Acorn new years eve open.

It was off to Acorn for me today for the last match of the year. pulled up at the venue and found the carpark full so a good turn out. Then I was told I had to book in which i hadnt done. two weeks ago the tuesday match attracted 6 of us so I had no idea I had to book in. But Mike Chapman said we could fit a couple more pegs in as I wasnt the only one. Anywhere along the House bank would do me today as its where the fish live at the mo and i havent drawn down there for ages. But no Peg 24 for me. Not impressed. This wont be a long blog. I started on 2+2 and maggot over micros to see what was about. 15 minutes in and no bites. so it was across to the island where Id been pinging 4mm pellets. I had a carp pretty quick and it was followed quickly by 2 more and one lost. $0 minutes in and I had 13lb in the netb and was probably infront at that time. Well the next 4 1/2 hours produced another 3lb of silvers and one was a big skimmer over 2lb. Talk about going tits up. Hardly any bites anywhere. I ended up with a total of 16-04. Steve Howell to my right caught a few under the bridge after a decent start catching across and put 26-10. and Mark Bartlett went for silvers all day and had 5-10 to my right on 26. the match was won by Bob Smith on peg 5 with 63-4 catching across to the island and down the edge late. second was W Mitchell on 6 with 51-08 so all the weights were in the same area again leaving us at the top end struggling. About time those fish learned they can swim and move araound the lake. Happy new year to all and see you on the bank in 2020.

Landsend winter league round 2.

The weather was looking half decent today for december with only light rain forcast, so I was looking forward to a day where we wouldnt need to tie ourselves to the box so we didnt get blown in. Its been a bit breezy lately. We were on lake 3 today and it had fished decent the day before with everybody into a few fish. Into the bucket and I pick peg 46. Not drawn it before but Mike Ducket had it the day before and said ther were loads of carp showing in 44 and 45. I was going to attack it mainly with maggot today with a line both sides down the edge for corn. I started on a small maggot feeder and chucked it down to peg 45 a couple of metres off the island. that was a good idea as I had a 4 pounder first chuck. But that was it apart from a small roach. It seemed to upset angling purist Steve seager on 42 as he was already moaning I didnt have it on the pole. So it was over to the island where I had been firing maggots. That produced 1 carp of the same size, but I was getting pestered by tiny perch and roach. I gave it 30 minutes and decided to come into the 2+3 line where id been feeding maggot and micros. I put my silvers rig in and had to wait 10 minutes for a bite but it turned out to be a 7lb carp. On .08 hook length it was squeeky bum time. Next drop in the same. Hmmmm time to put some proper gear in. I had a good run of decent carp on that line and by half way I had over 50lb in the net. The second half of the match  died on me and I struggled for only 3 more fish but they were big. One on the maggot feeder, one on the short line and one on the pole over were id been chucking the maggot feeder last drop in before the all out. That firsh was pretty important as I managed to squeeze out a win by just a pound over Lee Williams on peg 41 with my 76- 08 to his 75-09. Top silvers today went to fishery owner Mike Duckett with 8-10.

1st Stu barnett peg 46, 76-08
2nd Lee Williams peg 41, 75-09
3rd Steve seager peg 42 46-00

silvers
1st Mike ducket peg 70, 8-10
2nd Nick Duckett peg 68, 8-04

league standings so far
1st Lee Williams 3 points
2nd Stu Barnett 4 points
3rd Steve Seager 5 points

Acorn Tuesday costcutter

Well, we must have been mad to go out in that weather today. Only 6 turned up as the sensible  one had taken notice of the weather forecast and stayed home. As nobody wanted to pick the pegs and sit somebody in a peg that was being lashed by wind we decided to make it a roamer. I had a quick walk around and decided if I got the chance I'd pick 5 first or 12 if needed. Both pegs are around where most matches are won at the mo and both could be fished with your back to the wind by sitting  sideways on the platform. Dave Ryde took peg 5 so I plonked myself on 12. To say it was hard work was an understatement. We were battered from start to finish y wind and rain. I took 2 carp early on a pellet feeder chucked to the island. Then nothing for 90 minutes except a decent skimmer. Then two in two drops on 6mm banded pellet on my banker 2+ 2 line that was just about fishable. Couldnt possibly hold the pole any longer than that. Then it was another 2 hours before I got three more quick on the same line and 4 pastie sized carp down the edge at 9m directly downwind. I tried maggot for ages and didn't get a bite on it all day. Dave Ryde won the day catching consistently, silvers and a few carp, on his top kit with 57-14. I managed 54-12 for second, and Mike Chapman third with 13-01. Now it a case of drying my gear out
Weekend off this week as I've got to work, thanks to the Tesco rush of late Christmas shoppers. Hopefully back here next week, with better weather please.

Landsend Winter league round 1

Very disappointing turn out this year with only 11 fishing round 1. This league usually attracts the high 20`s. So we were all on one lake. One section on each bank. The weather was threatening to be a bad one so a draw at the end of the lake the wind was coming from was favourable. Into the bucket and peg 8 comes out. I didnt mind that too much as the fish seem to have shoaled up that end and it was good for a bit of shelter from the wind. I was going to go for silvers to start with today and see how things went> and hope that the carp had a munch later. I started just short of the middle with soft pellet over micros to my right, and maggot over groundbait to my left, It wasn`t long before the odd blippy roach came to hand but it was going to be a struggle to get a weight with the size of them. Steve Seager on 15 opposit was into carp from the off and was catching steadily. But he wasn`t in my section so it didn`t matter. What was worrying was Lee Williams on 11 and John Hawkins on 5 were both catching carp and they were spanking my arse. 2 hours in and I was still in the starting blocks as all I had was a dozen roach and one small carp for about 4lb. Then I saw a big skimmer and an F1 come out to my left and my silver were annihilated, so a change of tactic was needed. I heard Lee say to Steve he had 48lb on his clicker and John was probably up near 25lb. I had tried the far side on top the shelf a couple of times but had nothing apart from loosing one on maggot, so I upped the feed a bit and it kicked it off. Over the next two hours I put 10 carp in the net. I did try down the middle on maggot to see if any were around but it was a no go. The left edge wasnt much cop either, and only two roach taken on 4 maggots showed an interest. The weather wasn`t as bad as they said but we did have one ten minute period where it got pretty violent with massive winds and hail stone, but when that was over we had blue skies again. The last 90 minutes was disappointing as the fish just disappeared. I only put two more in the net in that time. I was slowly clawing my way back up to then and I was hopping I might catch Lee up but he carried on getting the odd fish and just stayed to far ahead. At the end I was admitting to just over 60lb. and I was close as my 20 roach went 1-06, and my carp went 63-00 for a total of 64-06. At that point I was top on our bank but I knew Id been well beaten By Lee. He put 93-10 on the scale that won the section and Match. But at least I got the section money by default. Mr Seager was waffling on about how he only had 75lb, but we all knew he was talking from the wrong hole as he weighed 92-02 which won his section easily. Rob Watts on 13 got top silvers for the day with 5-06. It certainly is winter mode now on the bank and you have to work hard to get a few. The secret is to keep them coming which I failed at today miserably. Round Two in two weeks and we will be on lake 3. That could be interesting. Full results below.

