Acorn Tuesday cost cutter

first stop today was the Bridge Inn for a cooked brekkie. Its handy as its only a minute from the fishery, but saying that its usually only a 3.5 out of 5. not always the hotest, but it fills a space. A decent turn out today with 18 fishing. Into the draw bag and I pull 33 out. A decent peg next to a bridge and i was lucky as the wind was howling through the venue and it the bridge broke the wind up making it fairly easy with the pole were as Eddie Wynne next to me on 31 could hardly hold his pole at 7 meters. The other side of the bridge to my left was Mike  Chapman, so a civilised conversation was on the cards today. Unfortunately, England international Callum Dicks had drawn peg 5, a peg I would run too, so it was a case of fishing for second place today. It was an all out carp attack today. So a .4 slim ws set to fish just about anywhere in the peg beyond the bottom of the slope either side as its the same depth all round, but it was mainly for my banker spot halfway along the bridge on banded 6mm pellet.  .2 slim to fish shallow against the far side on top the shelf. a slapper just in case the weather calmed down and  I could see some cruisers. And a .3 SS margin to fish tight to the bridge in my left margin and against pallet 32. At the start I went straight across to the island fishing 12 inches deep and dropping pellet in via a toss pot. I did try feeding with a catapult during the day, but even though the pole was protected the pellets were getting blasted by the wind and going all over the place so I kept mainly to the toss pot. Straight from the off, when pellets went in it was like a trout farm with carp crashing around. I caught 2 fairly quick but they were charging through the peg so fast I was foul hooking loads and landing none. As soon as they`d eaten the pellets they disapeared and no bites ensued. So it was back in and refill the pot for another 30 seconds of foul hooking madness. It went quiet after a while which wasn`t surprising with so many lost fish, so it was down the middle by the bridge on my banker line but no action there. So it was into the margins for an early look. No bites to my left, but by pallet 32 it was a bite every ten seconds and connecting with nothing. The snotty silvers are a plague when your targeting carp down the edges. So it was back across to to far side. But the same problem was happening. Land one loose five. Very difficult to hook anything more than two inches from their arse holes. Very frustrating. So most of the second half was spent searching around. But the silvers were doing my head in. I recon it was 5 bites a minute almost anywhere in the peg and next to no contact with fish. even 8mm pellet got the same treatment. I did manage 3 quick carp from my left margin but then the silvers found the bait and it was impossible to get a bait to the bottom. I did start hooking a few carp in the mouth in the last 15 minutes and put 4 in the net in that time. Too little too late unfortunately. At the weigh in Callum was clearly winning as expected with 131-2, and he even mentioned how crazy the fish were today crashing through his peg. Dave Wride was winning the silvers with an excellent bag of 26-10 in his 63-5 total. Mike managed 17-8 of silvers the other side of the bridge. My 18 carp, several big F1`s, and a  few accidentals went 64-12 for fourth on the day.  A very strange day with the weather doing all sorts and it deffinately made the fish a bit skittish. Hopefully the weather will settle again soon and the fish might settle down with it. Full results below.

Mathern Mill friday open

A quick 5 minute drive to the venue for me to the fishery close to Chepstow. No breakfast here so it gets a zero on the brekkie meter. Only 8 turned up because of the weather forecast of all day rain so we had 2 on each bank, sort of. I asked if they could take the near bank off as its always a struggle to win from there as the main shoal of fish live at the bottom end of the lake and never move far. Plus I cant remember when I drew anywhere apart from peg 22 or peg 2. I get them every match. Ive even drawn two, got to the peg, got called back for a redraw and drew it again lol. So this time I was hoping for the other end. I was second into the draw bag. First guy draws peg 24. Phew, thats one gone. In I go and yep!!! peg two. I should put a bet on it. The lake has matured a lot and lots of reeds and island vegetation makes this place very picturesque, Three rigs today plus a bomb rod to fish the island but I wont go into too much detail as it fished crap and bites were at a premium. All I had was eight carp and one skimmer for 48-6. The carp all came from tight against the island on 8mm pellet on the bomb. And I landed everything I hooked from that line with only eight pull rounds. The margin was a dead loss with only one foul hooked carp that came off withing seconds. Apart from that I never saw another bite in the margin. So it was a very poor day and with 5 and a half hours of heavy rain it was miserable and I was glad when it was over. Top weight came as expected from the other end of the lake from peg 11. But he went over the disqualification weight in his net his weight was cut from 139-12 to 56-12 for nowhere. It pays to use a clicker. So default match win went to Jon Darby with 126-15 from peg 12. second was Norm Sterry with 95 -1 from peg 16 and third was Ashley ? on 22 with 84-5. Gonna try it again next week with a bit of luck. Lets hope for a change of view, maybe looking up at this end of the lake.

