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.