Landsend Saturdy open 30/11/2019

I tried in vain to get into a local match this week and just found out I missed the last of the silvers league at Mathern. Ooops. I even tried to get a fill in at Acorn but no spaces left. So I trundled off to landsend. And with the bridge closure and M49 closed it took me well over an hour to get there, not the usual 45 minutes, "Not happy Jan". Got to say one thing first. Im trying that new Nufish Zipp hybrid eleastic as its now winter and I still wanted the stretch of the hollow but none of the crap that goes with it in winter,  hanging out the pole like silly string. Well its brilliant stuff and would recoment it. I was late to the venue because of the road problems and that ended up with me starting 10 minutes after the other 5 that turned up on a nasty day. I had drawn peg 16 and thought I was a bit far from where he consistant pegs were at the other end. I was detetmined to go for silvers today so started with double dead red over groundbait down the middle. After 45 minutes id not had a bite, which was dissapointing as pegs 13 and 14 were like a trout farm with fish rolling everywhere. So went across when the wind finally stopped blowing a hooligan for a minute, but it was very hard to hold the pole with the wind blasting down the lake non stop. So it was back to the silvers line. After 90 minutes I finally got a bite and a blippy roach. It was a case of switching and swapping when the wind dropped for a minute, and when I could hold the float still I was getting indications. A 9lb carp was the first from the far side and on the new elestic, 8-10, it took a while to land but it did give me confidence on the lighter elestics I had decided to use. Nothing came from the edges that were now, with alot more water in the lake, was 2 1/2 foot deep. I took another across and two carp on my silvers rig down the middle, squeeky bum time on a 20 to .10 hook length. I did have a few skimmers as well on that line, and about 10 blippy roach on my topkit by my nets were I had drip fed a few maggots. At the end I was hoping for around 25lb and with Steve Seager telling everybody that Beanie was emptying peg 1 I didnt think I had a chance. Beanie, with 7 carp, weighed 23-04. Mike Duckett on 5 had 5 carp and a few bits for 27-12. Then it was me next, and my 4 carp went 24-8 and my silvers took it to 27-14, just pipping Mike for the win. Ray White did his usual thing and won the silvers with 4-04 from peg 21. Steve  Seager realy struggled on peg 24 and only had one bite all day. I fancied that peg today. So weights were very low with bites hard to find for everybody. A bit of luck with the draw today helped as the fish were deffinately my end of the lake. That elastic worked realy well. In fact I hooked one carp across, maybe not quite in the right end, and it took me into peg 13. I had 14 1/2 m of pole pointing along the bank and when I lifted it the elastic was past  the platform for peg 14. Stretchy old stuff that.  Full results below.

Mathern \Mill Saturday open.

A nice short 7 minute drive to Marthern Mill for one of Norm Sterry`s knock ups. Only 9 fishing today, but I guess the amount of rain we`ve had and the fact it could kill the fishin I off put a few off today. Into the draw bag and out pops peg 16. A good peg over the years with a nice bomb chuck to the end of the island and open water options. I decided today to go for silvers as long as possible and take the carp if they came along. Getting to the bank I could see the water was gin clear and I could see down at least 2 foot. Not good!!. I started by drip feeding a few micros and casters at 11m hoping the skimmers would have a go but nothing happened. Rich Heatley, Chepstows newest overseas resident, had a carp first drop in before he had even emptied his toss pot on peg 21 and Rich Candy on 22 had one pretty early. But the lake was very quiet. in fact it took me over two hours to register my first bite that I missed. The sun had just dissapeared and the light levels dropped quite a bit and that kicked everybody into catching. Except me. I had a few quick bites that I couldnt make contact with on three different rigs and baits. So I wasnt sure why I was missing them. Norm to my right had a few at half way catching mainly 16m down his right side on bomb and pole. I did hook and loose 2 lumps on my silvers rig but lost them both. It was 4 hours before I put a fish in the net. I had it chucking a bomb close to the island with a wafter popped up about one inch off the bottom. That started a run of 4 big fish in 40 minutes and one on the pole in an area I was catapulting 1 piece of corn every 5 minutes. I alo lost one next drop in so that did sort of work, but it didnt last long. it went quiet again untill 5 minutes from the end when I took another on the bomb. At the end I thought my 6 carp would go 45lb but they had obviously fattened up for winter and I put 56-02 on the scales. They are big boys in this place. First on the day was Darren Witton on peg 11 who had a good second half of the match catching on the feeder cast  to his righ close in, with 102-15. Second was Norm Sterry on 14 with 79-07. Third on peg 3 and out of my sight was Byron ? with 91-05.

Acorn cost cutter 12/11/19

As I worked all weekend again I got tuesday as a day off so I tootled off to Acorn fishery for the regular tuesday bash. The weather was looking nasty with strongwinds forcast and with the fishery prone to being a windy spot a good draw was vital, Had the ususal breakfast at the Bridge Inn before going to the fishery. A few floats were sold and then the draw was on.  Only 10 fishing today so plenty of room. With a North wind blowing a hooligan across the venue a draw with the wind at your back was prefered, but I pull out peg 21 which meant it was smack in the kisser all day. I got to the peg which is right next to one of the bridges and it was obvious fishing long was going to be a struggle. Even though the wind was blowing straight along the pole it was being slammed both ways and with the bridge so close I didnt try it for long as I was worried it would hit the bridge and do some damage. I did get one small carp at the bottom of the far shelf on soft pellet but I realy couldnt hold the pole still long enough to make it worh while. And fishing tight across was just about impossible. So the match was spent fishing 2+3 fairly close to the bridge where I could just about control it. It was two hours to my first fish and I was actually very close at that time to packing up as I couldnt feel my hands but I dug out my neoprene gloves and that made a difference, even though its not easy to fish wearing them. I ended up the day struggling to get bites but managed to get 15 puppy carp on soft and hard pellet over micros for a weight of 28-04 for nowhere on the day. The two anglers to my right finished up early and didnt weigh. The pegs on the end road bank were top as usual with Steve Collins coming out ontop with 65-07. Though it was at the expense of two broken pole sections because of the wind. Silvers was won by Callum Dicks from sheltered peg 31 with 21-09 in a total of 30-15. Got to admit I was very glad it was only a 5 hour match as I felt I had been in a proper scrap with the wind all day and was glad to hear the wistle at the end. Full results below

