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.