Landsend Saturday open 28/07/2018

Left home a bit earlier as I knew the motorway would be a bit busy because of the school holidays, but I wasn`t expecting that many Brummies to be heading south. Bloody caravans everywhere. Plus a couple of accidents added about 20 minutes to the journey. But there was still time for a very nice breakfast 😊. 11 fishing today and we were on Match lake again. I was first into the draw and pulled out peg 21. Pretty happy with that as its been a good area for a while now, holding a decent number of good carp. But when I got to the bank I was surprised to see how low the lake was. Its the lowest i`ve seen it in my 6 years of fishing this place. In many pegs the far top shelf was out of the water so the only place for the fish to feed was in the deeper water. Four rigs today A .15 Shalla Slim to fish the 6 inches of water I was lucky enough to have. A .3 Slim to fish  at an angle at the bottom of the far shelf. Another .3 for meat at 7m in the deepest part of my peg. And  a .3 SS Margin to fish to my left margin at 8m close to an inviting lily bed. I tried to plum up at top kit length to my left but was struggling to get a plummet through the snags. The match started and I fed my lines and started at the bottom of the far shelf. I was probably last to get anything at only 5 minutes but I managed to loose the first 2 then got one out about 5lb. Over the next hour I managed to put 4 in the net but had lost 12.  A few foul hookers, but some were in the mouth and just pulling out. Tourettes time. Dave Ings was catching a few next to me on 22, as was Martin Pettifer on 24. I could see Russ peck on 7 through the island gap, and it wasn`t long before he shouted that we should have a quid on it. I didn`t realise he had close to 50lb in the net by then, and agreed. Sneaky bugger, but that was his last laugh as his fish slowed up and I was later to overtake him by a bit. After about  90 minutes I saw the first swirl so I ditched the long line and dropped in by the lilies with 8mm pellet. It wasn`t long before a good fish was netted followed by another good un. I also noticed a swirl where the snag was to my left so I chucked a few 6mm`s just off the end of the overhanging branches . Straight away fish were on it. So i adjusted my rig to fish just over the ledge on the slope and got into a steady run of good fish. Just after half time I lost a couple of  fish right in the feed area and it went quite for ten minutes, so I thought I`d give the far shelf a go as when I fired pellet over it was like fish soup with up to ten fins as fish struggled to get to the pellets in the shallow water. So I switched to a long line rig so as not to spook them as some of the carp had their  eyes out the water looking at my pole tip, lol. This, In hindsight, was a bad move, as I spent 45 minute and only had 5 fish that were not that big. But there were so many there I couldn`t resist spending time there. So I decided to come back to my short margin line and it was non stop with carp lined up until the end and they were bigger fish. During this time I dropped my number three section off the right side of my platform so had to go in for it. But after I got my boots off and slipped in off the platform I found it was only about 10 inches deep that side and picked it up straight away. There was an advantage of the low water level after all. I was guessing at around 180-190lb at the end, but wasn`t sure as I think I missed a few on the clicker. First to weigh was Mark Walsh on peg 2 who put 190-08, all caught on paste, on the scales, including 12-14 of skimmers. Russ was a bit disappointed as he had slowed up, but still made it to 127-00. But I knew the gold was coming my way. Rod Wooton on 13 just topped the ton with 100-08, but was fishless for the first 2 hours. Then Derick Beard was next to weigh, and I heard he possibly had over the 200lb mark. He did and put 217-06 on the scales, again all caught on paste. My turn and I didn`t think i`d beat him, but was surprised to see my nets go  212-08 for second on the day. That messing about long lining  probably cost me as I recon the same amount of time down the edge would have got me a lot more if i`d been patient. Ah well we live and learn. But to say it fished well is an understatement with the lowest weight at 70lb. And Russ Peck, don`t leave the country, I didn`t get my quid. Full results below.

Acorn Tuesday cost cutter

 First day on the bank for a couple of weeks thanks to my new shite job. Don`t like this stupid shift pattern but I gotta earn a crust. Got to the Bridge Hotel in time for a half decent breakfast. Off to the lake and was surprised to see how many were there. 26 fishing today. And with the likes of Callum Dicks, Tony Rixon and Steve Shaw there, I was in very good company. |Into the draw bag early and out comes peg 34. A decent peg next to the bridge on the right side looking up the lake.

A good weight came off of it Sunday from the right margin on the corner so a rig was set to fish tight in and another to fish the bottom of the shelf , both on top kit range. Also a separate edge rig was set up for the right side by the bridge as its six inches deeper. Both side would be attacked with pellet. A rig to fish half way along the bridge, again on pellet. And a shallow rig to fish the far side in 15 inches of water on, you guessed it, pellet. In fact my bait tray was pretty sparse of choice, though I did open a tin of corn just for something to do.

