at least I should have a days fishing.

On arrival the wind was blowing off my back, which I was quite thankful for, because it was cold. Either side of me was Phil Hardwick on p113 and Lee Pesticcio on p115, which meant not much room for margin fishing but still set up a rig just in case and mixed up some groundbait.

On the all in I had an 8lber almost immediately short on meat, but no more followed, so switched to the pellet at 14m. I had been pinging Marukyu Amino 6s, but was disappointed with the lack of response, eventually landing another 8lber and then a skimmer.

Lee had caught a couple long on pellet and Phil had started catching on the waggler, which meant after 2hrs I was falling behind, as it become obvious the fish really didn't want to come in on the pole line. I kept pinging pellet over the long pole line, periodically trying it, but never had another fish so abandoned it with 2 hours to go.

After 2hrs a switch to the waggler and 8mm amino pellet produced a couple of carp and the majority of the next 4 hrs was spent fishing the waggler or the straight lead and 8mm meat. Using red meat coloured with Marukyu very berry boost, definitely caught me more fish than standard meat. Also unlike the anglers around me I kept my feed reasonably light feeding only 3x 8mm pellet at a time. As the match progressed I pulled back the deficit against Phil & Lee and started to pull ahead.

Overall, the lake wasn't fishing that well, probably because it has been cold this week with overnight frost. Rumour had it that Cary was fishing even harder, which meant if I could keep going there was a chance of framing. The margins hadn't produced at all, so that was soon forgotten about. I had also kept feeding meat at 5m line and so far hadn't tried it since the start of the match, mainly because I kept catching mostly on the lead or waggler. With 4mins to go I netted a fish and decided to have a look over the meat line before the end of the match. Fortunately with 30secs left I hooked a 10lber which proved critical getting into the frame and a £100 pick up.

1. 144-15 - Phil Weaver - p121

2. 138-13 - Steve Shaw (Mosella) - p110

3. 135- 4 - Shawn Wilson - p85

4. 133- 4 - Ken Rayner (Colmic/Marukyu) - p114

5. 129- 5 - Dave Romain (Viaduct) - p123

6. 126- 1 - Alex Murray (Mosella) - p116

Silvers

1. 43- 3 - Phil Weaver - p121

2. 21-11 - Alex Murray (Mosella) - p116

3. 20- 4 - John Fuidge (Thornbury) - p66

4. 18-12 - Craig Edmunds (Mosella) - p70

5. 16- 2 - Chris Fox (Maesknoll) - p132

15/04/17 - Viaduct - Campbell

Weight - 142lb 11oz (19lb 2oz - silvers)
Catch - 21 Carp, 11 Skimmers, 5 Tench, 1 Perch
Weather - Sunny, but cool wind
Match - Open - 8th out of 45

Since buying my new Colmic F66 pole, I haven't had the chance to really test it, so fancied a day at viaduct. With 45 anglers booked in, we had Campbell, Cary and 2 banks of Lodge. Everyone wanted Campbell since it's fishing the best at the moment and I was pleased with p128 on the left hand side of the spit. At least I was in the right area with 138lb coming off the peg yesterday.

The breeze which soon changed to a wind was mostly blowing off my right shoulder, which meant plenty of flat water in front of me, thanks to spit protecting me from the worst, but couldn't help think having some ripple would be beneficial.

A very simple bait tray today, 6mm meat, plus a few 8s with a splash of Marukyu Liquid Krill and 6mm Amino+ pellets and some 8s if required.


On the all, some pellet was deposited at 14m and I started at 6m on the meat. After 30 mins I had 2 carp, but a further 15mins later added a skimmer. A switch to the 14m line were I had been pinging 6s and I soon caught a couple more skimmers and a tench on banded 6mm pellet, before landing an 11lber and then a 5lber. I had also been pinging meat to the spit and first drop in resulted in a tench, but it was slow and no carp.

2hrs in and I was level with Chris Davis on p127, but that changed when he decided to fish the straight the lead. I didn't follow, mainly because I wanted to catch on the pole and in hindsight that was a mistake. Instead I stuck with the long pellet line and caught a few more skimmers and a couple of carp, but moving into the 3rd hour that line was fading.

The 3rd hour proved to be a bit of struggle and I relented trying the lead, initially without success, but then had 2 quick fish, but felt I had switched too late. My long pellet line was now only producing small skimmers and a try shallow didn't produce either, so decided to abandon this line hoping my short meat line and the spit swim would come to life.

The spit proved to be best, by fishing 8mm meat and feeding 6s, catching mostly carp with a couple more tench and a big perch. My short meat line was real disappointment, with only a couple of fish coming from it, but overall felt I was in for a strong finish.

With an hour to go the wheels fell off a little. I was on 19 carp and thought about grabbing my 4th net once I landed my 20th. 5 lost fish later (1 bust me on the straight lead, because I was trying to bully it too much, 1 found the sanctuary of the brambles to my right and the hook pulled out of an 8lber at the net) I eventually put the 4th net in, but was only able to add 1 fish to it.

A really frustrating last hour. In hindsight had I switched to the lead earlier and landed those lost fish, bearing in mind I had only lost 1 carp in the previous 5hrs I should have had a 180lb+. That said it was nice to put together a weight of carp and I was lucky enough to pick up the section money by double default, thanks to a couple of anglers going over their net limits. Thanks Emma.

