Windmill Sunday open 27/10/18

Not been for a few weeks as myself and the lovely other half went away last weekend in the caravan and the week before we were busy, so I was gagging to get out on the bank and drown a few pellets. So I decided to go to Windmill fishery as its close and not much else around open wise. The weather forecast was for bright chilly weather.with a stiff breeze. The day didn`t start too well as I got to the old Severn bride and it was shut, so I had to back towards Newport and turn around and go across the second crossing adding about 20 minutes to the journey. So I got there late, but Dave Haines had put me in the pools and drew for me. Everybody apart from Dave had gone to their pegs when I got there. So I was directed to peg 24, which meant I had a nice short walk. The good thing about this peg is in the deepest part of the lake and with the temps being pretty low this was probably a good thing. the bad thing was I had a really cold wind blowing straight in my face  and it never stopped all day. It was bloody freezing. And to top it off I was in the shade most of the day so the sun we did have never got a chance to warm me up. I set up with the intentions of fishing mainly for silver for a change today but I did set up for carp as well. A .3 edge rig. a .75 slim to fish pellet in 8 feet at a 10 oclock angle at 10 metres. And a bomb rod to give my hands a chance to warm up in my pocket when needed. The silvers rig was a .75 slim fished at either 2+2 or 10 meters. The good thing is the lake bottom is totally flat here so easy set ups. I had got my hands wet so at the start they were already freezing so I went out on the bomb for half an hour, but apart from a few liners nothing graced my nets. I then spent 90 minutes on the silvers lines but it was a dead loss and all I had was 3 roach. At the end of that time I tail hooked an 8lb carp on the longer line,and on 4 elastic and a size 20 to .10 it was hard going but after 10 minutes I got it in the net. that was followed next drop in with a 6oz perch. but that was it for those lines, so it was back on the bomb for 15 minutes to warm the hands up. No indications on that line so it was out on the pellet line to my left. After 10 minutes of no indications I lifted to move the float and I accidentlly hooked into a carp. Fouler number 2. But this one had the better of me and slipped the hook. so back on the same line and after a while I started to get indications. Very small dips on the float. then a proper bite and carp two was netted. again my hands got wet so I dropped the bomb on that line and it ripped around straight away. I now had three in the net for about 25lb. by the end of the forth hour I had 6 in the net and they were all big fish, and lost four. But that was it for my day and the last 90 minutes were biteless. I was guessing at around 50lb at the end and was very close as I just topped the 52lb mark for third on the day.  First on the day was John Smith on sheltered peg 11 with 92-06. second was John Osborne on peg 14 with 56-12. I was glad to get back in the car at the end to warm up. the wind was relentless and I was chilled to the bone. Couldn`t wait to get home for a hot meal tonight. Weigh sheet below.

Mathern Mill occasional saturday open

I was gonna go to Landsend today but the weather forecast was for a horrible day, so I decided to stay closer to home and after an invite from Craig Challingsworth I decided the 5 minute drive to Marthern was far enough for today. The day started badly. Went to get my gear from the storage, where I keep it, and found my nets were at home so my 5 minute drive turned into 45 by the time I'd sorted myself out. 10 fishing today so everybody had empty pegs left or right or both. Second into the draw and I pull out peg 9. I've been fishing this place for 6 years and never had this peg before as it's only been used in matches for a short while now. For company I had Andy Gard on 7, who took the wrong turn for Acorn and ended up here 😂. It was carp only for me today as I had drawn the golden peg, so the pressure was on. Four rigs were set up. Two margin rigs, as there was a foot difference either side. A .3 Slim to fish 2+1. And a .5 to fish the full 8.5 meters of my margin pole on pellet. Plus a bomb rod as this can produce plenty from open water on the right day. Fed all lines and started on the bomb pinging 8mm's. 30 minutes in and not a touch. But I'd seen a couple of scalely horses in my left margin so it was into there for a go. After 5 minutes I hit one and the first carp was netted, all of 15lb. They are big in this place. But that was it for a while. There was plenty there, but they were skillfully avoiding the hook bait and clearing up all the loose feed. I had a problem after an hour. With the wind in my face and the non stop rain, I had now lost dexterity in my hands. I was struggling to put pellets or corn on the hook, and I couldn't grip my pole with my right hand. They didn't feel cold but we're swollen from the non stop soaking. So things were hard. And to be honest I couldn't wait for the end already. I was proving to be hard with the fish being cleaver in their feeding and after 3 hours I only had 3 that went around 35lb. Andy though, was catching very well on the silvers and was putting a good weight together. The second half of the match improved a lot and I started to catch a few. Even the sun tried to pop through when the rain eventually stopped. And feeling in my hands nearly returned  to normal. Theft margin was the only place I could get a bite with all other lines void of fish. Even though the size of fish got smaller I managed to put 15 in the net, all but two on pellet, for 132-9 for 4th on the day. So the golden peg lived on. The match was won by Zac Williams on peg 20 with 200-9, caught half at 14.5 meters and half down his margin. Second was Craig Challingsworth on peg 14B (?) With 148-8. And third Norm Sterry  with 147-7 from peg 5. Overall it fished well but it was a miserable day with crappy weather. Full results below.