Acorn tuesday Costcutter 5/11/19

As I worked the weekend I used my lieu day to go to Acorn for the Tuesday bash. Had a breakfast in the Bridge Inn first as usual that was ok. Only 11 fishing today so a bit low on numbers from the usual turn out. Into the drawbag and out pops peg 2 on the island. Got to the peg and found a stiff westerly wind blowing straight down the lake. It was going to make fishing across a bit difficult. Realy fancied a go at the silver today so I actualy bought some reds to go for it. But with some very good silvers anglers there I wasnt hoping for too much. Started the match on the 2+2 line with maggot over soaked micros but it was a bit slow. took a while to get the first bite that was a little Nemo. 10 minutes after that for the next bite and another small Nemo. Then it was dead. My old snooker playing buddy from many moons ago Bob Smith was to my left  on peg 4, and he was struggling. After 30 minutes he was fishless and Id only had the two. I`d set up a rig to fish at 11m at the bottom of the far shelf as tight across in the shallow water was just too hard to fish. I had a fish first drop in that was a small carp. But like the short line that was it for a while. Back short for a corasio and a couple of small roach. I was a bit slow today. After 2 hours I had 9lb on my clicker with a couple more small carp. Bob was catching a few silvers across on soft pellet. Mainly corasio and roach. The edges were void of life and stayed that way all day. Nor myself  or Bob had a touch down the edges. Half way through and it was a real struggle. One decent carp and some puppies had my clicker at 18lb and about 3lb of silvers. As I was miles behind with the silvers I ditched trying to catch them nd sterted feeding 6mm pellets on the 2+2 line. Switching around the lines trying to find fish, I was going nowhere fast. Then with 1hour 20 left I tried the 2+2 line again and the carp had turned up. I had 4 in as many drops then lost a couple. But I stayed on that line for the rest ofthe match and put some big fish in the net. At the end I though I had about 75lb with 50 plus pound coming in the last 80 minutes. Bob had a busy day and put a decent net of  silvers that he caught on soft pellet over micros across at the bottom of the far shelf. I was first to wiegh and I was happy to see the scale go round to a total of  81-11 which got me second place on the day. Bobs silvers went 26-06 for fist in the silvers. His total was 41- 10. Dave Wride was next to weigh and his total with a decent silvers net went 87-03 and top weight on the day. Third on the day on peg 7 was Eddie Wynne with 66-07. It was a tough day and scratching around was the way for most people with the fish not wanting to settle untill late. Back there again next tuesday as Ive got to work the weekend again so hopefully Ive learnt a bit. Like make up some soft pellet next time. full results below

Mathern Mill saturday open.

That short drive again today to Mathern for a practice match hoping to go for silvers. 12 fishing and with the torrential rain we had in the last 36 hours I really didnt think it would fish that well today. I was almost expecting to find one big lake instead of 2 today. I dived into the draw first as I wanted to draw down the motorway end of the lake. But peg 22 come out, as far from the other end as I could get. Its a corner of the lake Ive never done any good from. A big lily bed where you can loose loads of carp and a resident shoal of tiny rudd that stop just about every bait getting to the bottom. I set up to fish caster or maggot over groundbait at 5 and 13 metres for the skimmers if any were around, and also a carp rig to fish over the same lines. A rig to fish along to my left in shallower water as the carp can come in on this line. There was a nice big gap in the dying lily`s where I could guide them out if hooked. And a bomb rod to fish the other side of the bay as another option. I started on the bomb while the groundbait line settled but after 25 minute and no pull rounds I ditched that for the time being. Out to 13 meters and I got a skimmer first drop in. Only 5 ounces but it was a start. Nobody was catching at that time so the cold rain had done a number on the fish and they were not feeding. A couple more bits came to hand before the first carp was hooked on the silvers rig. 10 minutes later it was landed. Squeaky bum time at about 10lb. that just about killed the silvers line and all I could get then was blippy rudd. Another try on the bomb was biteless. I took a couple of smaller carp at 13m down the edge but they werent there in any numbers. After about 3 hours I had my first pull round on the bomb, and it was a bruser at 18-7. I think thats the biggest fish Ive landed in a match. the restof the match was spent swapping around all lines. The silvers lines only pruduced rudd and on the carp lines I did manage another 5 fish. But it was a struggle to get anything going. The last hour was crap and bites were a premium. At the end my guess was around 70lb for nowhere, but was pleased my fish went 80-8 and got me third on the day. The skimmers just never showed up today for anyone. Top dog on the day was new resident to the area Rich Heatley, who now calls this place his local water, on peg 2 with 99-4 second was Rich Lovering on peg 25 with 86-3. Top silvers on the day went to venue expert Norm Sterry with 25-11 from peg 8.

Mathern Mill silvers series round 1

A nice short 7 minute drive to Mathern today for round 1 of the Silvers series run by Norm Sterry and Andy J Fuller. There`s loads of decent skimmers in this place so we were all hoping for a good day. Into the draw bucket and I get peg 8 in my hand. A peg known as "The Hole" as it has a very deep hole to the left at less than a top kit length that use to win all the winter matches. Andy Fuller was to my right and had a good moan about drawing peg 11. The plan today was to fish maggot and caster over groundbait laced with casters and micros. I was trying some new floats today, all wire stemmed. I set up a 4x16, and 4x14 to fish two lines at 7m and 13m. Also set up a 4x12 to fish a slower drop but the water was a bit deep for that at close to 7 foot. Also set up a maggot feeder to fish out in the open water to start with while the groundbait lines settled. Started on that and was straight in to a few rudd and small skimmers. Had around half a dozen before the first decent skimmer came in at 1 1/2lb. I gave it another 10 minutes before I came in on the 13m line and was into the same stamp of rudd and skimmers as the feeder line. But they were coming regular so I kept on it. Andy was getting a few good skimmers to my right and had stopped moaning about his peg. Another good skimmer came before I tried the short line, Plenty of bites but only small stuff.  Then it went a bit tits up as after two hours the carp moved in and the silver just about disappeared. The rest of the match was spent switching lines looking for a few silvers but I just got carped out wherever it dropped in. And some of them were right munters. I had one over the net that was never gonna go in the landing net in a million years. It was 20lb plus and after a couple of times trying to fold it up enough to drop in the net the hook pulled. I did manage a few small fish and four more decent skimmers with the biggest 3lb plus 15 minutes from the end but I was never gonna compete for top honours today. Top spot today went to Andy who managed to avoid the carp today for the first 4 hours with 41-14 of nearly all good skimmers to the 3lb mark. Second was Norm Sterry on peg 19 with 28-15. Not too many big skimmers in his net but a boat load of smaller stuff. Third was tom Baker on peg 20 with 25-15 of decent skimmers. My net was just over  21lb for 5th. Not done much silvers fishing for years so it made a nice change. Just need to get a bit better at it. Any other day those carp would have been most welcome. Maybe next match Ill feed less and keep the buggers away.