As for the pole, I have so much more confidence in it following today. Some of the fish hooked by the spit dived back towards the nearside brambles and the pole took on an alarming bend, but there no creaking or groaning. I was very impressed. I know there are some die hard Diawa fans out there, but genuinely if you want a strong, yet stiff pole take a look at the F66.

1. 206- 3 - Chris Davis (Yate) - p127
2. 190-10 - Jack Billet (Viadcut) - p129
3. 180- 8 - Jake Froggatt - p111
4. 174- 1 - Kieran Bailey - p110
5. 156-13 - Chris Davies - p116
6. 151- 7 - Roy Worth (Viaduct) - p80
Silvers
1. 40-12 - Sam Powell (Preston) - p88
2. 35-12 - Steve Jackson (Viaduct) - p69
3. 30- 4 - Nigel Easton (Viaduct) - p64
4. 25- 4 - Dave White (Viaduct) - p131
5. 22- 2 - Nigel Bartlett (Sensas) - p102
6. 19- 2 - Ken Rayner (Colmic/Marukyu) - p128

05/03/17 - Viaduct - Cary

Weight - 30lb
Catch - 2 Carp, 2 Skimmer, 1 Hybrid
Weather - Very windy, heavy showers
Match - Winter League rd 5 - 10th out of 19 section

So to the last round of the winter league and following a good start in the first 2 rounds, however poor draws in the last 2 proved to be a bit of disaster for team Colmic, leaving us in 8th. It was down to Calum Craig to draw us some flyers so we could hopefully make the top 5. Well I wasn't complaining about my draw, p100, which won the lake is the last round and has been a good area for skimmers.

As a team we needed to make up 18pts to have any chance of getting into the top 5, so decided to be really positive focusing solely on the lead, fishing for carp - boom or bust! I would have to forego the silvers, but to be honest, with winds forecast to gust 40mph, blowing left to right I was glad to leave the pole in the bag.

As for the rest of the team, Nick Merry ended up on p131, Mark Poppleton p70, Martin Preston p51 and Calum probably drew himself the worst peg on p20.

After 30mins I had 1lb skimmer on corn, my next fish was a big hybrid again on corn after approximately 2hrs, but as yet no carp. Ricky Mills to my left on p102, plus pegs 77 and 78 were all catching, as were the anglers at the other end of the lake (p90 & p94) and I was falling further behind.

The 2 anglers to my right hadn't caught and any indications I had all came to my left opposite the vacant p101. I was briefly attached to carp which came off, which was annoying. But at least it suggested there were some carp in the area.

I had been pinging corn and some meat at 13/14m, but only caught 1 small skimmer. With 30mins left the tip finally went round went round and a proper carp was attached picking up my 8mm punched meat.

Needless to say I was relieved to have landed it and just needed another tug. Fortunately I got one in the same area to my left, giving me an extra 26lb in the last 30mins and 10pts, which was much better than the 3pts I was potentially staring at. It was just a shame the fish didn't move out of Ricky's swim a little earlier. The 2 anglers to my right weighed 3lb and 15lb, so not many fish in the area.

As for the team we finished 5th on the day, with Mark winning Lodge and Nick doing well from Campbell. Martin was a little unlucky on Match lake, due to the 'spring' mini section fishing so well for the first time this year and Calum as expected struggled from his poor draw.

Overall we finished 8th, which considering the 2 poor draws in rounds 3 & 4 we were reasonably happy with.

Overall:
1. Lee Werrett (Natural Talent) - 116lb - peg 127
2. Clayton Hudson (Future Networks) - 110lb 14oz - peg 113
3. Paul Greenwood (M5 Angling) - 106lb 15oz - peg 129
4. James Knight (Somerset Angling) - 103lb - peg 38
5. Ricky Mills (Moaning Maggots) - 101lb 11oz - peg 102
6. Glyn Reynolds (Viaduct All Stars) - 99lb 4oz - peg 128
Silvers:
1. Andy Power (PI Thatchers) - 32lb 11oz - peg 61
2. Sam Powell (PI Thatchers) - 31lb 10oz - peg 37
3. Jon Gray (Somerset Angling) - 22lb 12oz - peg 12
4. Phil Hardwick (Moaning Maggots) - 21lb 1oz - peg 71
5. Paul Faiers (2nd Time Lucky) - 17lb 5oz - peg 56
6. Andrew Cranston (PI Thatchers) - 16lb 12oz - peg 125

Team Points On The Day:
1. Natural Talent - 70
2. Thatchers Vets - 67
3. Mosella Bathampton - 64
4. Silverfox - 62
5. Colmc SW - 59
6. Somerset Angling - 58
7. Maver Cadbury Angling - 56

26/02/17 - Viaduct - Campbell

Weight - 36lb 10oz (11lb 10oz - silvers)
Catch - 3 Carp, 10 Roach, 9 Skimmers, 1 Tench, 1 Perch
Weather - Windy and mostly cloudy
Match - Winter League - 11th out of 19 - section

The penultimate round of the winter league and after the last round Colmic SW needed a decent draw to maintain our top 5 position. Well that honour fell to Martin Preston and when he came out of the lodge the look on his face said it all, he had failed.

Mark Poppleton on was p94, Martin Preston p62, Calum Craig p46, Nick Merry p15 and I had p126 directly opposite were I was yesterday. So far this series the best weight from my peg was 12lb and I wasn't filled with a great deal of optimism since the majority of weights have been coming from the other side of the spit around the aerator.