At the all in I did the usual feeding routine then dropped a pellet in on the far Side. Fish were straight onto the toss potted pellet but they were a bit wary, and it took a while before any indications, but that was a decent fish I managed to slip the net under. Nikki Miller to my right was on the same line but was struggling to get a bait tight over because of the overhanging grasses. Mike Hill on the island peg 1 was into fish early on his top kit fishing the corner of the island. But he did have tails sticking out the water while he was plumbing up. I was struggling to hook anything . The far side was solid with big carp but trying to get one to take a pellet was proving a bit tricky. I could let the float sit there without feeding and not get a touch. As soon as I fed a few pellets it erupted and the float would keep disappearing but I wasn`t hooking anything. And good sized fish were bolting every time. I wasn`t even  even foul hooking anything. Very strange. It was a case of feed, miss ten bites and hook nothing. Then the fish would move off. they just never stayed around without feeding, but as soon as I fed again they were on it. This routine continued for hours. I did get a few out but it took about four hours on and off, of frustration before I finally got a decent run going. The rest of the peg was pretty quiet, and the margin to my left was just a roach fest. It seems I get this problem all the time lately. 8mm pellet getting hammered by tiny roach. I did manage five in total from the margins but it was little reward for constant feeding and the time I spent there. So most of my fish came shallow across, but it was driving me nuts missing so many bites and not contacting with anything.With the amount of bites I missed I should have hit a lot of foul hookers but I only did that twice and I only lost a couple over there. At the end I knew Mike had given me a right spanking as he caught consistently throughout the match. Nikki hadn`t had a great day as he could only catch midway along the bridge but he lost a boat load. Mike weighed in first on the island and put 166-08 of good sized carp on the scales which was enough for second on the day. I was guessing at 85lb at best, but was surprised as it went 97-01, but Ray Bazzly said it should have been a couple of pound less as the scales were zeroed incorrectly. It`s strange to say I had a bad day and weigh 97lb. Nikki didnt bother weighing as he though he only had around 60lb and wanted to dry his nets out. Top dog today was Tony Rixon on peg 7 taking carp from just about anywhere in his peg to finish with 179-12.  Second was Mike. Third was D Turberville from peg 37 with 160-04. Top Silvers went to Mike Chapman on peg 15 with 22-11. Full results below.

Lands End Saturday open 23/6/2018

Late again!! but I`ve started a new job and with other things to do I have been a bit slack ...again. Back to my favourite venue for the usual knock up. Disappointing turn out again today and with the weather looking fab it was strange why more didn`t attend. bad thing was Martin "Show me the money" Rayet turned up and he is on a roll at the mo. Wish somebody would nick his wheels lol. After the top notch breakfast it was into the draw bucket and 62 comes out.

A good peg on lake 3 but with the hazard of a huge reed bed where the fish usually take your tackle and it dont come back.

All out for carp today. A .15 Shalla slim for tight to the island. A slapper rig for the cruisers. And two .3 SS Margins. One for under the tree to my right on meat and the other on heavier gear for the reed bed 14 metres to my left. the weather was gonna be pretty warm today so the early shade was welcomed. Opposite I had Russ peck in view so I could keep an eye on him as we had a pound bet on between us. At the start I fed the reed line first and by the time I had fed the other lines it had changed colour with the water turning black with silt being blown up. So it was straight on that line. First drop in the float buries and I was dragged straight around the reeds several times and tied up around them. All I could do was pull for a break as the elastic was tangled around them and it snapped. Problem was the fish was now tethered to the reeds and proceeded to tear up the peg in that spot for about 30 minutes before it came off taking the tackle with it. During that time I had to fish against the island with 6mm pellet, and was getting some success with decent carp. I went back to the reed bed and got beat up a couple more times before I decided it was a waste of time trying to drag them out. So most of the day was spent at 14 metres against the island. It wasn`t hectic but a steady stream of carp were coming through. It was a nice change to be hooking them in the right end instead of the endless stream of foul hookers. The over hanging grasses were bit of a pain in the butt, and this is the result of a 200 mph float hitting the leg of my platform. Glad it never hit me, but it didn`t snap. Testament to my float making lol. Though I gotta make them less buoyant as they don`t go under for Rod Wooton 😅

I tried under the tree to my right on meat but could only get whitebait.. The last hour was spent close to the reed again and I managed to get a few out but they were smaller samples than earlier. Russ had struggled for the first 4 hours but had a strong finish but I was confident the quid was coming my way. I was guessing close to 85lb and was surprised wen it went 95-12. gary Flinder to my right weighed 84-09, catching on the bomb early before changing to the pole. Beanie had 48-01 in corner peg 55. Russ managed to moan a few on inbetween talking to himself most of the day for 79-13. Then it was up to Martin for his usual weigh in and match win with 127-13 from peg 42, knocking me into second place again, with most of his fish coming from his margin. A fairly even match around the lake and a nice day in the sun. Full results below.