Landsend Saturday Open

Back at Landsend today, first time for three weeks, for the usual Saturday bash. The weather was looking very good with it being a heatwave lol. Hope the fish weren`t in spawning mode.  First stop was the breakfast which was  4.9 out of 5 today, very tastey. I had loads of time as id got there for a 9 o`clock draw and it was now gonna be 9-30, so I went for a walk around the lake. Pegs 9 to 13 were solid and I recon I could have stepped off the platforms and walked to the island. So a draw at that end of the lake might be good. Only 10 fishing today which was disappointing on such a nice day but I guess all the royalists were sat in front the tv watching the wedding. Into the draw bag and out comes 15. OMG, I`ve actually drawn past the island gap. First time for 12 months I recon. off I run to my peg which is a pretty good draw and was glad to see there were now a few fish right across cruising around.  First rig set up was a slapping rig. along with a Shalla Slim to fish tight across,  A .4 Slim to fish meat at 2+3 and a SS margin to fish the margins both sides. For company I had Martin Mcmahon on 13 and Dave Hodgson on 17. And as usual I had Beany opposite. It seems I sit with him the other side of the lake nearly every match. At the start I went straight out on the slapper but after 15 minutes and two indications that could well have been silvers I gave that up for the time being and went across to the island. It was solid with carp but hooking them in the right end was nearly impossible and I spent an hour hooking and loosing loads and only putting a couple in the net. so I gave it a rest and looked down the edge on meat. This was suppose to be my banker line as I thought it would be were Id get my weight from, but I was getting bitted out on any bait with the float not settling and  I only had a 3 pounder in the thirty minutes I tired. The meat line was barren of anything with no indications so it was back across across to the island. Same as before, liners was a problem but I did get a few more in the net but a lot were small and the weight count wasn`t going up very fast. Martin was struggling and was getting pestered by white bait in his margins and not getting anything shallow or on the deck. Anther try on the slapping rig right across produced a couple but it was a bit tricky as I had a couple of dangling branches sticking out and managed to hook them a couple of times. By half way I had managed to get to around 50lb with a couple of bonus lumps but the second half of the match slowed right up. Like Martin, my edge was frustrating with silvers blitzing everything I put in and only one more small carp came from there so most of my fish came from across. Martin had all but given up by the end with a very frustrating day and Dave had a slow start but put a few edge fish in the net. I guess I had 80lb ish  by the end. First to weigh today was Martin Rayet, who continued his golden run by putting 126-6 on the scales from peg 1 for the match win. I recon we got a new Trigger coming on lol, he cant go wrong at the mo. Rod Wotton  was next and had the top silvers weight of 10-10 in a total of 58-10. Martin didnt bother weighing, and I put 79-04 on the scale including my few accidental silvers. It didn`t fish as well as I thought it would today, but I guess the bright sunshine didn`t help but its nice to be sat without 6 layers of clothing on at last. full results below.

Acorn Tuesday cost cutter

A bit late doing this one as I plain forgot to do it. Down to Clevedon Tuesday to join the usual array of codgers and reprobates for the regular open. Had a breakfast in the Bridge in, joined by Craig Challingsworth from over the bridge. It was ok, but for just over £4 ya cant expect a banquet. 15 fishing today, no pegs in at the top end as there had been a horse death at the fishery overnight and they were burying it on some ground behind peg 27 somewhere. into the draw bucket and our comes peg 3. Same peg I had 2 weeks ago.

I had Callum Dicks behind me, on 38, so if I had eyes in the back of my head I might learn something. Several rigs were set up. a .15 Shalla Slim for across to the island on 6 or 8mm pellet. A slapping rigs for mugging the odd cruiser. a .4 Slim for a pellet rig down the track.  a .3 Slim for silvers at 2+1 line and a SS Margin to fish the pallet to my left. At the start I went across as I normally do with no feed just to see what was around. But 10 minutes in there were no signs  so i put a toss pot on. I didn`t use the catapult as there was a few ducks around and they can be a pain in the butt. As soon as i dropped the pellets in there were fish charging through and it wasnt long before I was foiul hooking everything that went past. In the next half hour id hooked 6 and landed two, both foul hooked. and that was the story for the next 90 minutes. hooking and loosing fish. Tourettes was high today. It went a bit quiet for a bit so I tried the pellet line down the middle but never had a touch. the silver line didnt produce either which was a bit strange. A look down by the pallet produced a 6 pounder first drop in but that was it. after that I couldn`t get the float to settle there with the white bait in abundance. so it was back across with the same result with me dropping pellets in and fish turning up instantly and foul hooking them. Not sure were they were backing off to as I tried along the stick ups but couldn`t find them. At one stage I was about to spit the dummy as I lost 12 in a row.  So I tried the slapping rig and managed to get four out in a row but It was a bit low as I wasnt seeing fish. Just move around the peg dropping it in hopping I`d stuck on a nose or two. 90 minutes from the endf I tied the edge. I did get three out fairly quick but it was then the same story as earlier with the float just dancing around not settling. it must have been thick down there with whitebait as this happened non stop on any bait and I never hooked one of them. Pellet, corn and maggot produced the same frustrating thing. So I went back across for the last fifteen minutes and Landed 6 carp. The problem was the first 5 of them went 2lb, with one decent one on the whistle. t the end I was hoping on 80lb, and as I was weighing again I was first to put my fish in the net. Craig came around and helped which I was thankful for.  I was very close with my guess with my all carp net going 79-10 Dave Wride on 17 put 50-12 on the scales, of which 28-10 was silvers which got him the silvers pool for the day. Craig edged me out with 80-15 from peg 22. Match winner as expected was Callum who caught steady throughout the day with a combined catch of 131-03. it was a nice day with the sun out for a change. lets hope this last a bit longer than the two day heatwave from a fortnight ago lol. Full weigh sheet below.