Anyway I had a job to do and based on yesterdays match felt that silvers was going to play a part in picking a few extra points, that was assuming the wind blowing down the lake would allow. For company I had Nick Collins on p127 and Steve Skelton on p125.

On the all in, I deposited a 1/4 pot of caster with a few bits of corn at 13m, deciding against using the groundbait. Instead of starting on the tip like every one else, I went short at 7m with meat just in case. If there were any carp in the middle of the lake those around me would soon catch them.

After 15mins and no bites on the meat and no one had caught on the tip, I switched to the pole, conscious that I needed to make the most of the favourable wind since the forecast was for the wind to increase in strength later in the day. I also decided to fish double caster, since I really needed to catch some proper fish rather than little roach and it wasn't long before I caught a 2lb skimmer, followed by another. On the hour mark I had an 8lb carp on the lead and corn.

The rest of the match was a case of catch a fish on the pole, pot 50 or so caster and a couple of bits of corn. If I had a run of roach, a bigger pot of bait was introduced and whilst that settled I would switch to the lead. A near 10lb carp at 20m after 3hrs meant I was beating those around me, however most of the anglers on the opposite bank were catching and it was becoming apparent that I was probably in the poorest area of the lake.

The wind in the last hour was increasing in strength and it was becoming difficult to hold the pole even at 13m with a bump bar. A margin swim fed with caster didn't yield anything and a try over the 7m meat line resulted in a lost foul hooked carp, but I couldn't get decent presentation due to the undertow.

With 30mins to go, a big pot of caster and some corn was deposited at 14m, but instead of fishing the pole, I switched to the straight lead at 16/17m and caught my 3rd carp again on corn.

By the end of the match, I felt I fished a good match, beating those around me, but simply couldn't compete the current form pegs.

As for the team, we had a mare, with Mark and Martin struggling we ended up with 40pts, which has dropped us down to 8th in the league. A decent draw and a bit of luck is required for the last round to get back into the top 5.

1. Mark Leader (Maver Cadbury Angling) - 101lb 2oz - peg 113
2. Mash (M5 Angling) - 95lb 3oz - peg 131...
3. Scott Cousins (Viaduct All Stars) - 88lb 1oz - peg 111
4. Matt Parsons (M5 Angling) - 87lb 5oz - peg 100
5. Bob Giles (Natural Talent) - 84lb 14oz - peg 18
6. Ben Hagg (Natural Talent) - 82lb 1oz - peg 68
Silvers:
1. Bob Giles (Natural Talent) - 28lb 12oz - peg 18
2. Paul Greenwood (M5 Angling) - 27lb 8oz - peg 20
3. Alex Nadin (Garbolino BVMG) - 23lb 10oz - peg 19
4. Glyn Reynolds (Viaduct All Stars) - 22lb 2oz - peg 3
5. Vince Brown (Mosella Bathampton) - 20lb 10oz - peg 4
6. Steve Hutter (Viaduct All Stars) - 17lb 12oz - peg 41

25/02/17 - Viaduct - Campbell

Weight - 11lb 4oz
Catch - 23 Roach, 12 Skimmers, 2 Perch, 1 Skimmer
Weather - Windy, cloudy with some rain
Match - Open - 2nd out of 19 - silvers

With 19 booked in, there would be 16 on Campbell and 3 on Cary. I really wanted to be on Campbell, because I would be on the same lake in tomorrows Winter League.

P115 wasn't a good start, because it has shown very little form for carp or silvers and coupled with the wind which was blowing up the lake a tricky day was likely. It just seems I cant draw on the carp at the moment, since all my recent pick ups have been on the silvers.

As we were setting up there was a lot of fish showing themselves in the more sheltered end around the aerator and that's were I expected the winner to come from.

On the all in 3 balls of groundbait with some caster was deposited at 11m at a slight angle to my left and I started on the tip with meat, then corn and finally prawn, but after 45 mins no fish. In fact except for p119 no one had a carp at this end of the lake.

A switch to fishing maggot over the groundbait didn't produce a bite - oh dear. fortunately I managed a small roach over loose fed caster at 13m, were I caught a few more, before switching to caster which produced a slightly larger roach, but they were becoming a pain. I kept messing about with my feed, finding it best to pot in small amounts of caster and I started to pick up some better sized fish.

The wind was also becoming an issue. I really wanted to push longer to 14m, but the wind simply wouldn't allow me. A switch to heavier rig, fished double bulk proved decisive catching 2 big perch and a skimmer, but presentation was far from prefect.

As the match drew to a close I felt I was probably winning the silvers although the angler on 128 had caught a couple of big skimmers. So losing a tench at the net was very frustrating, but my timing could have been better as Dave White and Dave Romain who were stood behind me offered little sympathy as I let out a few expletive.

Any thoughts of winning overall though were thwarted because Emma Drysdale on 81 had caught some big hybrids and tench by the monk. That's about the 6th or 7th time I come 2nd in the silvers at viaduct in the last 10 months.

I felt I didn't get most out of the swim due to wind, but relieved to at least pick up another brown envelope.

1. 110- 0 - Nick Ewers (Preston) - p77
2. 84-11 - Phil Penslow - p111
3. 69-12 - Matt Hall (Dynamite Baits) - p112
4. 64-12 - Lenny Terry (Viaduct) - p130
5. 64-12 - Ben Hagg (Guru) - p129
6. 55- 5 - Roland Lucas (Preston) - p132
Silvers
1. 20- 7 - Emma Drysdale (Legacy Tackle) - p81
2. 11- 4 - Ken Rayner (Colmic) - p115
3. 10-11 - T Burrell - p128

12/02/17 - Viaduct - Spring

Weight - blank
Catch - not even a bite!
Weather - Bitterly cold
Match - Winter League - rd 3 - last.

