Viaduct costcutter

Not done a blog for a couple of weeks due to the fact ive been on a proper bad run and it seams everywhere I go I'm struggling to even get a few bites. Who wants to read about sitting there doing nothing lol. So today I thought I'd give Viaduct a go. Hardly fished this place and know very little about it. After a chat with Mr Rixon I thought I'd risk another embarrassing day and have a go here. Had a very nice brekkie at the Albion on the way and got there with plenty of time. Into the draw bucket and out pops 126. Not a clue lol. Got to the peg to find a stuff breeze blowing right to left. Three rigs today. A . 4 pencil to fish a silvers line at 13m with 6s over 4s. A meat rig to fish 2+2 for the resident lumps. And a margin rig to fish meat but didn't really think this would get a run out. Plus a bomb rod. At the start I chuck the bomb out with an 8 mm pellet and pinged a few out. Half an hour later i gave up on this line. Craig Knight on 127 was already catching doing the same but i couldn't even get a liner. I was surprised he could get anything with the day he was having. His nets got trashed by a mouse. Said mouse also got into his bag and ate his catapult elastics. So I lent him one. Then he broke off both his keeping brackets and watched his borrowed nets sink. Then he snapped off his landing net head. So I lent him one. Then he dropped three sections of his pole in and just managed to get them back before they sunk. Think he should have stayed in bed. Anyway, back to my day. A try on the meat line and that produced no bites, so back on the bomb. Still nothing. It was looking like my bad run would continue. After two hours Adrian Jeffrey called out and asked how I was doing . With my reply of I'm still blanking the float burried. Off it tore and all I got back was a scale. Moaned that one on lol. The silvers line then produced my first fish. A skimmer of two pound. Then another smaller one. But the wind was making presentation near impossible. Two and a half hours in i got my first carp on the meat line quickly followed by another one.but it was another half hour to the next fish which was a good tench. A run of 4 tench followed quickly but then a fishless hour followed. Tried all lines. Craig had about 9 carp by now and was giving me a right spanking. So with 90 minutes left I had around 23lb in the net.  I dropped back in on the meat line and from then on it was pretty hectic. The carp had finally found my feed and i put 10 in the net in that time. At the end i was surprised when my silvers went 16-6 and my carp went 87-15 for a total of 114-5 only being beaten by 4lb by Craig. Nearly pegged him back. So the last hour was very good. Just wish i could catch in the first half of matches. It fished pretty good today with alot of ton weights, the best being 228lb from peg 13. Results below tell the tale.

Mr Rixons Avalon open

Back down to Somerset today to fish this lovely venue. Had a good brekkie at Landsend on the way down before arriving in plenty of time. Into the draw and out comes 23. Corner peg , bottom left hand bank. Got to the peg and found a really stuff breeze, but it was coming across my right shoulder. Not too much to say as I struggled today. The gusty winds was playing havoc. I trashed 4 rigs along the end bank, and even had my elastic stuck in the tree twice as the wind put my pole into the bank several times. Couldn't catch any decent silvers so concentrated on a 16m line next to a hay bale in the water as this was the only ace I could get bites. I tried several places along the bank but there was lots of rubbish pushing around in the tow and the submerged reeds made it very difficult to get a rig through. The 16m line was clear of reeds so I stuck to it. Had 6 carp and a good tench, but lost 7. Torettes flying  freely again today. Gotta admit I think I stuffed up by not fishing a silvers line  enough today as when I did I only caught blippy roach on maggot or caster, when most caught on pellet, and concentrating too much on the carp. But I don't know alot about this venue and I've only fished it in good summer weather. At the end I had 29-5, which wasn't a good weight today. Ah well it's a learning game this angling lark. Weight sheet below.

Landsend Saturday open 18/3/17

Back to this great fishery for the usual Saturday knock up. Realy hoping to draw the top end of the lake which is by far the most consistent area for wins. Can't remember the last time I drew up there. Was gonna ask someone to take a photo for me so I could see what it looks like. Into the draw and out comes 21. Yep, the wrong end again. A good silvers peg, but I don't have the patience to sit it out for them so I was gonna target carp on a 7m pole line on meat as my main attack. The wind was pretty bad and didn't think I'd get much dangling done against the island at 16m, but I did set up a shallow rig to give it a go. Also a rig to fish meat against platform 20. Just in case, I did set up a silvers rig at 11m to fish 4mm over micros just incase it didn't go to plan. At the start I started on the meat line and it took about 15 minutes to get one. It was a decent fish I hooked on the eye, which was unfortunate, as it only had one eye, and the hook was right through his good one. Mike Ducket to my right got off to a flyer and was catching on meat. Rich Loveren to my left was doing his best to moan a few on the hook, and boy can he go on. I thought Steve Seager talked alot lol, but he is an amatuer compared to Rich. My next fish was a tench but it was very slow. After an hour I tried the shallow island line during a lul in the wind, but again very slow with nothing showing. So it was onto the silvers line. Tried that for 30 minute but I only had two bites and two skimmers. It was a case of searching around trying to find bites. I tried the platform to my left and had two carp and two big skimmers before that died. Had a couple more from the meat line but it never really got going today. At the end I had 50-02 for nowhere on the day. Mike and Rich both did me today so not happy about being beaten both sides. Thought it might have been better as the weather was mild. Overall it was better than of late, so things are improving.