Windmill Sunday Open

Just a short drive today across the bridge to Windmill. No breakfast here 😪 so straight into the draw bucket box thingy. Not too impressed with my effort as i pulled 25 out. Glen "Two Pots" bailey had it last time I was here and he packed up early. With this being the deep end of the lake at anything between 8 and 10 foot its not the best place in the warmer weather. And it was warm today with the temps up to 25C. But to my surprise when I got there there were a few carp cruising around. so first rig set up was for slapping at 14 meters. a .75 Slim to fish at the 8 foot depth under the same line. Another .75 slim to fish for silvers at 2+3 length and a SS margin to fish in three feet of water along the margin. A bomb rod was also set up for the long chuck to the island but that never got used except a couple of times when I had to re rig, but never had a pull round so no more on that. I started on the slapper as there were fish still around at the all in but all I achieved was spooking anything I went near. But after 20 minutes I did snag one in the lip and landed it. Not big but it was a start. but that was it so after 45 minutes i tried the long margin line going 13 meters to my left with the slapping rig. that had short success with two quick fish but they soon shied away from anything shallow. so after an hour I had three in the net and at my end of the lake I was in front at that time. But it got harder to get bites. I swapped around lines but only managed another $ over the next couple of hors including a beast around 15lb that i mugged on my top 4. During this time I tried the silvers line and all I managed was to snap my number 4 clean in half for no apparent reason. Luckily I got the map margin pole and all the sections swap so I was able to carry on fishing the longer line but didnt trust the slapping with the heavier section on. After 2 oclock it just died a death and I had to wait over two hours for my next fish of any desciption and that was a small skimmer from my short margin line and then a carp on the all out whistle. Not a good day as I thought it would be at the draw, but slightly better than I expected. Pity I couldn`t keep a few going throughout. As expected the top weights came from the same area as last time with Sean Townsend winning again from peg 10 with 160lb. He caught mugging all day and from what I was told never fed anything. Weigh sheet below.

Acorn Tuesday cost cutter

Nothing better to do today so off I went to Acorn for the regular Tuesday match. 13 fishing today so well spread out around the lake. I was early into the bucket and peg 3 sticks to my fingers. I didn`t mind that but with Martin Rayet on peg 5 , and him in top form it was gonna be hard to beat him.  4 rigs set up today. A .15 Shalla Slim for pellet across to the far side and along the grasses. A . 4 Slim for pellet at 2+3. A .3 SS margin for corn or maggot at top two length both sides, and next to platform 4. And a silvers rig for 2+1 in case it wasn`t going to plan with the carp. At the start all lines were fed and it was across to the far side to see if any carp were gonna play. The wind was pretty strong but at the start it was  off mainly off my back. But that changed later. It was slow and it took a while before I connected with one but it wasn`t in the mouth and it took me for a ride before the hook pulled. Next one was in the tail and that didn`t reach the net either. It was about 20 minutes before I landed one but it was pretty small at 8ozs. after the first hour I managed  three more slightly bigger, but mot much and the four went about 8lb. Martin had 3 that he thought went 17lb, So it was clear I had landed on the nursery.I came back in to the short pellet line and had a slightly better fish but it was a one off and no more bites after 15 minutes. The wind was getting worse and I was struggling to hold the pole long and the tow was starting to pick up along the far side and keeping a bait still was a struggle. Half way through and I was going nowhere fast so I thought i`d try my silvers lines for something to do. One line produced no bites. This was a surprise with the way the silver had been feeding lately. The other line produced a run of tiny perch, so that rig was sent packing up the bank for the rest of the match. A re think was needed. so I started feeding a bit heavier in the margins with groundbait and maggot and had a look there. But unlike Martin who was now slowly emptying it from the point of the island in his left margin , my margin did nothing. So I started a new line with my short pellet rig and just fed corn, burried the band best I could so I didnt need to change hooks and dropped it in. I did manage a few decent skimmers from there and lost a couple of foul hooked carp before it died. Back out on pellet across and managed a couple but the bites were slow. So back down the track for a couple more. Problem was a lot of my fish were small and with about 2 hours to go I had 10 carp and a few silvers  for about 35lb. the wind by now was bowing a bastard and my pole was being blown around to my left to often for comfort so I decided to stay in the margin and force the issue with the edge fish. But again it was slow. In an hour I put two in the net. but with 30 minutes left they turned up and I managed to get 7 out and some being better fish that probably added 35lb to my net. At the all out I was guessing on 70lb and I recond Martin has hit 150. I was close on both accounts. Mine went 71-12, and Martin had walked it with 149-7. John Barker won the Silvers with 22-11 from peg 9. Not a bad day apart from the usual shite weather. but we should be use to it by now this year. Results below.