A decent draw was required today to consolidate our position in the league and Mark Poppleton took charge. Unfortunately he came back with one of the worst draws putting himself on p132 (which blanked last round), Martin Preston on p102, Mark Wynne on p71, Nick Merry on p52 and myself on p21.

Peg 21 is a shockingly poor peg at the best of time, which rarely produces and Andy Power struggled for 3lb in the last round. When I got to the peg the freezing northerly was blowing into the corner of the lake and the prospects of doing any good were looking remote.

Last week when the weather was mild, there were carp in this corner, but following some artic conditions over the last few days the water had gone crystal clear. I also got annoyed (and told him so) at one angler (Terry Lenny) who decided it would be a good idea to stand on the platform of p23 right next the mouth of the gap into middle lake, so if there were any carp in the area there weren't likely to be there now!

Well that's the excuses out of the way! I tried the straight lead with corn, prawn and dead maggot hoping for one carp, but didn't even have a liner. On my silvers line, I didn't have a single bite despite going down to a 22 and .08 bottom. Bob Gullick next to me on p20 managed 11oz but most of those fish came on the limits of his swim towards p24.

Really disappointed not to have caught, but genuinely don't believe there was any fish in the area . This was my first blank at Viaduct. Fortunately Mark on p132 managed to catch a few and Martin also got good points, but overall a total team points of 42, means we are now 5th in the league.

1. 106- 2 - Steve Nadin (Garbolino BV) - p114

2. 104- 6 - Nick Chedzoy (Thatchers Vets) - p127

3. 85-12 - Tom Downing (Keyford) - p66

4. 74- 9 - Des Shipp (Preston) - p8

5. 72-13 - Paul Faires (2nd Time Lucky) - p110

6. 71- 8 - Mark Poppleton (Colmic) - p132

Silvers

1. 19- 8 - Gary O'Shea (Thatchers Vet) - p47

2. 17- 3- Ricky Mills (Moaning Maggots) - p15

3. 16-12 - Chris Davis (Moaning Maggots) - p94

4. 13- 0 - Craig Edmunds (Mosella) - p100

5. 12- 5 - Richard A'Hearne (Frenzee) - p41

6. 11- 1 - Scott Puddy (Frenzee) - p105

Teams on the day

1. Thatchers Vets - 79pts

2. Somerset Angling - 72pts

3. Frenzee SW - 64pts

4. Natural Talent - 57pts

5. Maver - 56pts

6. Silverfox - 54pts

15. Colmic SW - 42pts

Overall League

1. Thatchers Vets - 203pts

2. Somerset Angling - 178pts

3. Natural Talent - 178pts

4. Frenzee SW - 178pts

5. Colmic SW - 170pts

01/02/17 - Viaduct - Spring

Weight - 13lb 15oz
Catch - 50 Roach, 14 Skimmers, 1 Rudd
Weather - Mild and cloudy
Match - Silverfish Only Open - 11th out of 17

I really fancied some silverfish fishing and decided to book in, although the chance of a pick up was going to be remote with 2 England internationals and a number of very good silvers anglers in attendance.

Peg 18 put me on the railway bank, with Scott Puddy on 19, Kev Newman on 17 and Gareth Lennox on 16.

On the all in 3 balls of groundbait was deposited at 13m, plus caster off to my right at 12m. Starting on the waggler firstly with maggot and then corn cast just off the island only produced a few a roach and a hand size skimmer. A switch to the pole over groundbait after an hour produced a number of small roach, but no real quality. Scott had managed a couple of skimmers on the feeder, but was also being harassed by roach.

Despite refeeding in a number of ways the groundbait line only produced small fish. The caster line was better, with bigger roach, but the issue was there were a number of anglers who were catching some proper sized skimmers and I was falling further behind. I decided to stick with the caster line, moving out to 14m hoping the skimmers would move in later. In the meantime I kept feeding corn towards the island, hoping this line would be solid late on.

By staying on the caster, I eventually had a pound skimmer, quickly followed by its bigger brother and thought here we go, but alas the roach returned.

A switch to fishing the straight lead and corn late on produced 2 good sized skimmers, before a 14lb carp put in an appearance unsettling the swim and the skimmers disappeared.

An enjoyable day with plenty of bites and although I had the best weight on this bank I simply couldn't compete with other areas of the lake which fished very well, with the bulk of the better weights falling to the feeder or waggler.

1. 34-10 - Des Shipp (Preston) - p24

2. 33- 2 - Callum Dicks (Maver) - p3

3. 31- 9 - Gary Etheridge (Devizes) - p4

4. 30- 6 - John Fuidge (Thornbury) - p25

5. 28- 1 - Mark Leader - p10

6. 19- 3 - Bob Gullick (Mosella) - p11

29/01/17 - Viaduct - Spring Lake

Weight - 17lb 1oz
Catch - 20 Roach, 13 Skimmers, 1 Ruffe
Weather - Rain - lots of it!
Match - Winter League - rd 2 - 7th in section, 2nd overall in silvers

After the first round's good start, team Colmic were hoping for a decent draw, however what we ended up with wasn't great where the previous team came 13th in the first round. Martin Preston was on p118, Mark Wynne p85, Nick Merry p56 and Mark Poppleton p9. As for me it was my turn for Match Lake, which included 6 pegs on Spring/Middle. I ended up on p24 and was pleased to avoid the corner pegs on Match and the 2 pegs on Middle.