Saturday Lands End open. 16/6/2018

Very late again doing this blog. Really need to kick myself up the arse. After another very nice breakfast it was into the cabin for the draw. Only 8 fishing today, which was a disappointment, but there were a few other matches on  today in the area. I managed to drag peg 24 out. A few months ago I wouldn`t have been very happy but now the fish have spread out around the lake it can be won from anywhere. Got to the peg and there was a gentle breeze blowing straight off my back so fishing was going to be easy at any length today. I set up two rigs for the end bank. One full depth and one to fish up in the water. An .3 SS Margin edge rig for next to platform 23. and two .4 slims to fish open water. One for silvers at 14 metres and one for meat at 5 metres. Opposite me I had Rod Wotton on his usual peg 1 for company. At the start I went straight onto the meat rig and it wasn`t long before I had a couple of decent F1`s and a roach in the net but after 20 minutes the bites dried up. Don`t think there were any carp mooching around yet. So I went along the end bank at half depth and straight away the float was dipping and moving around from whitebait.

There were carp moving so I stuck with it and took a couple of half decent fish in the next 30 minutes but the roach were a pain. Back out on the meat line and again loads of indications but no connections except a skimmer. A look along the margin next on 8mm pellet and the same there. What is it with me and tiny silvers. I seem to be getting this problem everywhere at the mo. A couple of fish started showing shallow so I got the shallow edge rig and started flicking it around, but it was just roach having ago. Back along the end bank shallow but no fish showing so it was the deeper end bank rig next and four carp came my way before they moved off. The middle of the match slowed and only a couple of roach and decent skimmer was added from the margin. Then at 3 o`clock the wind had a severe change. It went from a breeze off my back to blowing down the lake in a few seconds and it was like a mini hurricane. I`ve never seen it change like that in such a short time. That killed off any chance of fishing a 14 metres along the end bank. I couldn`t get the pole out there, as when I tried it was blown up over the tree stumps and I wasn`t risking breaking a section. I tried several times but couldn`t hold it after about 5 section went out. so the rest of the match was spent along my left margin as it was pointing straight into the wind. Even then I had a few moments were it was smacked into the bushes. But it paid off in the end. It took until the half last hour to get them going feeding 6mm pellets and fishing 8`s after and initial heavy ground baiting and I hooked 9 in the last 30 minutes landing 7. And they were better fish on average. At the end a guess of around 90lb was mad. Rod opposite was first to weigh and put 55.12 on the scales.
Russ peck on 11 took top honours on that bank with 64-00 from peg 11. He should have done better from there. He draws it every week 😂.  Beannie was on 13 and had 68-02 from peg 13, which is the best weight I`ve seen from that peg for a while. Dom on 18 had some late carp that took him to 80-09. I was last to weigh and was very close to my guestimate with 85-14 and top weight for the day. It was pretty consistant around the lake today so it made it nice and close. Hopefully I`m back next Saturday as the shifts in my new job might be different than what I thought. Full result below.

Acorn Tuesday open.