1st Martin Rayet, peg 16, 90-02
2nd Leon Hubbard, peg 13, 74-08
3rd Rich Loveren, peg 20, 68-12

1st in silvers with a very nice bag of skimmers Mark Walsh with 29-13 from peg 10.

Acorn Tuesday cost cutter.

First match of my temporary retirement time lol, and thought I'd go here for the first time this year. Recent results have been poor so I wasn't expecting too much. Well that's exactly how it turned out. I drew peg two on the island. Started on pellet on top the shelf. But I was a bit worried as my pole kept creaking g from the damage from Sunday. Every time I shipped in or out the joint made a cracking noise. Sphinkter clenching time. Realy struggled to get any bites. Even though fish were patrolling the far side, they had no interest in feeding. After 2 hours I had one carp across plus's two F1's, and one good fish from my margin on 6 maggots. Then I went 3 hours with only one bite that produced an F1. Half hour to go I had another F1 across, then in the last 15 minute's I had four bites in the margin, only connecting with one on my last drop in for a very late good carp. Finished with 22-15. Not a good day at all. But it was pretty bad all around the lake. Today's winner was Ray Cooper on peg 31 with 51-4. Weigh sheet bellow. Not very exciting reading LOL.

Landsend winterleague round 5

My turn on Special today and a draw at the top end would have been nice. But I pull out 39. It looked all right when I got there and the water was nicely coloured up. For company I had the legend that is Tony Rixon on my right on corner peg 40. Rod Wooten opposite on 25, and Leon Hubbard on 37. Couldn't see anybody else, but I'm sure we would hear how things were going. The weather was nice and I actually got down to just a tee shirt today for while. 4 rigs today. A Shalla slim to fish 16m to the island on pellet
A .4 slim to fish at the bottom of the far shelf on pellet. Another .4 slim to fish meat at 9 and 5 meters and a .3 margin diamond to fish meat down the shelf to my left. The peg is bit of a nightmare to fish long as the dense brambles make it impossible to ship back without breaking down twice. That was to bite me in The ass later. At the start I went across with an 8 mm pellet and fired a few 6's across. Wasn't long  before I was getting  liners and spoking fish. After about 15 minute's I hooked one but after a short fight the hook pulled. Tony was having  trouble loosing several fish in the caged hay bales. Torettes flying around making myself and Rod giggle. It took a while but I managed to get one in the net. A decent double but it was hard work breaking the pole down at my 11m section to pull the pole back with a large carp putting pressure on the pole. I got another in about half hour later after a couple of lost foulers. Rod and Tony were going at it with decent F1's but Tony was still having problems with the wire cage as the fish are in there before you have chance to pull them clear. I came in on my meat line and this is where my day started to go tits up. I managed to crack my number 7 see section with my elbow on a strike. Bugger!!!!. Borrowed a bit of tape from Tony and carried on. Fingers crossed. Then disaster. I went over to the island and hooked another good fish. It took about a minute before I pulled the fish around to ship back. The fish was right under the tip so I tried to take the pole apart at the 6/7 joint. As I just started to pull it apart the fish bolted inwards and to the right. I was now stuck with the joint half apart. Couldn't ship out and couldn't go back as the pole was wedged in the bank under the brambles. The fish kept going right. Then the sickening crack as the end of the 7 section folded. That released the pressure and I managed to get it apart and land the fish. But the end of the section was crushed about 20mm down. That was now two lots of damage on that section. As I wasn't prepared to risk it I stopped fishing across. I tried the bomb over there but they wouldn't look at it even though I managed to tuck it right under the bank a few times. The next three hours was a waste of time with just a hybrid and a decent roach on meat. So I sat and watched Tony do what he does best and start catching regularly and avoiding the hay bales. I did manage two more carp. One from Tony's margin lol, and one on the meat line. But my day was ruined by my damaged pole. I might have competed with Tony if I could have fished the pole over all day as I was getting good fish and at the time I damaged it I think I was well ahead of him. Ah well, suck it up Stuey. I followed the scales round and Trigger had won the lake on corner peg ( flyer again ) 33 with 179-4. My 5 carp went 39-3 and the silvers took it to 40-4. Tony had a good second half and put 109-1 on the scales for the section win. All in all not a good day for my. First time for a while I've drawn a peg I might have got a good weight from and I blow it through no fault of my own. As they say, Ce la vie. Weigh sheets below