The weather forecast was for rain and it certainly did, but at least the wind wasn't too bad.

On the all in, 3 balls of black gold groundbait with a few dead pinkies was deposited at 13m, whilst that settled I started on the straight lead and corn cast towards the island. On the 2nd cast I had a decent skimmer. The intention was to stay on the straight lead until I stopped catching, before switching to the pole and/or the waggler were I had been feeding caster at 20m.

I didn't switch to the pole for nearly 2hrs, however all I caught was plippy little roach, whilst on the waggler the roach and small skimmers were only slightly bigger. I had also been feeding caster under the tree to right hoping for a late carp, but only caught a roach.

The rest of the match followed a similar pattern, stay on the tip until bites dried up, before switching to the pole and waggler picking up a few small roach, then switching back to the straight lead when bites slowed. In the last 10mins I managed 2 good skimmers which was a nice boost finishing with 9 proper skimmers.

Fortunately with no carp being caught in my mini section I won the section and picked up £40. I was also 2nd overall in the silvers and picked up a further £100 in the superpools, so a profitable day.

As for the team, we had an excellent result, Martin was 5th on Campbell, Mark Wynne won Cary, Nick fished a blinder to finish 3rd on Lodge, Mark Poppleton as expected took one for the team on Spring and I was 7th on Match. In total Colmic won the day with 69pts and we are leading the league.

Overall

1. Richard A’Herne (Frenzee SW) - 143lb 2oz - peg 53
2. Steve Seagar (Maver) - 131lb 14oz - peg 119
3. Jason Radford (Viaduct All Stars) - 119lb 12oz - peg 113
4. Andy Neal (Natural Talent) - 119lb 11oz - peg 66
5. Steve Tucker (Thatchers Vets) - 113lb 4oz - peg 129
6. Craig Edmunds (Mosella) - 92lb 14oz - peg 127

Silvers

1. Dave Romain (Team Keyford) - 24lb 8oz - peg 124
2. Ken Rayner (Colmic SW) - 17lb 1oz - peg 24
3. Simon Hebditch (Garbolino BVMG) - 15lb 4oz - peg 125
4. Nick Chedzoy (Thatchers Vets) - 14lb 14oz - peg 18
5. Gordon Cannings (Silverfox) - 14lb 2oz - peg 69
6. Ricky Mills (Moaning Maggots) - 13lb 6oz - peg 41

Team Points On The Day:
1. Colmic SW - 69
2. Viaduct All Stars - 68
3. Natural Talent - 67
4. Thatchers Vets - 63
4. Mosella Bathampton - 63
6. Silverfox - 61

Teams Overall League

1. Colmic SW - 128

2. Thatchers Vets - 124

3. Natural Talent - 121

4. Frenzee SW - 114

5. Future Networks - 112

6. Garbolino BV - 111

15/01/17 - Viaduct - Lodge

Weight - 50lb 3oz
Catch - 7 Carp
Weather - Mild, but cold during the week. Windy.
Match - Winter League - rd 1 - 3rd out of 19 in section, 15th overall

Today was the first round of the Viaduct Winter League with 19 teams of 5 and Mark had managed to get a Colmic team submitted.

There is always a sense of trepidation at the draw, because with 95 pegs in we all wanted the favoured areas, however there were more than a few poor draws waiting for us, where anglers would only be looking for a couple of fish.

Mark Wynne drew (I cant be trusted at the moment to draw well at the moment) for us today and on the whole it wasn't too bad. Mark put himself on Campbell p128, Calum Craig (Cary - p97), Mark Poppleton (Match - p48), Joe McMahan who was guesting for Martin Preston (Spring - p17) and I had p66 on Lodge.

With wind blowing into this end of the lake the pressure was on, since it was expected there would be a few fish under the trees. Well that's what I hoped. 

Set up 3 rigs to fish under the tree, 1x dobbing bread, 1x for prawn and 1x to fish corn/meat. I also set up a silvers rig to fish 13m over groundbait if needed. As it happened I gave the 13m swim 5mins without a bite and since all the anglers along the pathway bank were struggling for bites I didn't see any point pursuing that swim.

On the all in I started off on the deck with corn by the first post of the pallet (see picture) and soon had a liner. A couple more liners followed but no fish, so switched to bread at 3/4 depth. 10mins later I had my first carp of about 5lb.

No more bites followed for 30mins, so tried the prawn which resulted in another carp, quickly followed by a 3rd. The fourth one took its time arriving but after 2 hours I had 4 carp, which I knew would guarantee good points. Chris Fox opposite me on the monk had yet to have a bite, although he wasn't the only one.

I had also been feeding caster to my right under the bush, but that didn't produce a bite. The only place I could get any indications was under the tree and was now pushing further under the tree.

On the half way mark a switch to corn brought a quick response with my 5th carp. So far I had managed to pull the carp free of their lair so I shouldn't have been surprised when I hooked another carp that some how managed to get in behind p65 pallet and under some sunken roots, claiming my entire rig.

I managed to land 2 more carp on corn and lost another 2, 1 was a decent fish that dived under my keepnets snagging me on the leg of the platform and the hook pulled out of the other as I went to net it. As it happened it wouldn't have made any difference, as Tony Rixon and Nicky Collins in the opposite corner had 94lb & 96lb respectively for the 1, 2 in section, leaving me 3rd in section which I was pleased with.