!st Andy Fuller 41-14, peg 11
2nd Norm Sterry 28 15, peg 19
3rd Tom Baker 25-15, peg 20
4th Matt Roden 23-11, peg 25

Landsend saturday open 5/10/19

A disappointing turn out today with only 5 of us turning up. Not sure why more are not coming as its fishing well at the mo. Started off by pinching Beanies parking spot and suffered a bit of a tongue lashing from him lol. And no Russ peck today so I was always going home a quid short 😜.
All pegs today were going to be on the far side of match lake so everybody would be in with a chance for a few. Into the draw bucket and peg 18 sticks to my fingers. Had this two weeks ago in the 3 dayer  and had a good day catching mainly to my right by the tree stump.

Started off today straight down that edge as there were fish showing and I just couldnt resist it. About two minutes after the first drop in fish number one was hooked and a good 7 pounder was netted. By that time Dave Hodgson to my left had two in the net. They were hungry. but that was it for now down that line, but I expected that being so early. So it was out on 2+2 with 6mm pellet. I had a couple there before it died. Across to the island for a while and had a quick couple before they got picky on what they sucked in. It was black with fish and good ones too. But even when I could see 6 or 8 feeding they worked around the hook and I struggled to get anything.

So most of the rest of the match was spent mainly down the margin to my right  switching from corn and pellet. It wasnt hectic but it kept ticking over with the odd decent fish coming to the net. I did have a short run of fish at the bottom of the far shelf but they were all small fish. The last hour sparked into life down the edge and I caught really well. On reflection I should have caught a lot more as I fed fairly lightly most of the match and it wasnt until I decided to really up the feed down the edge did they come in in any numbers. Lesson for next time. My guess at the end was I had around 120lb. Ray White on 13 did his usual silvers approach and had 7-4 of them for top silvers weight in his total of 29-2. Dave Hodgson on 16 weighed 87-00. My net of all carp went a surprising 144-06 for top weight on the day. Dave Westcott on 21 struggled for 21-00. Nice matching numbers Dave.  And Mike Duckett on 24 has 121-1, where he caught nearly all his big fish in front of platform 23 on meat. Full weigh sheet below. Next week its the Mathern Mill silver series for me. Ill have to check all my elastics and buy some of those wriggly things.

Landsend 3 day festival.

Its that time of year again. Down to Landsend Fishery for three days. It's hard work travelling back and forth, and very tiring. So like last year I took my caravan down and stopped it a small camp site 90 seconds drive from the venue. Makes it so much easier getting up at half seven for breakfast then a short drive.  25 fishing this year and all three lakes were in, and you rotate and fish each lake.

 Day 1 and I draw peg 18 on match lake. A pretty consistent peg that can throw up big weights. I will keep things short as there's three day to talk about. I caught a few on a 2+2 line on pellet to start with but most of the match was spent down the right hand margin next to a tree stump sticking out in the water. Mostly caught on 8mm pellet but did switch to corn for a while. Bob Gullick won our lake first day to my left on 16 with 163-12. I was second with 150lb dead. Third was Joe McMahon with 139-12 from peg 5. Lake 1 winner wasTony Rixon with 182lb from peg 32. Lake 3 winner was John Hawkins with 195-6 from peg 62. More in depth results sheets at the end of the blog.

DY 2 saw me on lake 3. Very shallow most of it with only 2 foot of water down the middle in a lot of pegs. I drew peg 58 at the top end. A bit hit or miss this peg. I started on 2+2 on pellet and the lake erupted with feeding fish turning the water black. But after half an hour they all vanished and I never saw another fish on that line all day. The far side had a decent depth of 15 inches but was void of fish. The only place I could catch was to my right margin in front of the next peg. But I struggled all day and only took 3 carp in the last 3 hours. Bob Gullick opposite on 55 had a nice day taking a shed full of junior carp. My fish, and I was lucky to catch early, went 75-5 for close to last in section. Joe McMahon won the lake with 123lb from corner peg 41. Russ Peck was second with 117-8 from peg 68. Third was Nick Ducket with 96-13 from peg 51. Lake 1 was won by James Wither with 173lb from peg 34, though there was I mix up on the weight sheet so that could be wrong. Lake 2 was won by Tony Rixon with 159-10 from peg 24. Two wins in a row for Tony.

Day 3 and it was Speci lake for me. I draw peg 38 which is a tight peg for fishing the 16m across as you have to break down twice. Not good when fishing for big carp. I started on the usual 2+2 and started catching silvers with a few roach and decent swimmers coming on 6mm pellet over 4's. And as I was out of it for the overall positions I thought I'd stay on silvers for a change. But after an hour it died so I went across to the island. I had a good start over there but I was losing loads of foul hookers. First hour I only put 4 out of 12 in the net. Then that line⁸ dried up and from then on it was a real struggle. Another hour went by before I put another in the net. So I went back on the silvers and started to get roach again. But I hooked a decent carp and it trashed that line and that was the end of that. I nearly had a disaster when trying to break the pole down at 7m with a decent lump on the end. It bolted to the right as I was taking the pole apart and I could hear the joint crack as it kept going. Luckily the hooked pulled out or I could have seen my pole snapped at the join. The only high light of the day was landing a 16 pounder. It took 3 attempts to get it to fold up enough to get it in the landing net. First on the day on our lake was Nick Ducket on peg 33 with 165-11, just pipping Russ Peck into second place with 164-06. Third was Joe Mcmahon  on peg 40 with 93-04. My net went 81-03. So not a great series for me after a decent start. First on lake 2 was Lewis Jones from peg 18 with a hefty 284-14, though he went over in 2 nets and should have had 309-06. I know that feeling. Lake 3 was won by the Silverback legend himself, Rod Wootton with 172-11 from peg 68.

Overall winner was John Hawkins with 5 points just pushing Tony Rixon, also on 5 points, into second place on weight with 549-15 to Tony`s 482-08. Silvers winner for the event went to silvers specialist Ray White who finished with 6 points in the silvers comp. Fnal and comprehensive weight sheets and a lineup of all the winner below. Well done to everybody for a good weekends sport and banter, and a big well done to the winners. Also a big thanks to Mike Duckett for organising the event.

Acorn cost cutter

 Last day of my week off today so I wondered off to acorn for the Tuesday open with all the ususal reprobates. A visit to the bridge in for breakfast was the first stop  before heading to the draw. into the bag and ping pong ball 15 was in my hand. Cant remember drawing that before  but I didnt mind that bank for a change.