Landsend 3 day festival.

This was the first time Ive fished a three dayer for many years and I gotta admit it was hard work.  I drove down on Thursday evening with my caravan and stayed on a small camping park about 90 seconds from the venue which was very handy. But the weather was atrocious. Gale force winds and torrential rain. and it was to continue into the weekend. the first night I thought the caravan was gonna take off and the rain kept me awake most of the night. first day of fishing and i was at the venue cafe early for a big breakfast. The rain had stopped mostly but the wind was howling and blowing in all directions. Into the draw bucket and out pops 42 on lake three. I was pretty happy with it but this lake can be temperamental and the weights could come from anywhere. The series was run on an open draw first day then rotate around the other lakes for the next two days. But you were with the same anglers each day. I had Tom Thick next to me on 41 so plenty of chatting would be going on, and Ken Rayner opposite on 70. To keep the blog short it will be a quick run down on each day. I caught early at 13 meters to the island taking 8 in the first hour but with the wind switching around it blew a load of surface crap down the lake and it became almost impossible to drop a rig in, plus the tow was terrible. I was thinking of putting a crow quill avon on. So it forced me to come into the left hand edge fishing pellet or maggot over ground bait and it proved to be a good move. I caught well in the middle two hours and put a big enough lead on to make sure Toms strong finish didn`t peg me back. So I had a section win first day with 146lb. Second day I went from hero to zero in one quick move. I drew peg 25 on Speci lake, which is a killer of a peg that is just about impossible to do any good from. It is barren of any aquatic life. Well it proved to be that way. I had 2 carp and an F1 for 10lb and the end of my chance of winning anything. and with it pouring with rain for the whole day without a break it made it a miserable day. Tony Rixon opposite did better taking just over 50lb from the hay basket along the end bank but did loose alot to the basket. Tom again had a good day and won the section so he was well in contension. Day three and with the weather vastly better today I was on match lake which is my favourite lake at the venue and I drew peg 1. I fancied the other bank as thats the most consistent on the lake but peg 1 was a good peg so I wasnt to displeased. I started against the end of the island and caught well for a while and had about 40lb in the net in the first 90 minutes. but I lost a couple in a snag that I managed to drag out of the reed and it became a real pain to avoid it. so I came in on the top 5 meat line I had been feeding and stayed on that line for most of the remaining time. It wasnt hectic as I had to play the waiting game for bites but at least I kept going all day. I did try the margin line several times but it didnt fire up like I hoped it would so most of my fish came on the short meat line. I finished with 138lb for another section win. but with the dissasterous second day it wasnt enough to win anything.lake winner was Bob gullick on 21 with just over 200lb. Tom again had a good day with over 190lb and it was enough to take the individual honours for the festival. sorry I haven`t got all the results but ill try and tag them to this when ken put hem up. A good few days was had by all and it was thanks to Mike Ducket and Ken Rayner for running it.

Windmill Sunday open.