Chris must have been the most relieved man on the lake. With 4mins to go he had his first bite, netting a 6.5lb carp giving him 9pts.

As a team we did OK, Mark Wynne was 2nd on Campbell, Calum had 14pts from Cary thanks to a 24lber caught on the prawns I gave him, Mark Poppleton had 8pts from a poor draw on Match and Joe struggled for 3pts on Spring.

1st - 154-11 - Colin Dyer (Balti Boys) - p102
2nd - 150- 6 - Tim Clark (Future Networks) - p113
3rd - 111- 9 - Paul Greenwood (M5 Angling) - p77
4th - 96- 0 - Nicky Collins (Somerset Angling) - p53
5th - 94- 2 - Tony Rixon (Future Networks) - p73
6th - 67-12 - Mark Wynne (Colmic SW) - p128

Silvers
1st - 18- 0 - Sam Powell (Preston) - p2
2nd - 17-10 - Des Shipp (Preston) - p103
3rd - 15-13 - Chris Sandford (Amigos) - p24
4th - 13- 3 - Steve Jackson (Balti Boys) - p71
5th - 12-14 - Alex Murray (Somerset Angling) - p25
6th - 12- 1 - Ryan Shipp (Moaning Maggots) - p126

Teams on the day
1st - Future Networks - 76pts
2nd - Garbolino BV - 75pts
3rd - Somerset Angling - 65pts
4th - Thatchers Vets - 61pts
5th - SW Nomads - 60pts
6th - Colmic SW - 59pts

01/10/16 - Viaduct - Lodge

Weight - DNW - tipped back about 40-45lb
Catch - 3 Carp, 19 Skimmers, 1 Perch
Weather - Cool wet start, sunshine and showers
Match - All Winners Final - 67 fished

At last the all winners final and the majority wanted a draw on Campbell, although I thought Cary or Spring might throw up a surprise.

As regular readers will know I can't get near Campbell and I really hoped today would be the day. Sadly not as my drawing arm seems to have completely fallen off recently, pulling 57 in the corner of Lodge and probably the one of the worst pegs I could have drawn.

Well this blog will be short, because I struggled to get any bites. I tried the straight lead towards the aerator and despite pinging pellets all match, never had a bite.

After an hour I switched to fishing 6mm pellet at 13m, looking to catch skimmers and hoping to pull in some carp. I did catch a few skimmers and lost 2 foul hooked carp, but wasn't going anyway fast.

I also hoped for a late run of carp down my margins on maggot or worm over groundbait, but 3 carp for about 35lb wasn't nearly enough.

A day to forget unfortunately and well done to those who framed.

1. Andy Power - 226lb 11oz - peg 105 (£1000)
2. Steve Shaw - 193lb 6oz - peg 115 (£300)
3. Fred Roberts - 187lb 4oz - peg 85 (£250)...
4. Dan Squires - 174lb 9oz - peg 127 (£200)
5. Craig Edmunds - 167lb 8oz - peg 60 (£150)
6. Alan Oram - 159lb 14oz - peg 114 (£100)

24/09/16 - Viaduct - Lodge

Weight - 82lb 4oz
Catch - 10 Carp, 5 Roach, 4 Skimmers, 3 Hybrids, 1 Perch
Weather - Bright & breezy
Match - Open - 25th out of 48 anglers, 7th out of 12 - lake

With 48 anglers booked in we were spread over Campbell, Cary and Lodge. With the All Winners final coming up next weekend and having not fished here for a few weeks I wanted  to get back in touch with the venue, particularly now the weather is starting to cool. A draw on Campbell would have been ideal since I haven't been on there since May as I keep drawing Cary instead. Well at least I wasn't on Cary, but p53 on Lodge wasn't great. General consensus was it hasn't been fishing well and looking at past results 70-75lb appeared to be the average weight.

As I was plumbing up the margins were less than 1ft in places and about 2.5ft all over.

Starting on 8mm meat, toss potting a couple of bits of meat and a few 6s by the left hand edge of the tree I soon had my first carp, but in the main the meat was getting attacked by small silvers. Over the next couple of hours, by pinging a few pellets at 14m towards the posts and down the left hand bank I picked up a few carp and quite happy with my progress, although I was no where near Roy Worth on 71 who had thrown away his lead rod and was catching down his right hand margin under the brambles. As for everyone else it was still up for grabs.

So far I had left fishing tight to the far bank alone, leaving a safe zone for the carp to back off to target later. In theory it was a good idea, the problem became the wind switched around a little and the fish I could see moving had disappeared.

Fortunately I had been feeding meat by the right hand edge of the trees, which produced a couple of carp, a few skimmers and a decent hybrid, but it was hard going.

With 2.5hrs left to go 8 pots of groundbait went in down the right hand margin where I found a flat spot about 18ins deep. I would like to say I went on to empty it, instead I had an incredibly frustrating end to the match, hooking 10 carp and only landing 2, either on double worm or bunches of maggot. I tried cutting back on the amount of feed, however the problem became I needed to feed to pull in the carp, but if I cut back I would get pestered by silvers. In hindsight I might of been better off using corn or meat.

I kept pinging pellet to my left, but the fish seemed to have vacated the corner and my meat line was mostly full of silvers, so I was reliant on the margins to produce the goods. Although I had a decent weight for the peg  compared to recent results, I still felt I got it wrong, but will be fishing Thursdays costcutter to hopefully make good on my mistakes.