There were a few fish moving all around the peg so I was looking forward to a decent day, and none of the mega cock ups like last match here when i went over in all my nets. 4 rigs set up today. The usual .15 shalla Slim to fish tight to the island. A .4 Slim to fish 2+2 on pellet. A new wire stemed float Im trying to do a bit of slapping over the 2+2 line. And  a .2 SS Margin for down the edges. At the start I went out to the 2+2 line and fed 4mm pellet just to see what was around. With a 6mm on the band I had a couple of small skimmer and 2 F1s in the first 15 minutes. I fired a few 6`s to the far bank and saw a bit of movement so I went over at 13 1/2 meters. No wind roday so it was nice comfortable fishing across. It took a few drop ins but I did get a couple of fish out that went around 10lb between them. I was getting loads of indications but not connecting with much. small roach my guess. I stuck with it for about an hour but it wasnt that productive with only 4 fish in the net. so it was back to the 2+2 line were i had started to feed 6mm`s. had a couple on that line but it wasnt as good as I thought it would be as this was my banker line. a look down the edges produced a couple of big fish around mid match on 8mm pellet and by then I had about 50lb in the net. Then the 2+2 line started fizzing like a bottle of pop and I started getting fish switching from full depth to fishing shallow slapping. I was loosing a lot especially at full depth foal hooking fish in mid water and It did get a bit frustrating. With 90 minutes to go I was knocking on the 100lb markand fish were showing up in numbers downthe edge. id been trying it in and out and lost just about everything Id hooked there so I was was spooking them but  I decided to concentrate down the edge for the remainder  of the match feeding 6`s and 8`s and fishing 8`s in the band, and had a good run of decent fish but still loosing loads that were hooked in various parts of the body. With ten minutes to go I needed another net but I couldnt be arsed to get up and grab another so I dragged my silvers net and dumped about 6 ounces of skimmers back and put 2 more in that net before the all out. A decision I was later to regret. Took a while for the weigh in to get round and Steve Collins weighed in before me on Peg 11. Id seen him getting a few but was surprised when he put 168-14 on the scales. then it was my turn and my 4 nets went 168-11, damn putting those skimmers back as they would have given me a few more ounces and a win on the day. But then, who`s to say I would have put two more carp in the net if id got off my box and and wasted time getting another net. We will never know. So I had to settle for second. At least I didnt go over in any net today.  hasd a giggle after the weigh in watching Ray Baisley trying to get a photo of the weigh sheets. It took two of them. It was a bit "To you, To me, To you, To me. A photo of the event and full results below

Landsend Saturday open 7/9/2019

Had a weekend off last week as I went to work Saturday then A day out sightseeing Sunday.  So I was looking forward to a day at Landsend. With the three day festival coming up in two weeks, I need the practice to do any good as there will be a very good stamp of angler there. Nice to see a few there this week with ten anglers lined up at the draw. Been a bit disappointing lately with only 5 some weeks. As usual the quid bet was put on with Russ Peck and I was first into the draw bucket as it was the best way to avoid my usual draw. Before I opened up my ticket I asked Beany who would be on peg 24 as it seams only myself or him ever draw it. I opened my ticket and showed it to them and they cracked up laughing. Yep I had it again. I don`t mind the peg as there are now plenty of fish there, though they can be a bit small. That just left Beany to draw peg 1, as when he don`t get peg 24 he usually gets 1. Would you Adam and Eve it, he had peg 1. The odds on this happening so often must be massive. Though when you draw peg 1 you get the option to fish either 1 or 2. Dont ask me why. Thought I try something a bit different today to see what would happen. I planned on starting at 2+2 and feed just 3 or 4 pellets through a toss pot to see if there were any carp sat on that line. So a .3 slim was set up for that on slightly lighter gear than I would normally use. Another .3 slim set up on the usual carp rig in case I started getting big fish. A .2 SS Margin to fish in 10 inches in the margin on both sides. A  .5 slim to fish meat but I wasn`t sure if Id actually try it today. and a .15 Shalla Slim to fish tight to the end bank at 13m. I Started on the 2+2 line and dropped in 4 4mm pellets in as feed and a 6mm in the pellet band. I got an indication straight away that I think was a liner. |So another 4 were dropped in and another small indication but it seamed like another liner as the float just dipped and moved to one side. I stuck with this for 15 minutes but something didn`t seam right. So I put another section on and tried again. Didnt take long before a carp was landed on this line, about 4lb. Back out and a couple of minutes later another in the net.  Then I saw a tail in the right margin so I dropped an 8mm pellet on its nose and it obliged. a nice fish around 6lb. But it had a propper blast around the area I had caught from and when I went back out there it was void of fish. So it was time to try the end bank. Fired some pellets out and dropped in. There were tails waving at me pretty quick But getting them to take my pellet was a bit hard. These fish can be pretty tricky some days. I got 3 out but they weren`t big fish. I kept swapping around the lines but wasn`t putting anything in the net. After 3 hours I only had 6 or 7 for around 32lb. I heard Russ, on peg 5, say he had about 40 on his clicker. Steve "Leaf Blower" Seager on 17, had been catching quite well and Beany who had a flying start on peg  2 had slowed up and was loosing more than he was landing. Things went quiet for me for an hour and I struggled to connect to anything. Then I upped the feed along the end bank and down the margin and I started to see alot more activity. I also switched to 8mm pellet along the end bank and started to put a few in the net. I was also loosing loads. Seams to be a curse here foul hooking loads of fish. The last 90 minutes it picked up a lot and although I was loosing plenty I was landing a few. And down the margin line to my left they were big fish. Switching from the end bank to the left margin I recon I put 60lb in the net the last hour. At the all out I was thinking I had 120lb, Russ was admiting to 110lb and Steve said he clicked 141lb. Beany weighed first and put 84-1 on the scales. Russ was next and 128-3. Around the other side and Steve was pretty much bang on his estimate with 140-10 for the match win. Nice guess Steve. I was last to weigh and I thought it would be close for second with Russ. I`m happy to say I just pipped him with Russ 129-5 for second on the day, so the shinny quid was heading my way again. Its getting embarrassing now Russ😂. it fished pretty good today but the weather was cock on for a decent day. Good practice for the festival. A nice photo of Russ below and the full results.

Landsend Saturday open

with the weather promising to be a bit windy today I wasnt expecting a big turn out. On the radio it said winds to 65mph up the Bristol channel and that is a but more than windy. So it may be a big waste of time today, but it was a south westerly so the wind would be across the lake. Getting there I was on my own for 20 minutes before Beanie and Ray White pulled in together, very cosy lol. and with only 2 more to go it wasnt going to be a big occasion. And for some stupid reason we thought we would try an experiment and fish lake 4. Ive only ever looked at it a couple of times and had no idea what to expect. Even though it seemed well protected from the wind, Russ peck said it was a bad Idea. So I wont go into much detail as it was absolute shite. Myself and Russ drew the last two pegs and after 3 hours we had 6 roach between us and I had all 6 of them. Nice blank Russ hahahaha. So the quid side bet was abandoned and we took our top kits and dropped a few pellets in down the edge on lake 3 and proceeded to bang a few carp out. We had 50-60lb in a very short time though Russ did have about 4 before I joined in the fun. But the water was black with carp churning up the whole lake. Should have stayed with plan `A` and fish lake 3 as was booked in. I was back in the van by 4 oclock and driving home. At least I got back in time to watch Spurs win over the crappy Villa. So that was my first and last time Ill fish that lake as When I travel for an hour I at least want a chance to catch something.