Not been to windmill for a while as its been bit of a balls up match scene there for a while. The regular anglers have been messed around with which lake they are to use. But today was on match lake. 13 fishing today so plenty of room and I manage to pull out peg 6. I was pretty happy with it as its a decent peg. Opposite in the Island gap I had Tim Ford, so plenty of chatting would be going on, and to my right was Ryan Brushneen on peg 4. 4 rigs today all for carp as all I had on me bait wise was Pellets and corn. I thought I had a tin of meat in my bag, but nope, not there. So I set up a .15 Shalla Slim to fish the far side at 14.5 metres. But when I plumbed up I had about two inches of water right across. So I ended up coming back out by 2 metres and still only had 8 inches. I also set up a dibber for long lining across in the shallow water. A .5 slim to fish 8 metres on corn down the deepest part of the peg. And a .3 SS margin for both sides down the edge. Tho it was a lot shallower to my left I couldn`t be bothered to set up two rigs for that so id just slide the float up and down. I also set up the usual bomb rod for this place. Its always good for a few. At the start I went out on the bomb at the point of the island.

There were loads of carp there and half their bodies were out of the water and they were going nuts for the loose fed 8mm pellets but they were skilfully avoiding my hook bait. Tim started well and was straight into fish doing the same as me. as was Ryan casting to the shallow shelf across to the island. But me, I couldn`t get a sniff. every time I fed a few pellets carp were crawling up the shelf to grab them. Still not a touch. Tim was on three when I decided to change to the long pole and feed the shallow line. It worked and i had a couple in the next 15 minutes, but they were very spooky and bolting when they saw the pole. Tim was storming ahead of me but his fish were a bit small. The first half of the match was slow for me and after three hours I only had 6 all on the long pole. The margin had started showing a bit of life but they were so spooked all the time. They were scared of their own shadows.

The corn rig had only produced a skimmer first drop in then no other bites. Another try on the bomb and finally the tip pulls round and I managed to get one to the net. followed by another 10 minutes later. But then it was back to loads of fish showing and no pull rounds. Tim was catching pretty regular by now after an hour where he had nothing and Ryan was netting a few. At that point they were both well ahead of me. I did keep Tim informed about the mighty Bristol City demolishing Blackburn, I just couldn`t help it after he said how bad the Gas were yesterday. So with just over two hours to go I started to get the odd fish in the margins and they were good fish. I was nowhere near Tim numbers wise but my fish were a lot bigger so I started to peg Tim and Ryan back. A couple more followed when I tried the bomb again but the last two hours were spent mostly in the margins. At the end I admited to Tim to having just over the ton mark, but that was to bite me in the arse when I weighed in. First to weigh in was Matt Collins on peg 2 who put a mighty 218lb on the scales, and that was top weight on the day. Ryan was next and weighed 74.15. I was next and my bad guess was way out and I weighed 87-15. Which amused Tim as I was nearly 20lb out on my guess. I must have clicked one of the double figure fish twice. NUMPTY lol. I didnt follow the scales round so didnt see much of what was weighed, But Tim did let me know that he had whooped my arse by 5lb with 92-15, dave Wilmot had a good day too with 135-13v for second place. dave haynes won the silvers with a nice net for 17-9. Full results below.The sheet is a bit messy but you can see most of it

