Sunday 26 June 2016

Landsend open

Tony Rixon was running another of his well run opens today and with 25 expected it was to be spread over Match and Speci lakes. I was there in plenty of time for the obligatory cooked breakfast, and very nice it was too as usual. I was first in line at the draw and peg 13 stuck to my fingers. I've had a couple of wins from this peg in the past to was quite pleased. For company I had Jason 'Mini Me' Radford on 15, Adrian Jeffry on 16 and Pete nurse (I think) on 11, and with me and Adrian either side of Jason he was in for some verbal abuse lol.
Three rigs today.
A .1 shalla slim to fish the end bank tight to the tree stump with m pellet. It would also do for my right hand margin but I never ended up trying that.
A .4 slip to fish 16m out by the airiator with8mm over 6's on the deck.
And a .3 slim to fish meat at 2+2.
Fed all lines and by the time I had cupped in some pellets on the long line fish were fizzing over the meat line.
Popped a piece of meat on and lowered it in and the float never settled. Carp number one in the net. Happy days. Back in and a clue of minutes later a beautiful bright orange, golden tench was in the net. I fished this line for the first hour and put 4 carp, an f1, a good skimmer and the tench in the net but it then went quiet. By this time the Jason Radford comedy road show had us all laughing. He managed to put his slapper rig 10 feet up a tree on the island so of course we had to give him a serve of abuse lol. The squirrel jokes were flying. But as usual he takes it with a smile. He had a couple of decent carp but was struggling to get them going. Adrian was catching rarely steady but Pete was having a mare loosing just about everything he hooked. I switch to the end back a was rewarded with a run of fish. But foulers was a problem and was loosing quite a few. Then that went quiet. So back on the meat line. Stuck at that for a while but that line had just about dried up. So it was out to 16m where I had been feeding quite heavily with 6mm pellet and was soon onto fish. Again I was loosing a few but they were coming quick enough to keep at it. The rest of the match was spent swapping from the long line and the end bank and by the end I was guessing at around 150lb. I went around to follow the scales, and by the time they got to me Sean Townsend was top with 121lb. My fish took the scales around to 160-3 which was enough to put me top on the lake and see one overall. Just for a change Tony Rixon had top weight with 190-9 on peg 39 on Speci. Again a very nice days fishing amongst good company. What could be better. My second,  second place of the weekend. Im slowly getting better on these commercial fisheries. Its taken its bloody time.

1st Tony Rixon 190-9
2nd Me 160-3
3rd Russ Peck peg 18, 129-14
4th Glenn Bailey peg 36 126-14

Acorn fishery Saturday open

Off to Acorn fishery today for the fortnightly open. After tucking into a very tasty breakfast it was a quick wonder around a few of the pegs before the draw. 9 fishing today and after a redraw because Mark Walsh forget one of the ping pong balls in the bag I pulled out peg 36 on the end of the sheds. Not one I fancied but as decent weights were showing all over the lake anything could happen. A fare bit of gardening was needed as the far bank hadn't been cut for ages so I spent 15 minutes over on the island. For company today I had Andy France to my right on 34 and Darren Vowles on 38.
Three rigs today.
A .1 shalla slim to fish the two spots I had cleared tight over with 8mm over 6's. This rig would also do to fish my left hand margin.
A .4 slim to fish 2+2 with 8mm over 6's.
And a .3 diamond d to fish in front the two pellets left and right but that rig never got touched.
Fed all lines and went straight over to the island. Second drop of the bait and the first carp was on and netted. Fish were obviously in a feeding mood as Darren and Andy were straight into fish. Darren catching on the bomb and Andy on long pole across to the island. To keep it short I stayed on the long pole fof the first 5 hours taking fish steadily. The right hand side was the most productive. I did try the 2+2 line but that produced nothing. The last hour I went to my left margin were I took 12 carp on 8mm. For a change I used my clicker today and was guessing I had put around 150lb in the net.i was very close as I managed 154-3 for second on the day being Gabe Scarba who had 184-14 on peg 16 on soft pellet over groundbait. Overall it fished realy well with 6 weights over the ton mark.

