Two days

Sunday and it was the first round of the float only league at Shiplate, always a nice venue to go to as we were spread over all four lakes, and with it being a random draw it was.necessary to turn up with kit to cover all bases, 40 fishing so decent turn out, thanks to all . To stand any.chance.of picking up overall today it would be good to avoid drawing on the squircle as it has been hard, so i was more than happy to have peg 7 on Hawthorn drawn for me, i had rich major to my.left and rod wooten on my right, i like this type of fishing, poking the rig against the far bank, rat hole fishing. So i set up a .1 rj tr1 float for over there, a meat rig for topset and two, a margin rig and pellet rig to tuck into empty peg 8 as.close as i could get, which due to a tree wasnt as.close.to the boards as i would have liked, well the day was tough tough tough, i had one from the margins, nothing on the meat or the rig towards 8, but luckily i had 9 from the far bank, i normally feed with a catty , but today they didnt seem to want it, as with most other venues the fish are very sulky, why, who knows. All to do with global warming and the price of fuel i suspect, oh yes and i nearly forgot covid, but according to the press we are over that now, but we have monkey pox just to give the parasites in the news something to threaten us with, its not going to kill anyone but its a worry according to the press, christ lets get a grip. Anyway.i won the section with 57lb so a good start.to the league, i even managed.a.near 5lb goldfish, (koi), a proper dazzler.

Top weight on the day was taken by bob bunghole gullick from peg 13 main lake with 125lb, well.done matey.

Second was league newbe sam powell on 5 main lake with 115lb which also included top silvers weight of 40lb of quality skimmers, it was a hard day for some with a few.quality anglers having it tough, but the average weight was 45lb a man so not to bad even the squircle.was.ok with chris fox being top on there with 38lb, all on that lake had more bites than anyone else today , but it was mainly small carp and goldfish, weigh sheets etc below.

Monday and i ran a silvers match at Landsend fishery on lake two, lovely breakfast at the fishery cafe, cooked by sharon. 14 fishing , a nice number, didnt mind where i drew , as the small tench and crucian,s are all over the lake but it seems you may need a few of the lakes better f1,s and skimmers to decide the outcome. Peg 21 for me today, paul faiers on my right, and Roger Kimberley on my left, so a caster.rig topset and one, and a banded pellet rig for 5 and 9mtrs, ive caught on all lines, but you needed to swap between them. I cant complain about the quality of the sport, carp were a problem, each time you fed carp would come.into the peg, and you need to catch or scare it before it was possible to get more silvers, ive landed several and pulled out of a fair few, the only time one broke me was when i had one spin up in the landing net, anyway it was a much closer match than i thought, nick Collins had a lovely day on peg 8 and had 39lb, finishing 10lb clear of second place(beany), well.done nick, still smiling.

Looking at the weigh sheet all there had a good day just showing that gary, rachael with the help of ade are doing there best and i can only see.it getting better and better, well done. Average.weight today.was 25lb, so good all round.

Shiplate thursday nearly costcutter

Nearly a costcutter as john now does a £5 extra optional pool, so at least its possible to cover the travelling costs, and to be fair most enter it. Breakfast at the fishery was nice , but due to the strong westerly wind it was a quick munch before it got cold. Into the draw bag and peg 5 comes out, i would have preferred the far bank as the wind woukd have been from behind, but no, straight in the face, and at over 20 mph it was going to be difficult, i had titch williams on my left and mark (the groaner)poppleton on my right. Decided not to go long on the pole today as presentation would have been shit, i did set up a silvers line to feed with groundbait but as i only had one skimmer on that its not to be mentioned again.

The left hand side of thus lake has a big flat area that goes to 8mtrs, so i decided to ignore my favoured area at the bottom of the rocks (mistake) i always say make your own decisions, shoukd have listened to my self, a pellet rig for the right hanf margin, again no bites there, and a wag for on the deck at 20mtrs. Fed.all lines and started on the wag, i was suprised to get one virtually first chuck, and by the end of the first hour i had 4 in the net, but it didnt last, and it all got a bit sketchy, the wind was blowing the float back in and across, so i found myself laying more and more lime on the deck trying to slow it down, and it worked to a fashion, but liners were more of a problem, the left meat line on the plateau was no good so with 90minutes to go i fed some meat at the bottom of the rocks, went in there with an hour to go and in that last hour i had 5 good carp for over 50lb, so with my 7 waggler caught fish i had at least 100lb, i lost one good double which broke me on the inside, pinging the line over the rocks, and it cost me to be fair, i laso lost a couple of foulers, only landing one, and that was hooked in the side of the face, so thats close enough for me. John wolsfencroft came.out on top with 122 lb on peg 15, catching mostly on paste short, (one for you glen bailey), well done john,

top silver weight with 39lb of worm tempted went to roger on peg 14.