Landsend Saturday open

Off down the M5 again with all the Midlanders towing their caravans again. Be glad when the holiday season is over. Got to the fishery early and had a very nice breakfast as usual before the draw was made. 10 fishing today so plenty of room. I was in second and drew peg 5. Not fished it for a while so didnt really know how it would go with the water level so low. There were plenty of fish cruising around, but we all know they dont necessarily play ball. 4 rigs were set up today. A .15 Shalla Slim to fish across to the island on pellet, but after plumbing up I found I only had 4 inches of water so I had to come a fair way out from the island bank. But when I did fish it later I found it was snaggy as hell and it was hard to find a decent spot to fish. A .3 Slim to fish 14.5 metres into the gap with pellet. It would also do to fish 2+2 to the right of straight out. A .4 slim to fish meat at 2+2 to the left of straight out. And a .3 SS Margin to fish pellet between the two lily beds to my left. For company today I had Russ Peck to my left on peg 2...AGAIN!!!... he lives on that peg lately. And it was handy to keep an eye on him as we had a quid side bet as usual. At the start I went straight across and while shipping out I spotted a carp getting his head down on the pellets I`d pinged out and dropped my rig in front of it and had it hooked within seconds. So a 4 pounder was in the net in the first minute. But it went pear shaped across as it was so shallow the pole was spooking them, plus I was regularly hooking the tree roots that stick out from the mud. I spent about 45 minutes over there but didnt get anything else, so I went out to to the gap and took three in about 30 minutes. But the wind was blasting through the gap in the two islands and presentation was crap. Several times I had to let the pole go round as I couldnt hold it. So that didnt last to long. I tried the meat line next and in 20 minutes I hadn`t had an indication, Next line tried was the left margin by the lilies. That was fizzing like mad by now but I was getting bites I couldn`t hit. Must be those pesky silvers that hammer the pellets for a while. I noticed that the short pellet line was now fizzing so I dropped my pellet rig on it and I was straight into fish with 3 coming pretty quick. It was now 3 hours in and I had about 40lb in the net. The meat line was dead. No signs of feeding fish but I did try it again with the same result as earlier. So it was back to the pellet line and I got a few more, before I tried the margin line again. Withing seconds of dropping in I was into a lump but it slipped the hook at the net. Back out and I lost two more in the lilies. Back out on the pellet line and apart from 10 minutes near the end, when I lost 2 more and landed one from the margin, I stuck to the 2+2 line and took fish fairly regularly to the end. I did loose a lot of foulers, but thats par for me lately. What did bug me was I lost or trashed 6 rigs. They were going hard today.  At the end I was admitting to 120lb, but after being so far out with my guess last week I was over estimating most of the fish so I wasnt sure what I had. Russ was first to weigh and with him struggling with a dodgy back I had to lift his nets out. Luckily he didn`t have a good day so It was easy. Cheers mate and thanks for the quid 😂. Next was me and my nets went to 100-10,  so I was out by 20lb. Ken Rayner had 60-12 from peg 11. Mark Walsh on peg 13 had forgotten his nets so he risked putting all the carp he caught in one net instead of asking to borrow another one, and he went over by about 7lb so got knocked back to the fishery limit of 80lb all taken on paste. He did borrow a net for his silvers at the start so he totalled 87-7. Last to weigh was Rod Wooton who had no idea what he had as he`s crap at guestimating weights, But he had alot more than he thought and got top spot on the day with 110-11 from peg 24 pushing myself back into second spot. It was a strange day with the fish behaving in odd ways out in the deeper water. Wont go into details but they were doing things I hadnt seen before. anyway full results below.

Acorn Tuesday cost cutter.

Off to Acorn today for a day out with the oldies. Shouldn`t shout to load, I`m just about one of them now lol. Had a breakfast at the bridge Inn that was OK, but could be warmer sometimes. Into the draw and again my drawing arm was good to me. Peg 5 peg  on the island. Always a decent peg if you get it right.

The end road bank has been on fire lately so I was hoping I could get a few.a Tesco store. Only for about 5 months at the mo but its a way in for permanent work. And to make a good start to the day better , i got a call to say i`d got a job as in facilities at  Three rigs were set up. A .15 shalla slim to fish pellet tight to the island. A .4 Slim to fish at a 10 o`clock angle to my left at 2+2 range. And a .3 SS margin to fish by the overhanging grasses to my left margin. Peg 4 was in so I didnt bother with that side. All lines were to fished with pellet. Easy choice today.

Silvers fishing is pretty good there at the mo but this is a known carp peg so couldnt see the point of going for the small stuff. At the start I went over on the long line and had 9 carp in the first hour, but they were all small wit the biggest being 4lb. then It all went pear shaped for two hours and I lost just about everything I hooked. In that time I hooked 25 and landed two, one of which was 8 ozs. this problem was on all lines. the fish were at all levels crashing around and I could hit them in mid water, but when i fished shallow I didn`t get anything. I did manage eventually to get a few fishing with a 10 inch long rig fishing in the grass across, but I didn`t bother striking at bites, I just waited for the elastic to fly out. But that didn`t last long. So I concentrated on the margin for the last couple of hours and started to get a few but still loosing a boat load.