1st, Gabe Scarba peg 16, 184-14
2nd me peg 36, 154-3
3rd Mark Walsh peg 9, 122-3
4th Chris Cottrell peg11, 118-4

Saturday 18 June 2016

Landsend Saturday open

As I'm working tomorrow I was determined to make the most of today so it was off down the M5 to Landsend. As there was a club match on the match lake the 12 of us in attendance would be on lake 3. After a very nice breakfast it was into the bucket and peg 50 comes my way. Only fished this lake once so not much idea on what pegs are what. It did look nice at the end of an island but the single stalks of overhanging grass made it a nightmare. Just couldn't see them. Four rigs today. A .3 margin diamond to fish meat two metres off the right hand bank on a nice flat spot. A .4 slim to fish meat at 2+2 just to my left.  A .3 slim set up to fish for silvers if I was struggling for carp. This didn't get used so no more about that one. And a .1 shalla slim. To fish pellet tight across. This is a new float I've started making and gotta say I realy like it. The problems started when I was plumbing up. Dragged the rig into some invisible grass over to the island and trashed it before it ever got used. Glad I'd tied four of them up last night. It turned out I had to fish a metre short of the island or it was just non stop snagging up. At the start I fed all line and went straight over cattying 6's and fishing an 8mm on the band. Well to say it was a slow start is an understatement. After 30 minutes I'd only had 1 F1 And a small carp of around a pound. But as there was no sound of splashing fish anywhere I wasn't the only one struggling. But I kept at it feeding 20 pellets every couple of minutes and I did manage to put a couple more in the net. But foul hookers was a problem and I had pulled out of a few. There were fish slurping at the bank and every time I tried to get in tight I caught the grass stalks. Tourettes was starting to take hold. Rod Wooton opposit was struggling and was not enjoying the day especially as it was a bit chilly and wet. Though I recon he had found his flux capacitor as by the songs he was singing I recon he had travelled back 50 years in time. Though when he started whistling Whispering Grass i recon he was taking the piss lol. And I could hear Allen Oram saying he was struggling for bites. As nothing was coming my way I had a look on the meat lines. The close line to my right was devoid of any fish at this time. But the 2+2 meat line produced a couple of small F1's and a big perch of about 2lb and a couple of small skimmers. But the action didn't last long so it was back across to the island. The fish had turned up now and over the next couple of hours I put a dozen or so carp in the net but lost alot more. Plus two more grass trashed rigs. Tourettes now ramping up. With ninety minutes to go I came back to the meat lines as the far line went silly. Can only guess lots of whitebait had turned up as I'd missed about 20 bites in a row with not hook ups at all. Not even foulers. Another big perch came to the 2+2 line but that just wasn't working so I dropped in on the right hand side and the float buried and I was connected to something a bit bigger. But as my number 16 elastic bottomed out the hook pulled. Back in and ten minutes later another lump hooked and same result. Very frustrating. Then a good skimmer, a crusian and a small carp hit my net. Then yet another lump hooked that tore off and broke me. Tourettes now in full swing and I was tempted to bite my top kit in two lol. That was it for the day. Thought I had about 70lb but should have been way over the ton as I recon I lost alot more than I landed. The scales came around and I put 10-13 of silver and 46-12 of carp for a total of 57-09, which managed to get me second on the day. The match was won by Gary Flinders with 96-08 from peg 66. Rod Wooton was third from peg 62 with 47-06. Didn't fish that well today with most struggling. Very frustrating day as I'm sure if I could have got tighter to the island I would have had alot more. The island needs a hair cut.

1st Gary Flinders 96- 08 peg 66
2nd Stuart Barnett 57-09 peg 50
3rd Rod Wooton 47-06 peg 62