Acorn cost cutter

Im gonna have to grow a big pair to put up with the piss taking I`ll get after this blog. had a half decent breakfast in the bridge in then went to the fishery with half hour to spare. nice to see Sean Wilson again. Not seen him for ages, but he is pretty good at this venue so I was sure he be in the running. into the draw bucket and ping pong ball 2 sticks in my hand.  i was pretty happy as peg 1 won the match two weeks ago and it wasnt in today. Wont say who I had for company on the island as its something I want to forget. I started fishing across to the island on 6mm pellet but the couple I had over there were tiny. But I had fed a 2+2 line at the start with pellet and it was fizzing like a jacuzzi. So I came short and dropped in. Lots of indications for about 10 minutes but no proper bites. then I hooked a small skimmer and I thought that was what was blowing on the bottom. so back in and I got a carp. Then I started to hook good carp but a lot were foul hookers as they were crashing around off bottom. i persevered with this line and put a few fish in the net. After about 2 hours I recon I had over 40lb in the net. But the foul hookers were getting worse. So I grabbed my for bank line and slid the shot righ under the float and started slapping around and things realy picked up. the foul hookers almost stopped and I was getting some decent fish in the net. Stuck on this for about 2  1/2 hours and I was looking at around 140lb. then the fish got smaller and I was getting lots of indications and hitting a lot less bites. I even hooked and dropped a couple of roach.  So it was back on the deck rig and I was straight into lumps again. with one a good double. I stayed on the deck for the last hour putting some nice fish in the net. The foul hooking was still a problem but I was getting enough not to worry about it. At the end I was banking on a bit over 200lb as I had clicked 3 nets to 60lb and a good last half hour had about 25lb in the fourth net. Well It all went tits up from here., Usually if I click 60lb  then I`ve got 50 to 55lb in the net. I realy stuffed up today. I was over the 70lb limit in all nets. And I didnt know you lost the whole net if you went over the mark at Acorn. No buffer here. In fact one net was 82lb. How the hell could I be 22lb over what I clicked when I normally click too much. F----d up there big time. My 265lb was knocked down to 34lb which was what I had in my last net. Even that was 10lb out on what I though. These fish must be full of lead, Ah well, it had to happen one day, but three nets....WTF!!!! Sean Wilson won on the day with 216lb, but even he had a mare of a day, dropping a net in from he platform and loosing around 60lb of fish, so I probably wouldnt have beaten him if we had both not been numpties lol. 50lb on the clicker for me from now on. Im just waiting for all the piss taking to start now. Im sure I can guess who the first couple will be. Full results below.

Acorn cost cutter

Had a few float to deliver at acorn  today so thought id have a go in the match. Not been here for ages and didn`t think many would be there with the weather threatening to be in the low 30`s. But I was surprised to see over 20 at the draw. Did my float business then into the draw bag. 31 sticks to my hand. Not the best peg but it did mean I`d be in the shade for most of the day so that was a bonus. Got to the peg and found the new aerator running and my peg was pushing through like the Severn across at the island.

Mark Walsh was two to my right and a quick quid bet was laid for fun. 4 rigs were assembled. A .15 Shalla Slim to fish pellet against the island. A .5 slim to fish pellet at 2+2 straight out. a .4 slim to fish for silver as a throw away line but it never got used. And a .3 SS margin to fish both side in the margin on corn or pellet. Tt the start I went across to the island and caught straight away.

But as I had to break down twice due to the close fence I lost it half way in. Ten minutes later and the same happened again breaking down half was in. I did manage to land 4 in the first 40 minutes but i was also getting bad foul hooking problems. With it towing so hard against the island and the wind blowing the opposite was I as dragging the float back and forth and dragging the hook into fish.  then the aerator went off and I lost the fish. couldn`t get a bite over so I started to switch around the lines but realy struggled to get any bites. In fact over the next 3 hours I only put a couple more in the net. And with 90 minutes left I think I only had 28lb on my clicker. So I had to settle for watching Lewis Walker catch non stop just about everywhere he dropped a rig in on peg 1. Id been feeding the margins in a couple of places each side and there had been very little signs of anything visiting the edges. I had tried it several time during the match and decided to just fish the rest of the day out in the edge. I came into my top kit range with 8mm pellet and Wham! the float buried straight away. A nice fish around 8lb. switched to the right side and fed the left. Missed bite, and  did the reverse. Did this switching sides for about an hour but lost too many. Guess it was more foul hookers. I eventually took around 6 fish doing this, then I noticed fish moving on the 2+2 edge line and dropped in there and it was hectic for the last half hour. I couldn`t get the rig in fast enough. The last hour I probably put 60lb in the net. Too little too late for me. I thought I had around 100lb but was a bit disappointed when it only went to 87lb. Sounds strange to say it was a struggle when you weigh 87lb but thats how it felt with the long dead spell in the middle of the match. at least I took a quid off of mark, well I would of if he had one on him. Welching Walshy lol. Lewis won it easily with 196-15. Eddy Wynn was second from peg 5 with145-13 of edge caught carp. Mike Chapman had top silvers with a fab weight of 34-6 from peg 5. A hot day for everybody and there was much talk of the pub at the results. a good idea but I had to get back across the bridge in rush hour. Full results below.

Windmill Sunday open.

Somewhere different for a change this week. Had a nice day out at Bourton On The water Saturday so went dangling on Sunday instead at Windmill fishery. Its a turn up and fish place so no need to book in. 11 fishing and well spread out around the lake. Into the draw bag and peg 1 sticks to my fingers. A decent peg thats at the deep end of the lake. A good 3 feet in the edge and 8/9 foot at 13 meters. the lakes changed a bit since my last visit with a lot of reed growth. I could only see one other angler from the peg and that was Dave Haines opposite on peg 23. three rigs were set up, A .3 SS margin to fish the edge to my right tight to the reeds. A .75 slim to fish meat at 11 1/2 metres straight out. And a .5 slim to fish soft pellet over micros in case I had to have a go at the silvers. Also a bomb rod for the chuck to the island that can be very productive. At the start I fed my lines and started on the bomb out at the island as I`d seen a few fish moving around out there. within 30 seconds the tip flew round and carp number one was in the net. Not a big fish at 3lb but a good start. 10 minutes later another of around 6lb was netted. then I started getting liners and less proper pull rounds. probably feeding a few pellets brought too many small fish onto the top of the ledge. The water had mudded up down my edge so I dropped in with a piece of corn and started getting liners straight away. After a few false bites a proper one a good lump took me around the reed bed and straight through some sort of snag. That was the end of that rig and elastic as it came back badly scagged up so that top kit was put away. out with another. and about 15 minutes later the same result. Lost rig in the same snag but I got the elastic back this time. then I had a couple in the net and after a little over an hour I had 5 fish in the net for around 20lb. it then went quiet so it was back across to the island for a couple more smaller size carp. More fish came into the edge and that`s were I stayed most of the day apart from a few tries on the other lines. The meat line only produced 2 skimmers and the silver line was biteless, but I had neglected the feeding on that line for the most part so I`m not surprised. A lot of fish were moving into the edge swim and I hooked plenty but got bashed up a few times through the reeds and snapped a few times in open water. think they were foul hooked decent fish that just kept heading for the horizon. I probably had a 50% fish hooked to landed rate, which is not unusual for me but at least im hooking enough to keep me in contention most matches. I was banking on over 100lb at the end but as for the rest of the lake I had no idea what went on apart from dave who`d had a few decent carp and plenty of silvers. i was first to weigh and put 113-14 on the scales. Steve Venn topped the weights with a hefty 160lb from peg 14 caught on nthe bomb to start with then a bulk of the catch taken down his margins. third was Chris Cotterill with 80-9 from peg 11. Dave Haines was top silvers with 12-8 in his total of 72-10. Off to Acorn Tuesday on the last day of my week off to drop a load of floats off. May as well fish the match while I`m there 😉. Full results below.