At the end I was disappointed with what I thought I had in the net. I had lost far more than I landed and it cost me today. Mike hill, on peg 9 had a good day catching most of his fish chucking a bomb under peg 8 platform and I was sure he had hit the 200lb mark, which he did with 202-13, which got him first place on the day. I recon peg 8 should be in the matches as peg 9 is just about unbeatable with a decent angler on it and everybody is just fishing for second place. Glen Bailey was second from peg 26 with his usual paste attack. Catching early then heavily in the closing stages to put 159 pound on the scales. The 2 bite less hours in the middle cost him first I recon. I put 131-07 on the scales for third. Should have been more, but then ya cant get it right every time. Need to figure out a way to avoid so many foul hookers. Full results below.

Landsend Saturday open 18/08/2018

As I`ve been relieved of my duties at my latest job I had the weekend off so I went down to Somerset for the usual Saturday knock up at Landsend. The obligatory breakfast was downed and then into the draw bucket.  I managed to pull out peg 11. ( fishing today so plenty of room so I wasnt to displeased with it though it hasn`t shown a lot of form for a while, but then Russ Peck usually draws it ( hahaha, sorry mate). there were fish showing in just about every peg on the walk to the far end of the lake so it was looking like it might be a decent day. 4 rigs today (overkill). The usual .3 SS Margin to fish either side in about 2 1/2 feet of water in pellet or meat. It would also do for the end bank if I decided to go that way. A .3 Slim to fish 2+2 on pellet. A .15 Shalla slim to fish a nice flat spot I found about 2 metres off the island at 14 1/2 meters. Any closer and it was so shallow the ducks were stading in the water and not getting their asses wet. And a .5 slim to fish the deep hole at the same length, but that rig never got touched all day. Opposite for company I had martin Lanaghan on 13 and Mark Walsh to my left on peg 7, so banter would be good today. I started on the shalla rig as there were a few fish showing by the island. It took about 10 minutes to get them responding and the first decent fish was netted. It wasnt hectic in the first hour but I did get a few going. Martin was getting nursery size fish out by the island but he was suffering with fish taking him through a snag. Looking down the lake and it wasn`t fishing as well as I though it would. I stuck with the long pole for the first couple of hours picking off fish and had about 40lb before I changed and tried a different line after loosing a few where they were feeding, as the other lines were fizzing like a jacuzzi everywhere I was feeding. I thought the rest might do it good. First I tried the 2+2 line and had a 6 pounder first drop in on 8mm pellet. But that was it. There was obviously something feeding down there but I couldnt get them going at all. Next was into the margins. The left side was lifeless but the right was fizzing so much I couldn`t see my float properly. I had a 2lb skimmer for about 15 minutes of frustration but again no other bites from there. I must have been a shoal of skimmers but they weren`t interested in 8mm pellets. So it was back out long and I started catching regularly putting a decent weight together. It was Nice to see a long time friend from my childhood days when Mark Little wandered a long for a watch. He brought me some luck as I caught a load when he was watching. He left with about 80 minutes to go and then my luck changed. If it could go wrong it did, and in the last part of the match I struggled to put much more in the net. My lucky charm had gone and taken the fish with him lol. The middle part of the match had gone very well though and It was looking like I had done enough today. Mark Walsh had a good finish, after struggling the first 3/4 of the match, and managed to close the gap but I though I had just edged him out. I was guessing on around 150lb. First to weigh was Russ Peck, with whom I had a gold coin side bet with as usual, and he put 128-12 on the scales. I thought I`d done him so told him to start polishing the quid 😁. Walshy was  next and his good finish got him 126-13. Next was me, and my first net was a bit of a struggle to lift as the water is so low, I couldnt get hold of the net low enough to drag it out so I had to get Steve Seager to help. It was looking a bit iffy with a net limit of 80lb, and yes I was over it with the first net by a couple of pound so it was rounded back to 80. My other nets were all legal and with my few silvers I managed 172-07 and first on the day. Martin, like me had a nightmare finish and caught next to nothing in the last hour but had 107-03 in the end.  Steve Seager on peg 24 was best weight on the far bank with 154-14 that got him second on the day. I cant go wrong at the mo with the draws so I`m making the most of it, as I know it wont last. Full results below.