Silvers Eric Fouracres 12lb peg 68

Saturday 11 June 2016

Acorn Saturday open

After last week where the match was run with no peg fees to try and up the interest in the opens I was hoping a few would turn up today. But no. Just 4 turned up. Shame on people who just turn up cos they think there will be loads of pools money to be paid out. But again this week  we weren't charged peg fees. Fair play on the fishery owners. Wouldn't happen anywhere else. Whinge over.
After a very nice brekkie we decided to just stick in the pegs that have been fishing well lately. So 6, 9, 22 and 34 were put in. Ping pong ball 6 came out in my hand and I was pretty happy cos there were plenty of fish showing at the end of the islands. The water had been topped up and it was up by at least 6 inches on last week. Four rigs, as usual for me. A slapper, as there were a few slurping at the scummy surface. A .15 shalla slim for tight across in two foot of water. A.4 slim to fish 2+one and a half to fish pellet to a feature in this peg that not many know about,  but is a food holding spot. Always caught on this line on peg 6. And a .3 margin diamond to fish the margins were there was now plenty of depth. Started the match fishing 6mm banded over 6's across. Took me about ten minutes to get my first fish on. But not for long as it pulled out somewhere past peg 8 lol. Then two more were on and off quickly, GRRRR!!!. 4th try and one finds the net. Then 3 more lost. So after 45 minutes I was suffering from severe tourettes. Then I finally got my act together and started putting a few in the net. After 2 hours I had 10 in the net no idea what Mark Walsh had on 22 or Steve Cottrell on 34. Tim Whitchurch on 9 had only had a couple. I started feeding the margins with pellet and corn and continued to feed 6mm pellet on my short line preparing for the second half. At the half way stage I had 18 in the net and decided to look at the short line. Well it was a good move. I stayed there for the rest of the match apart from a couple of looks down the margin that were very slow and a couple more fish across. I ended up with 41 carp for 159-02 and a win. Nice days fishing with plenty of bites. This venue is getting better and better. Mark was second with an all top two caught 135-04. Tim got third with 53lb and Steve had 51-02. The next open is in two weeks. Let's hope for a few more anglers.

1st, me, peg 6, 159-02
2nd, Mark Walsh, peg 22, 135-04
3rd, Tim Whitchurch, peg 9, 53lb
4th, Steve Cottrell, peg 34, 51-02

Tuesday 7 June 2016

Acorn Tuesday cost cutter

Back to Acorn today for another go. Been doing Ok at this place lately so happy to be going there again. No breakfast on site today so it was a quick drive into Clevedon to find some nosh, and I got a very nice egg and bacon sarny at a roadside van. Lovely jubbly. Of to the venue and a dip into the bag and ping pong ball 1 sticks to my hand. Happy with that as Bob Gullick got a second place on saturday. For company I had the improving Tony Rixon on peg three, with whom I had a quid side bet, and Keith Turner at the other end of the island on 5. Four rigs today. A .15 shallow version of the slims I make to fish 6 or 8mm pellet across to the far side in 18 inches of water. A slapping rig incase they started cruising. A .3 slim to fish pellet at 2+1. And a .2 mugger to fish the margins with 8mm pellet over 6's the right side margin was around the end of the island so my pole was cross the grass. Camouflage lol. At the all in I dropped a few pellets on the 2+1 line and then went straight across at 13 metres with 6mm banded pellet. Only took about 3 minutes to get my first fish which was a decent stamp around 6lb. In the first half hour I had four and had opened up a bit of a lead over Tony, not that I thought that would last long. Stayed on this line for about and hour and a half keeping my lead then Tony did what he does best and started to slowly empty his peg. My fish slowed up, as Tony told me after I just didn't feed heavy enough. Though I did put in three pints of pellets by the end. Lesson learnt for Saturday. By mid way Tony was probably 5 fish up on me and I had to try something to pull it back. A look on my other lines produced nothing at this time, so I grabbed my slapper and shortened it to fish 6 inches deep tight against the bank cover to the island. This did produce a couple of decent fish but it wasn't producing enough. So it was back to the deck rig swapping from 6 to 8mm pellet. Stayed on it for another hour taking the odd fish but I was falling farther behind. With 90 minutes to go I spotted the first fish in the margin so it was on with an 8 mm pellet that's were I spent the rest of the match taking around 8 more fish mainly from the right margin. I was first to weigh and I put 25 carp on the scales for 95-12. Tony was next and I knew he'd done me like a dogs dinner, and he took top honours today with 138-04. A master class at fishing shallow. The island was the place to be as Keith weighed 73-8 of paste caught fish. The rest of the lake was bit of a struggle. To round the day off I thought I'd lost my phone so it was a march around the lake with no luck. But!!! I found it when I got home. I'd managed to drop it in my rod holdall and zip it up. What a plonker lol