1. Jon Mills - 300lb - peg 125
2. Craig Edmunds - 241lb 12oz - peg 129...
3. Mark Wynne - 236lb 7oz - peg 80
4. Roy Worth - 218lb 4oz - peg 71
5. Sam Powell - 217lb 9oz - peg 116
6. Dan Squires - 177lb 9oz - peg 130

Silvers
1. Steve Jackson - 65lb - peg 70
2. Paddy Curry - 45lb 3oz - peg 123
3. Nigel Bartlett - 44lb 13oz - peg 97
4. James Rock - 34lb 15oz - peg 100
5. Nigel Easton - 32lb 3oz - peg 78

28/08/16 - Viaduct - Cary

Weight - 134lb 3oz
Catch - 14 Carp, 3 Skimmers, 1 Roach
Weather - Mostly wet!
Match - Float Only Series - rd 6 - 12th out of 40 (1st in section)

Today was the last round of the Float Only series and I was lying 14th in the league, which meant I was out of contention for the overall pay outs, although I did have the highest silvers weight of 28lb 10oz which was worth £50. However I didn't expect that to stand by the end of the day since 30-50lb has been winning silvers on Campbell recently.

I was really hoping for a draw on Campbell, because it has been fishing very well. However I have only drawn the lake once in the last 10 matches, so the law of averages should have been on my side. Well not today, as I ended up on Cary again, but at least p85 was a decent draw. Having said that this bank has been very hit and miss recently, although with the wind blowing my way I was confident of a few fish.

My section ran from p76 to p85. For company I had John Bradford on p81 and Alex Nadin on p86. At the moment I have a lot of confidence in Gonut paste and decided to fish it in a similar way to when I came 2nd 2 weeks ago from p99.

I deliberately left my waggler rods in the car to concentrate on the pole, mainly because the carp are so big in this lake you tend to get loads of false indications and very few weights are taken on the waggler at the moment.

On the all in a pot of micros and 6s were fed at 14m. Starting at 5m hoping for an early carp, I had a few knocks but no proper bites, so switched to the 14m line after 20mins.

Almost immediately I had a carp, followed 10mins later with another of 15lb 10oz (see picture) which lead me a merry dance! It wasn't too keen on being photographed either!

A couple more carp followed but it was slow going, which was expected. A switch to a pellet rig produced a skimmer on 4mm expander, but again bites were slow. I did hook 2 carp, losing both of them, the first broke me at the net and the 2nd managed to pick up a branch so I was playing the fish and the branch. Although the fish eventually freed itself there must have been damage to the line because that one broke me as well - doh!

The rest of the match was reasonable simply, if not a little frustrating with a few lost fish. I kept catapulting 6s, at one point I was feeding 2 pouches to get the fish on the deck, which produced a couple more fish.

Some very heavy rain during the middle of the match  resulted in my pellet turning to mush and my paste to liquid. That was soon resolved and I kept catching.

The only disappointing part of the match was fishing the margins, where I had been feeding pellet. First put in resulted in a carp, but then I couldn't get a proper bite, because the swim was full of small silvers. I tried meat and pellet as well without success, but felt I should have done better. I did hook another carp down the margin, but the line snapped around the float, which was a surprise, since I have never had a problem with the float before.

The last hour proved to be the most productive catching 4 or 5 carp. I knew I had beaten everyone along the top bank, but other than John I couldn't see anyone else in my section. When the scales arrived 86lb was the best weight, which meant I won my section.

As expected I didn't hang on to the best silvers weight with Glenn Calvert catching 32lb, but Paul Faires managed 33lb to take the £50.

Overall a good series for me, were I probably finished10th-12th and picked up 5 of the 6 rounds. Unfortunately 2 dodgy draws at Lands End probably cost me the chance of a top 6 finish. Well done to Trigger who easily won the series.

1. Craig Edmunds - 230lb 6oz - peg 128
2. Steve Tucker - 223lb 9oz - peg 132
3. Tony Rixon - 196lb 12oz - peg 129
4. Nick Brown - 191lb 4oz - peg 110
5. Fred Roberts - 188lb 15oz - peg 121
6. Dan White - 183lb 14oz - peg 118

Silvers
1. Paul Faires - 34lb 2oz - peg 111
2. Glen Calvert - 32lb 3oz - peg 124
3. Leon Hubbard - 24lb 5oz - peg 112
4. Mike Nicholls - 20lb 6oz - peg 103

13/08/16 - Viaduct - Cary

Weight - 158lb 1oz (15lb 9oz - silvers)
Catch - 14 Carp, 11 Skimmers, 1 Tench, 1 Roach
Weather - Cloudy start, sunny later. Light breeze.
Match - Open - 2nd out of 20 overall (2nd in silvers)

With casters, worms, expanders and groundbait I was hoping for a day on the silvers to hopefully qualify for the all winners silvers final or failing that I had some of Andy Seery's Gonuts paste to try - it's very red!

With a fully booked Cary, 20 pegs were put into the coffee tin of dreams. I was first in and found myself  on p99 where 114lb came off it last Saturday fishing the tip. I did consider just setting up the tip and nothing else but that would drive me insane. So also setup a paste rig, a pellet on the deck rig and finally a skimmer rig to fish expanders or worm.

The intention was to spend an hour looking for carp and depending on the response I would make a decision about whether to concentrate on the carp or silvers.