Landsend Saturday open 13/7/19

Turned up nice and early at the fishery today so had time for a walk round the lake with Steve "leaf blower" Seager before the draw. We were on lake 1, Specie lake today and fish were showing all around the lake but we both agreed the top end was the place to draw as the top bank is always consistent. 9 fishing today so lots of room. Not sure if thats a good or bad thing as big gaps can leave plenty of room for fish to back up into. The usual quid bet was layed with Russ Peck and  I gave the draw bucket a good shake, held it out for the draw and stuck my hand in about half way through, expecting to have peg 25. Its a peg I seam to draw hell of a lot when I fish this lake. I waited until all had been drawn before I took a look at my draw and was pleased to see peg 31 in my hand. A very good peg opposite the end of the island on the far side. Its pretty wide and it takes a full 16 1/2 metres to reach the brambles, that grow 1/2 metre out from the bank. but it has a wide shelf so it didnt matter I couldn`t get tight across. 3 rigs set up. A .5 slim to fish meat at 6 and 12 metres. A SS margin to fish pellet or corn to a couple of spots towards the pallet to my left. Didnt go to my right as I had Ray White to my right on 32 so I left that side for him. Though I was sure he`d fish for silvers all day I though that was fair. Also a .15 Shalla Slim to fish at about 18 inches deep as close to the island brambles as I could. At the start I fired some pellet across to the island and then fed the other lines. Within a few seconds carp tails were sticking up so I knew where id be starting. first drop in I hooked, a lump of a fish that took me all around the peg for a couple of minutes before spitting the hook. Next drop in and another that took me around the point of the island and snapping me off. Next drop in and I finally got one to the net. Unhooked it and when I was lifting my landing net head into the top of the keepnet it did a big flip and flew out the net back to freedom. Torettes!!!!!!... not a good start. I could hear Russ and Steve having a good laugh at my expence but it was kinda funny. To keep it shortish I basically stuck on this line all day as it was solid with fish. Id fire pellets across and I could see carp come out from under the brambles straight away every time. Even loosing a masive amount of fish from foul hookers and fish just pulling out didnt spook them and they never moved all day. I recon I must have lost 60 or 70 in total but I did enough to put a big weight together. I did try my edge a couple of times but didnt see any life there so didnt waste too much time on that line or the meat line that I tried twice just to give the far side a rest. Ray had a good run of skimmers at the start and put together the top silver weight of the day before the carp moved in and pushed them out. Russ had struggled all day for bites but did have a beast of over 16lb. Steve was the same but managed a few from his margin at the end. The only other person to get a few carp going was Dave Westcott on peg 40 on his now usual paste attack. I was guessing at 140lb for my 28 carp and was pretty close with 150-6. Should have been a lot more, but ya cant count them if you dont get them in. It was hard work fishing that length all day as I`m only a short arse and now my back is a bit sore, But at least there wasnt any wind and that was a massive help as last time I fished this peg I could barely hold the pole at 6 metres. Full results below.

Landsend Saturday open, 30/6/19

A bit late doing this weeks blog. Back down to Somerset for the usual Saturday knock up. With the weather threatening very high temps it put a few off so only 7 turned up. We decided to all be on the far bank and get into the shade from peg 13 to 24, as most of us are old and can't deal with the sun for too long. Into the draw and I dipped into the bucket half way through the stampede. I opened my ticket up held it out without looking and asked if it was 24. I was greeted with a laugh as it was. But then I do seem to draw it every other match.

The usual quid side bet was put on with Mr peck, who had peg 17 (flyer).

I didn't use to like this peg as it was always a struggle but things have changed and there is a resident shoal of carp in there now. They may not be too big but there's plenty to be had.

Usual rigs set up. A .15 shalla slim rig for the right hand bank shallow on 6mm pellet. A SS Margin for the pallet to my left for various baits over groundbait. And a .5 Slim for open water at 13 and 7 metres with meat. I also set up a pellet wag as I'd seen a couple of cruisers at long distance past the tree. At the all in I fed my lines and went out on the short meat line but 15 minutes and no indication I went along the end bank at 13 metres to the small bay cut  into the bank. Thought I get some sort of indications but it was very quiet. 30 minutes of that and it was looking grim. In fact nobody had much at that time. So The long meat line was tried. All the time I had been pinging pellets out at 25 metres, but nothing had taken any interest. So that line was never used and abandoned. It was now 90 minutes into the match and still blanking. Back along the end bank and I got my first proper bite and one of the resident juniors was netted. Then an F1. At last things were looking up but it wasn't frantic. I stayed on this for about 2 hours and had about 30lb in the net before a look along the margin tried it several times but no bites at all. So it was shit or bust to get things moving and I upped the feed a lot along the end bank. This had the desired effect and better fish showed up. With 90 minutes left I had a good run putting about 10 slightly better fish in the net but the last 20 minute died a sudden death.
Dave Ings on 22 had struggled as had Mark Walsh on 21, but Beanie on 19 had a decent run of fish on paste fished across to the bottom of the far shelf. As for the rest I wasn't sure. I was guessing on 70 to 80lb. Ray White on 13 was first to weigh and had 39lb including top silvers of 10-11. Russ did his usual" I've got nothing" and put 62lb on the scales. Dave Beanie Westcott managed 14 carp for 75-2 bumped up with a 4oz roach. Wonder if that was on paste. I had around 20 of the smaller stamp, and with an F1 and a skimmer I just topped it with 75-8 for the win. Second time from that peg in recent weeks. Don't mind drawing it now lol. So it was back up the motor way after prising the quid from Russ's hand. Full results below.