1st, peg 3 Tony Rixon 138-04
2nd, peg 2 me 95-12
3rd, peg 5 Keith Turner 73-08
4th, peg 6 Mike Laird 53-09
5th, peg 25 Glen Bailey 51-10

Sunday 5 June 2016

Hillview Craphole sunday open

Another lovely day weather wise was on the cards so I decided to give Hillview yet another try. Every time I go there it fishes crap and today was no different. In fact it's the worst I've seen there. Yet again almost every peg on the venue was in use with 2 comps and about 15 pleasure anglers already fishing when I got to my peg. Drew peg64 on canal 2. Never fished that canal before so all I could do was follow my instinct. Won't bother boring you with rig details as I caught next to nothing on all rigs, all baits and every possible spot I could pick in my peg. Tipped about 12lb back with 45 minutes left after having less than 3lb in the last 2 hours I fished. Don't know any results as I was gone before the wiegh in. Fair to say I won't be wasting any more fuel going to that craphole again as long as I got a hole in my ass. Probably the worst venue I've had the displeasure of fishing.

Saturday 4 June 2016

Acorn saturday open

A short drive to Acorn fishery today. Was hoping  for a good turnout as they are pushing the Saturday opens and were tempting people with a match free of peg fee so all the coin went into the pot. After a nice brekkie it was into the Drawbag and ping pong ball 22 sticks to my puddy. Nice bridge peg and it turned out to be end peg on the road bank .... Cushty!!!!!. Got to the peg and looking along to the top end of the lake there were carp topping everywhere. I hoped I could pull some down to me. Four rigs today. A slapper to try to get the cruisers on banded 8mm pellet. A .15 margin mugger to fish my left margin on pellet or corn. A .2 slim to fish the far side tight to the grass. And a .4 slim to fish 2+1 on 6mm pellet. I was hoping this would be my main banker line. At the start I threw a few pellets onto my short line then went across to the far side. First drop in and a fish straight away, then it snagged me and pulling it I trashed the rig. Good start... not. Rig sorted and out again. Float slides away and the first carp safely landed. Followed quickly by another. Then a couple of foulers before the next fish but foulers spooked them a bit. Sean Clayton on 22 was just getting tiny stockies on corn at this point. I had alot of trouble with floating grass, from a recent bankside trim, getting in the way and at times was struggling to get the float to settle so I switched along to another gap about 7 metres to the left and started catching a few there. The little stockies were being a nuisance messing with the 6 mm pellet so I went to an 8mm. After about 2 hours I had ten or so carp in the net. All the time I was drip feeding pellets ever few minutes on the short line. Then I decided to cup in a some pellets and corn in the margin and there were fish on it instantly. Had a couple of good fish there in 30 minutes but they were a bit spooked as it was only 10 inches deep. So it was time to try the short line as it was now fizzing. And caught first drop. Had three there then saw some cruisers to the left over the far side. So it was another section added and over at 14 metres. Had two but they were being fussy. Nudging the pellet then turning away. Didn't stick with that for too long as I thought the short line was the way to go. So I stuck to that for most of the time we had left taking about another 15 fish. Had a couple late down the edge too. Even thought it seemed to be solid on the 2+1 line I don't think they were having it properly as I was getting loads of indications but missing loads of bites. And half of what I landed was foul hooked. But they all count. From what I could hear it wasn't fishing too well across the other side and was told I had it won. But I never count my chickens too early. I thought I might have somewhere around 150lb. I was first to wiegh and put 134-6 on the scales which did turn out to be top on the day. Happy with that and that's two on the trot at Acorn for me. Happy day's especially as it was a very good pay out today. More new tackle coming my way lol. Top silvers today was Bob Gullick with 11lb which was fun as Des Shipp missed out by ounces and moaned like hell as Bob's silver were F1's. Might go to Hillview tomorrow. See how I feel in the morning.

1st Me 134-6
2nd Dom Sullivan 116-4
3rd Steve Howell 83-4

Silvers Bob Gullick 11lb