The lost fish cost me as i ended with 112lb, kicking myself.for not fishing my normal.way a bit, also that lost fish cost me without doubt.

Weigh sheet below, down here again on sunday for round one of the float only league. I feel it may be a bit tough with the fish having a bit of a spawn but certainly not doing it properly, and with a cooler weekend forecast they still wont be doing it.

Three again

Thursday and Shiplate for the costcutter, nice breakfast at the fishery, mark is improving ,4.61. Into the draw bag and peg 14 comes out. Happy, but it turned oit to be a hard day, coukd hardly get a bite, ended up with 6 smallish carp and one skimmer for 41lb, 4th so no pickup, the match was won by steve w on peg 12 with 81lb, catching on pellet at 8 mtrs in the last couple of hours, 2nd was titch(xmas) williams on peg one with 79lb, silvers.went to dave.wride , again with 33lb of skimmers from peg 15, and he asli had a couple of carp for good measure,

sunday and rnd two of the short pole match, todber on hillview lake for this one, 27 fishung so only one peg left out, aaron britnell drew for me , peg 41, cheers then., Its been an interesting day, ive had gabe skarba on my right, havnt seen him for a couple of years , so that was good, and russ, (cant lie straight in bed )peck on my left, all in and started in the normal todber way, short in front to begin with, had a few but they seemed to back off, so went out to topset and three, was catching quite well on the deck, but the fish came up a bit so i had a few shallow, but they seemed happier on the deck, i also had a few down the left hand margin, i fed 6,s and fished a banded 8 on all lines, finished with 173lb, whuch was no good on the day and only.third in the section, bob(sleigh) gullick won the section off peg 34 with 207lb, the match was won off tuckers peg(49) with 240lb by martin rayet, well done, biggest fish of the day was taken by birthday boy mike west on 48, who had a common weighing in at over 27lb, a proper brute on the pole, pics of mikes fish, weigh sheets and overall standings below.

Monday morning and i was going down the a38 to bridgwater and the sedges silver,s match, lovely breakfast aswell in the fishery cafe. Drew peg 25 for myself, and had a bit of a redletter day to be fair, fed two lines, 5 and 11 mtrs with some worm and caster , and have had a lovely day Catching quality skimmers on double maggot or half a dendra, ending with 79lb for the win and some.money to buy some fuel to get me back to bristol, these matxhes are popular with 25 fishing today.

The weekly three

Even later.this week, had issues getting any pictures sent from my phone, think ive sorted it know, time will tell. Thursday and it was the costcutter at Shiplate, nice breakfast at the fishery, just wish the weather would warm up a bit as the food goes a bit cold before i can eat it, (4.7), mark,s getting there. 13a for me today, out and out carp today, due to numbers of silvers anglers there it makes it hard to do both , so only set up a shallow mugging rig, a depth pellet for 14 mtrs, a short meat rig and a margin one, oh and nearly forgot a wag for pellet on the deck at 25 mtrs. Not really to much to say to be honest, it was a hard day for all, i ended up with 6 carp and a tench, two carp and a tench on the depth pellet rig at 14 mtrs, one i managed to mug, and three on the wag,i managed.to forget to take my rods(age thing)luckily for me, john had his old series 7 pellet wag rod in the shed, covered in cobwebs, he doesnt own a waggler, his lead rod is well battered though, anyway my 6 carp and the lonesome tench went 53.10, it was nearly enough, mark jones over on peg 1 managed.to slap out 7 carp which went 54.9, so second it was then,i may have had a few more on the wag but the dreaded willow fluff severely hampered rod and line fishing on our bank, and the sivers.went to the old campaigner,(he will like that) pete zimniak pn peg 11 with 18.12, edging out the nearly as old nigel bartlett on peg 10 with 18.8 .