I finally got my arse in gear to do this blog, three days late. A decent turnout with 17 fishing. Into the draw bag early and I got peg 5 stuck to my grubby little paw. I calmly sprinted to the peg lol, its a good one. First peg on the island where the wind was blowing in. And was it ever blowing. It was a minor hurricane . Glad it was mainly in the face, but fishing across at 14 metres turned out to be just about impossible. But I wasn`t too worried as this peg has a couple of very good catch areas. 2+2 to the left at 10 o`clock angle and tight to the left margin at the point of the island, where there is a nice flat spot that goes out a couple of feet that`s about two feet deep. I set up a far side .15 Slim to try if the wind dropped. Two margin rigs, one for a bulk and another for a softer drop. And a silvers rig to fish 2+2 to my right (never got used). I mixed up some GB and paste to fish the margin, but at the start Id put 12 lumps of paste on in 5 minutes, so that just shows I had , yet again,  a silvers problem early on. I put a 6mm pellet on and had a skimmer and decent roach withing a few minutes. So I went out on the 2+2 carp line to my left and stuck on that for 20 minutes with only a couple of  bites and one small carp in that time. The tow was bad so I was glad I`d put a .5 slim on. The wind was dropping occassionally and I did try the far side but I`d only get a minute or two where I could not hold my pole over there. So I didn`t stick it out too long event though I was getting indications and had one about 5lb. I think the other indications were just liners from the float dragging through. Half way through and I had around 30 lb in the net with a couple taken down the edge and another at 2+2. But then  they moved in on the margin line and it was a bit crazy. I only had to put 6 pellets in and it erupted with loads of fish crashing around, and foul hookers was a nightmare. I was putting a few in the net but I lost around 35 during the day from that line. Plus I was still getting the odd good roach from that area. It was almost an indication every ten seconds as I struggled to get a rig in through them. I`m sure a few less fish in the peg would have resulted in a lot more fish hooked properly. Its a bit strange to say there were too many fish but that`s how it was. The lighter, slower falling rig was the best as it didnt seem to spook the fish as much as the bulked rig. At the end I had around 25 in the net plus the silvers and was confident I had well over a ton. The guys on 6, 9, and 11 and 14 were weighed in well ahead of me and 3 of them had over a ton. The scales got to me and my total was 119-03 for second on the day.

Getting closer to a long awaited win. Top dog on the day was Chris Fox on peg 21 with 134-00. second was Gary Flinders on peg 11 with 117-00. Hopefully the fish will settle soon after they finish spawning as there were still a few crashing around and two creamed me when I was unhooking them. But it was a good day overall with 6 ton plus weights. Weigh sheet below.

Mathern Mill Friday Open

Today`s match at Mathern was on the motorway lake where there is a large head of silvers , but even though I went in the silvers pools I just cant sit it out on silvers when I know there are big carp on offer. But I did set up a silvers rig in case the big boys didn`t play. Into the draw bag and out pops 25, but as they have changed the pegging since I last fished this lake so a quick check was needed to find out where I was. And it was happy days 😀.

A good peg to the right of the aerator, usualy good for a few lumps. To my left was George Sumsion  and beyond him venue supremo Norm Sterry. And with him on a very good corner peg it could be tough. Got to the peg and found this peg didn`t look like it had been fished for a while with it being very overgrown. I couldn`t even tell where the concrete bank was, so I set about clearing it out. I basicaly had no margin either side as there were Water iris to my right going out to a point I couldn`t see anything, and the rope for the aerator to my left with the electric cable dropping into the water about a metre out so that side was completely out of bounds. So a big clear out to my right was done so I could at least fish one side. And the view gave me a chance to fish close to the lily bed around the corner were the local munters tend to live.