Mathern Mill Friday evening open

 I was away on a training course all week in the classy metropolis of Dudley in the west midlands (yawn fest) and got back in time to go off to Mathern for a Norm Sterry run 4.5 hour open. Weather had been good and there were a few fish showing cruising around. Into the draw bag and out comes peg 8, a fancied peg in the corner with a hay bail at 13 meters to the left that always holds a few lumps.so a rig was set for that line plus a short edge line at 2+1 length. also set up a .4 slim to fish at 11 metres in open water, and a bomb rod to drop in for the many occasions that rig changes would be required. I started by feeding the short edge line heavily with groundbait laced with 4mm`s and corn. it was late in the day and I thought it might be good to get them straight in on that line. Then I went along to the hay bail and had one straight away. After about 10 minutes of it bullying me I managed to fold it up in the landing net and two handed lift it in. it was a beast i recon was in the 15lb + range. I stayed on that line for an hour landing 5 out of 7 and I had 53lb on the clicker. I`ve never had 14-16 elastic put through that punishment before. They are animals that just dot give up. that action didn`t las long and I had a long period when the two edge lines died. even though I hadn`t tried the short line no fish were showing. a go on the long line produced a fish firt drop but it was foul hooked and gave me a torrid time getting it in. A bit later another foul hooker returned a huge scale. Then fish showed up short again but I was foul hooking and loosing them. Back to the hay bail for a while got me two more and my 70lb net limit was close with 6 fish. Switching between the two edge line for the rest of the match got me 5 more before the all out. I guessed on over 100lb by the end. At the wiegh in my 11 fish went 106- 0 and got me second on the night. Norm won from peg 22 with 175-03 of mainly edge caught fish. third was Adam Brown on peg 16 with 102-09, so it was close between second and third. It fished ok but those big lumps I lost cost me a lot of weight as most were over 10lb and virtually unstoppable. full weigh sheet below.

Landsend saturday open.

Back to landsend today for the usual Saturday open. A quick stop in the motorway services for a Mcdonalds salmonella breakfast before getting to the fishery. Crap as always but it filled a hole.

11 fishing today and It just had to be my turn to draw the farbank top end. Its been a long long time since I saw that end of the lake. And woohoo, I draw 15. A good peg, so lets see if I could stuff it up. The wind blowing down the lake was scary but at least It was from my end and it looked a bit more sheltered, so I got the full 16 meters out. The guys at the other end couldnt hold the pole out to the island, but I could with a struggle. I started off on the meat line at 2+2 but after 20 minutes it was fishless and biteless. So I went across and fed a few 6mm`s in 10 inches of water. As soon as they hit there were tails showing but they skilfully avoided my hook bait. Plus, as nobody else was fishing across I was the only one feeding and my favourite group of ducks sat on my line and didnt move for hours. Little shits ate everything I fired across. I did get four out from there after a couple of hours but the wind was so choppy I had to bin that line as the float was being dragged all over the shop and presenting a still bait was all but impossible. So it was back to the meat line. One lost carp and two F1`s after 45 minutes was not what I needed. Then it all went tits up and I had nothing for a good 90 minutes. Said I could stuff it up lol. A try at the bottom of the far shelf produced nothing either. Another try across and a couple more were landed but it was just too hard to fish for long at full length. I had been feeding the edge both sides for an hour so I tried in there but only a good skimmer for my efforts. Another go at the meat line for 1 carp and another f1. So I bit the bullet and stayed down the edge for the last hour. I did manage to hook 7 but lost 5 of them. At the end I knew Id nowhere near enough to get in the coin, but due to third place getting the top silvers I managed to get a few quid by default in 4th place. Match winner today was Neil ? on 17 with 64-8. Catching a few big lumps short on meat in the last 90 minutes. Second was Sir Rod Wootton on peg 8 with 54-0 of mainly carp. Third Eric ? with 51-12 from peg 21 which included top silvers of 24-0. Then it was myself with 51-2. Second in the silvers was Ray White with 13-8. It didn`t fish that well today with the carp being very finicky. But at least the silvers showed up in better numbers.

Landsend foul hooking festival

Back down to Somerset to my favourite fishery and the tital of the blog say`s it all. Ill keep it short. I drew the carpark end of the lake....AGAIN!!!, peg 1. Cant get away from this end. Need somebody to send me a photo of the top end as Ive forgotten what it looks like. Steve Seager was opposite on 24 and Rich Heatley next door on 3. My plan was for a meat line short. Tried it 3 times and hooked and lost a carp first drop in each time then nothing else. A rig for the next pallet. that produced not a single bite. And a rig for against the end bank and the point of the island where the majority of the match was spent. I was firing pellets across and the carp were straight on it every time, but I was plagued by foul hookers and lost nearly everything I hooked, I was up in the mid thirties in lost carp by the end and only landed about a dozen. Torrettes was at an all time high today. got to say I didnt enjoy it much as it was so frustrating. by the end I was glad it was over. The match was won by Stuart holmes who was one of 4 guys that stopped off for the day on their way from Oldham to Viaduct, with 126-3 from peg 17. second was Steve "I`m Struggling to get bites" seager with 105-10 catght from the end bank and a few down to pallet 23. Third was another of the lost northerners, Paddy Curry on peg 15 with 103-2. Rich Heatley was top silvers with 14-4, mainley good skimmers and F1`s taken on meat. I managed to come nowhere with 57-0.  Full results below.

landsnd Saturday open

   Not done a blog for ages, not been much since Xmas. Had a bad run and I really wasn`t enjoying fishing this winter so had a break for a while only fishing the Landsend winter league, that was a disaster for me. last few weeks I`ve started again and had a couple of decent results, winning last time out at Landsend and second in an evening match at Mathern Mill.
   So it was back to landsend today to try and pry a quid out of Russ Pecks hand. The 10 oclock draw is nice as I can still have a lie in up to my normal get up time for work and still be there in plenty of time. Into the draw bucket and i pull out 24, Its a peg I have drawn loads of times and realy struggled to have a decent day, so I was not exactly too happy. Had a good whinge about it. Got to the peg and the breeze was blowing into the end bank so who knows how it would go. For company I had Rich H  eatley opposite on peg one, The Bean Machine Dave "Beany" Westcott on 22 and Russ peck on 24, so sarcasm would be at an all time high today. I decided to set up just three rigs. A .3 SS margin to fish to platform 23, that was a total no goer all day. A .15 Shalla Slim  to fish at 13m along the end bank on 6mm pellet. and a .5 slim to fish at 14m off the end of the tree straight out on meat. Decided to start on meat today and 5 minutes in the float buried and a 4 pounder was netted. Missed a bite next drop in, then lost a carp next drop. stayed on it for about 40 minutes but only an F1 followed. Rich had a decent start with some F1`s from the island and a couple of carp, but Dave and Russ were struggling. So I decided to try the end bank and thats were I stayed most of the day taking a stead run of smallish carp. I tried the other lines on acasions but they didn`t produce anything else.the lake didn`t fish well today, which was a surprise as the weather looked cock on for a good day, but I did enough to win. My 23 carp went 92-2, like I said they weren`t big fish. second was Russ peck with mainly carp for 67-4. third was Rod Wootton on peg 17 with 61-14. top silver went to dave ings on 3 with 18-8 of mainly skimmers. full results below. Oh yeah, cheers for the quid Russ.