Landsend saturday open 11/3/17

first of two days this weekend here today. Today is the usual open and tomorrow is round 5 of the winter league. After a very nice breakfast  it was into the draw bucket and out pops number 5. The narrowest peg on the lake at 13 meters, at the far end of the first island. For company I had Russ Peck to my right on 7. Mark Walsh on 1 and Mike Ducket opposite on 19. I could also here Rod Wootten on 21 so entertainment was guaranteed if he didn't nod off. Three rigs today. A .1 shalla slim to fish 6mm pellet against the island. A .2 slim to fish pellet in the gap between the islands at 15 meters. And another .2 slim to fish meat down the track. it would also do to fish my left margin close to pallet 4. There were a few fish showing so at the start i went across without feeding. But nothing was doing. The fish just moved off straight away and drifted down between pallet 2 and 3. There were loads of them cruising around down there but they never moved. After 30 minutes and no bites i came in to the meat line but again nothing happened. In fact it was very slow for everybody with nobody my side of the lake with anything after 45 minutes. A go between the islands produced the same result. So after 1 hour 15 minutes it was looking bad. A go in the margin got me nowhere also. Russ had a good skimmer at this time for his troubles. Rod had caught a couple but i wasnt sure what they were. Mike had caught but also lost a lumper in the tree to his left. Another go across to the island finally got me a fish. But it was only a small skimmer. Then i got an Ide on the meat line. Russ by now had netted his first carp and mike was on about 4. Then my first carp was netted from my left margin but that was the only fish from there all day. I then lost a couple over by the island, probably foulers cruising by. Into the third hour and the frustration really started. I was hooking carp and loosing all of them. 8 of the first 9 slipped the hook or broke me in snags. Torrettes was in full flow by now. So i went out off the end of the island and started catching F1`s a couple of inches off the bottom on pellet. Some were decent size so i thought Id stick at that. Then it went quiet for before the carp finally moved in. The last two hours was spent dropping in on several spots along the island were I took another 9 carp without loosing any. At the end it was clear Mike had won as he caught very well fishing shallow between the island without needing to feed. I thought I had just over 60lb. My silver went 12-12, and my carp went 43-8 for a total of 56-4, which got me second on the day. Russ managed 35-4. Mike, as expected won with 88-10. Rod took top silvers with a lovely bag of skimmers that went 26-4. it was a tough day to start with but most started to get a few in the late stages. Back here tomorrow on Speci. So let hope the weather holds out and the fish go on the munch.

Windmill carp lake experiment

After a nightmare game at BCFC yesterday I was glad to get away from all that crap with a day on the bank. So Windmill it was. Got to the carpark and there were only 4 of us that turned up. This fishery has a reputation of being a bit windy at times so I expect the weather forecast put alot off. But!! As it was a bit nasty and such a low number two decided not to bother and left. Soft cocks lol. So after a chat with Brian Shanks and the fishery guys we decided to fish the carp lake as it has places that were a bit sheltered. Plus they wanted to know exactly what was there to catch. I didn't mind. These guys are doing a great job and working bloody hard to turn this fishery around from the shambles it was. The carp lake will soon be the new match lake and there is alot of work going on getting pegs dug out and ready for the coming summer. Brian and myself headed off to the bay at the top end of they lake where the wind was off our back. Not long after Martin McMahon turned up and sat down with the gale force winds battering him in the face. Hard as nails he is lol. After being told there are alot of small carp I decided on a groundbait and maggot approach. Not sure what Martin did. Brian only had meat and 4mm pellet so that was his approach. I set two rigs up. One to fish 2+2 in 3 1/2 feet over maggot. And another to fish at 9m with maggot over groundbait. Funnily it was 6 inches shallower at the longer length. Brian caught short on pellet before I had put a rig on. A small carp around a  pound. Nice start. I caught after about 15 minute's short. But even trying several times it was the only bite I had there. So it was out on the longer line. I had a bit of success taking 4 fish to around 3lb on that line. Martin was struggling with the horrific wind bless him lol. Brian carried catching steadily. I struggled for any bites for a while. Brian stopped catching so went to around 11m and started again on meat over pellet. So not to be outdone I did the same. Potting in 4mm pellet. It wasn't long before I picked up a couple but bites were a long time coming. Then the wind change direction a bit and presentation in front was really suffering. So I turned 45 degrees to my left and fed 4mm again. Good move. I could sort of hold the float still and i started catching. But it was a bit of a struggle landing them. When ya got a silvers rig on to catch pasty size carp and then you start hooking fish up to near 20lb, then it got a little difficult lol. The biggest I landed went 15-8. I had another double but lost 3 more huge things including one I had at the net before it broke me that I guessed at near 20lb. It was quite a bit bigger than the one I had in the net. At the end the fishery guys brought scales over and mine went just over 50lb. I was pretty happy as conditions for most of the day were terrible. Brian lost his fish and struggled for the last 2 hours but had over 20lb of small carp. Martin had one good double and a few pasties. Give him his due, he worked really hard in that wind to catch. So the conclusion is there are loads of carp to catch. How you go about it could be tricky when your catching small stuff and a huge lump comes along. Tackle choice could be Interesting. Next Sunday's match is gonna be on that lake so if you fancy a few fish it could be worth a go. I'm at Landsend so can't make it. But the fishery is now in good hands and I recon it's gonna be a great venue when they have finished with it.