I set up four rigs and a bomb rod to fish against the island. The rigs were, a  . 3 SS Margin to fish through the jungle gap to the lily bed on corn or 8mm pellet. Another to fish the top 2 next to my keepnet against the iris`ss`ss`s. A point 4 slim to fish a silvers line over ground bait at 2+2. And a .5 slim for pellet at 13 metres. At the start I went straight over to the island on the bomb looking for the resident lumps, It took a while for a pull round, but it came off half way back when it surfaced. The bomb came back at speed over my head, but I cleverly caught it in my left hand...Go me lol. Ten minutes later I hooked another but that came off pretty quick. Hmmm, not going to plan. George was still fishless, but Norm was storming away and had already hooked 11 fish in the first 30 minutes but had lost 9. Several taking his rigs. No more bites came on my bomb line so it was time to try the lily bed. I`d been feeding 6mm and corn and first drop in the float burried but before I could lift my pole over the foliage the fish was ten metres through the lily bed. no chance of getting that in. so when I found it had come off i pulled for a break. But i got the lot back. back in again and the same result. this time no rig on the return. This happend 6 more times before I gave up on this line. These bloody fish had been trained by Usain bolt. They were in the lilies before I could react. And when you think many are big doubles in this peg I never had a chance. So it was a try on the close edge line but that never produced a bite. back on the bomb but nothing happened. In fact bites had dried up completely. Half way through Norm was now up in the thirties with carp hooked and mostly lost but I recon he had about ten in the net. I couldn`t see much else being caught around the lake so Norm was well ahead. I was now pulling my hair out as I know there were fish in my peg but I couldn`t get going. So it was back to the lily bed were I continued to loose a couple more. Norm had a big smile on his face as he couldnt believe how many fish he was loosing and it did make me laugh a bit. The carp in this lake are loonatics and it is realy hard work to get the small ones out. It does give you doubts about trying to bully them as they just pull harder than you want to try with the pole. New plan, fish for silvers. So it was on with double maggot and hope I could find some of the big skimmers in this lake. First drop in and the float stayed flat on the surface. a small rudd had grabbed it. Back in. same thing. Another rudd. And im talking 2 inches. so i moved 5 number 8`s down to the hook length. But it made no difference. The float just shot across the surface and another rudd was on. I never got the bait to the bottom in ten minutes. So that line was binned. Not interested in 30 fish to the pound. back through the gap but I had been feeding a line very close to the flattened Iris. first drop in the float burried and I managed to stop the first run and it resulted in a 6 pounder. A few minutes later I hooked another that just plodded around for ten minutes. It was a beast at around 17lb. And as soon as it was away from the feed area, there were more tails showing. Maybe a chance of a late turn around. I basically stayed on this line for the rest of the match and even though I lost a few more to the lilies I managed to take 7 from this line including another good double. George had a couple of carp but had stayed mostly fishing for silvers. he had plenty of them but they were small so he worked hard for what he had. At the weigh in I was in front with my 9 carp going 72-05 for third on the day. Not sure what the top silvers was at the time as I didn`t get the silvers weigh sheet. Norm had stopped counting lost fish when he got to 40 but still managed to get enough in for a winning weight of 109-07. He trashed 20 rigs today which had me giggling. But a bonus for me he bought 20 float from me to replace them. Every cloud and that lol. second on the day went to Billy Barble, (that cant be his real name hahaha) with 76-07 from peg 11. A frustrating day again for me, and I just cant seem to get my act together at the mo. Guess we all go through bad patches. Hope it picks up a buit and mybe I might get a win for a change. Weigh sheet below.

Mathern Mill Friday open

With this fishery on my doorstep its an easy decision to give this a go on Fridays. The weather forecast was for a wild day today but as they got the forecast so wrong yesterday it wasn`t surprising that today finished completely opposite to what they were saying. My bright red face is proof of that lol. Into the draw bag and out pops 16. A nice peg that is primarily a bomb peg with a 30 metre chuck to the end of the island. Though you still have to compete with 11 and 12 opposite that are the venue flyers that dont often fail to take the top spots.

So the bomb rod was the first to be set up. I wanted to experiment today and my plan was to fish a short line(2=2) over a big bed of groundbait and corn, just to see if the carp would settle on it or tempt the big skimmers and bream, that go to 5lb plus, would have a go. So a .4 Slim was set up for there. Only the margin pole set up today so the usual .3 SS margin was set for my right side in 2 feet of water and a .5 slim to fish the full 8.7 metres straight out over pellet. at the start 10 tennis ball size balls were put in on the short line and a few pellets out on the long line, then the bomb with an 8mm pellet was chucked out within a foot of the very inviting island vegetation.

Didn`t wait long and the tip was wrenched round and a 6 pounder was in the net. Out again and ten seconds later a 7 pounder hooked and landed. Then next chuck a 14 pounder. Pretty nice start with 20 minute gone and around 30lb in the net. But after that the bites dried up, which coincided with the sun coming out, and over the next 3 1/2 hours I only landed 3 more. I tired the other lines many times rotating around but there was nothing coming out anywhere on the pole lines. The only person that caught on the pole that I could see was Andy Fuller on aquarium 12 , where he was catching in his margin. Got to admit this margin fishing is baffling me at the mo. Not caught any margin fish for  ages. I just don`t see anything when I try. Best keep to the longer stuff. And my experimental line was an epic fail with just one tiny skimmer and a lost foul hooker that I connected with lifting the rig out at half depth. The last hour picked up for me on the bomb and I managed to put 5 fish in the net with a couple of doubles among them. Andy caught steadily throughout the second half of the match as did Terry ? ( a few new faces to me today) on peg 11. Winner on the day was Josh Anderson on peg 3 with 100-05 . No idea how he caught as he was out of sight around the island. Second was Terry, less than a pound behind, with 99-11 of bomb caught carp. Third was Andy on 12 with 90-07 of mainly margin munchers. I managed fourth with 12 carp for 79-12 all taken from the island.  Sounds strange to get near 80lb and say it was a poor days fishing but I only missed 2 bites all day and landed all I hooked except the foul hooked fish, but thats how it felt. But at least the weather was good with no torrential rain that was forcast. I`m looking like a strawberry today and my face is glowing, but ya cant complain about sunny weather.