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.