Feeding a small handful of 6s at 6m, I started on the paste landing 3 carp (losing 2, 1 of which pulled the elastic through the side puller - doh!) and a big tench, which the chap next to me fishing for silvers was too impressed about - lol. On the hour mark I had my 4th carp at 14m where I had been pinging 6s. Staying at 14m a further 2 carp were landed, plus a big skimmer, losing 2 others which shed the hook mid flight!

The fishing became more difficult during the middle part of the match, managing 1 carp on the tip fishing the conker. With no more bites from the carp a switch to the soft pellet rig produced a few skimmers up a pound, plus another carp, but it was slow going.

In the meantime Matthew Gronow on p96 had started to catch on the tip, fishing with a PVA bag and by the half way point was up to 7, the same as me. The problem was he kept catching and was soon ahead of me.

A couple more tries on the tip didn't produce so that was abandoned for the remainder of the match, concentrating on the 14m line. By continually pinging 6s, the fish started to settle properly and  in the last 90mins I had fewer liners and more proper down the plug hole bites, catching mostly carp up to 14lb with the occasional decent skimmer, slowly making back the deficit on Matthew. A brief look on the 6m line didn't produce, but did manage one carp from the left hand margin.

With 2mins to go the float buried and thought this fish would make the difference. However I was hanging onto the end of 14m's of pole whilst the fish was attempting to make its way across the lake. I thought it was foul hooked and it eventually turned when the all out was called. Fortunately the carp was hooked properly, it was just a very angry double figure common landed 10mins after time.

Matt was admitting to 15 carp, but only had a few silvers, so it was going to be close. As it turned out that last carp swung the decision my way, beating Matt by 5lb, but I couldn't beat Neil Gaff on p90 who finished with 178lb fishing the pole to the end bank.

There was also a bit of a bonus when the results were announced because I came 2nd in the silvers as well to and a double bubble pay out - yay.

As for the paste, very happy with it. It mixes up lovely with a nice smooth texture and I caught mostly when mixed to a very soft consistency.

1- 178- 0 - Neil Gaff - p90
2- 158- 1 - Ken Rayner - p99
3- 153-14 - Matthew Gronow - p96
4- 136-14 - Martin Preston - p87
5- 135-13 - Roland Lucas - p77
6- 120-13 - Gareth Gronow - p109

Silvers
1- 26- 5 - James Rock - p105
2- 15- 9 - Ken Rayner - p99

06/08/16 - Viaduct - Cary

Weight - 38lb 10oz (15lb 11oz - silvers)
Catch - 34 Skimmers, 2 Roach, 2 Carp
Weather - Hot & sunny, becoming breezy
Match - Open - 3rd in silvers, 19th out of 27 overall

Today of the first match on Cary since the lake had been closed following the oxygen crash and a quick walk around the lakes suggested the best pegs would be around the aerators since there was a lot of carp basking enjoying the sun in the area. Lodge lake was also in today and to be honest that was my preferred draw, hopefully on a nice skimmer peg so I could qualify for the Silvers all winners.

Peg 86 was home for the day and I felt I could be at wrong end of the lake today, but you never know and there were a few fish on the surface. The real decision was paste or meat and since I wanted to try and keep it simple settled on paste. I did cut up a tin of meat just in case but it mostly didn't get used.

I also had a bucketful of groundbait for down the edge for later in the match were I hoped to catch late.

On the all in a half cup of 4s & 6s was deposited at 14m and I started on the long line shallow rig with meat swinging at a couple of the cruisers with no joy. A short stint with the slapper rig didn't yield anything either, so it was on to the paste rig a little earlier than expected but soon found myself attached to a carp, which was followed by a 13lber 15mins later. Perhaps today will be a good day. Unfortunately not. After an hour the whole lake appeared to have shut up shop. Those that had caught early, weren't catching any more.

A brief look on the lead didn't produce and I simple couldn't get a proper bite on the paste despite quite a bit of fizzing. The carp appeared to be quite content swimming around on the surface and not feeding.

I had already set up a skimmer rig just in case and reasoned since no one I could see was catching if I could get a few skimmers then at least I was slowly building a weight and I was expecting the carp to switch on later.

After an initial slow start trying to sort how best to feed I started catching skimmers up to 2lb mostly on 4mm expander with a few on worm, pinging 6s over the top. For some reason pinging 4s was quite as effective and for 2hrs or so I was enjoying myself before the action started slow.

I had already started feeding groundbait down the left hand margin, but only got knocks from silvers, so that proved to be a waste of time. A new paste swim was set up at 8m to my left, where I hooked 2 carp, but they both fell off. I also hooked and lost another carp on the full depth pellet rig at 14m with 8mm pellet. Other than that I just couldn't get a bite on anything.

A few people caught carp late on and any hope I had of doing well in the section evaporated and even if I had landed those 3 lost carp it wouldn't have made a difference. Today I was simply in the wrong area. The anglers either side of me has 3 & 4 carp respectively, with the better weights coming from the other end of the lake.

1. Dave Cockayne - 135lb 7oz - peg 74
2. Martin Preston - 129lb 10oz - peg 105
3. Nigel Easton - 114lb 14oz - peg 99
4. Roland Lucas - 113lb 3oz - peg 81
5. David Simpkins - 99lb 2oz - peg 64
6. Jamie Parkhouse - 92lb 11oz - peg 103

Silvers
1. Dan Squires - 42lb 7oz - peg 77
2. Rob Eagle - 26lb 6oz - peg 70

3. Ken Rayner - 15lb 11oz - peg 86