sunday and i was fishimg as a guest with the psv club at todber on homeground lake, judith came along for the ride today as i told her it was going to be a nice day weather wise, but as normal with todber it never ended up like that, she was under the Brolly all day as it rained for most of the match,peg84 for me and its been a fairly simple match, topset and one straight in front just beyond the nets, caught on and off for the whole match, even shallow for a while towards the end, ended up with 5 nets in the water with between 50 and 60lb in each net, i wasnt to far out as i ended up with 278lb for second again, well done to ryan Jordan on peg 87 with 311 lb, well done matey, for some reason i couldnt catch in the margin,

Monday and the sedges for the weekly silvers match, brick lake today and as long as i dont draw a corner, as it can be a bit carpy, so breakfast done(4.8) and draw time, into the bucket and out comes ping pong 10, corner peg with the wind hacking in, could be a bit expensive in the hooklength box.

Always going to be carp here, but i hoped the skimmers woukd follow them , so i set up to fish 5 and 11 mtrs, the wind was going to make it hard to go longer, but being and end peg i didnt feel i would need to go any further, two rigs, a .6 and a .8, an 18 hook on the lighter rig and a 16 on the heavier, at the start i fed two balls at 5 mtrs and three at 11mtrs, both with a few casters and a small ammount if chopped worm, started short and was into 6/8 oz skimmers from the off, by swapping between the two lines i have again caught on and off all the way through, fish from 4oz to 2 1/2lb, and ive probably hooked 20 carp, landing a few but losing the majority, ive had to send the hooklength box off for therapy, ended up with just over 50lb, with martin tizard Opposite on 11 coming second with 40lb, so obviously the fish had followed the wind.

Still behind with the blogs 😂😂😂😂

Thursday and Shiplate for the not so costcutter, costcutter, brrakfast was much improved this week, 4.7, nice one mark. And the post match burgers are very good im told.😉😉. One no show today so 18 today, into the bag of doom and 14b for me, so i moved one swim from last match, carp only today, so pellets meat and corn only, waggler for 25 mtrs, pellet up and down at 14 mtrs, meat short and a margin corn rig.

I thought I would do ok for today, ut i was a bit wrong, ive ended up with 97lb which was good enough for 4th, so no pickup, top on the day was bristol float maker Ryan jordan on peg 11 with 162lb, i would like to say he caught on one of his durable floats , but no i think he was using a prototype bomb that he will be putting into production shortly, a picture with him waving one of his pound coins i had to give back to him on this occasion.

Silvers went to dave wride again with a brilliant 50+lb from peg 3, pic and weigh sheet below.

Sunday and it was the first round of the short pole match, chilton trinity woodland lake for this match, matches at this venue are 13 mtr pole limit, and i think it paid off as there was over 1600lb of fish caught with a 54 lb average, so i think the increase in pole length really helped, as for me ive had a nice peg drawn for me by dave lewis in the shape of 14, old peg 15 ,so a nice left hand margin, it wasnt good for me , ive had one shallow fish in front which was double figures, and 9 more from the margin, but unluckily for me they were of a small size, my ten fish went 66lb for 5th in the section, ryan shipp won the section and came 2nd with 130lb off peg 17, man on fire at the .mat Sheppard, who won off peg 6 with 140lb of margin caught fish, well done mate, keep it up, weigh sheets below.

Monday morning and im off down the a38 again for the sedges silver,s match, today it was on the canal lake, not normally overly popular, but today, there was 22 fishing so only two pegs left out, bue to the willow fluff building up in the two end pegs at the left hand end, would have liked to have been drawn at the left hand end, bit no peg 55 for me , three pegs from the end , but the wrong end, its been hard ive had three decent skimmers, one small skimmer, one goldfish, one rudd and two bumble bee perch, 3lb 10oz and a dustcloud leaving the carpark, the two anglers to my right both declined to weigh in, steve jackson on my left had 4 skimmers and a decent crucian for 4.14, so a poke in the chest for me, top on the day and a more than comfortable win was rob birch on 63 with 22.6, well done rob.

Three at a time

All a bit short i must admit, i must try and get on top of these blogs 😁😁 Thursday and back to shiplate for the costcutter with an optional superpool. So on site breakfast done which is ok to be fair, 4.35. draw underway and out comes peg 15 for me, tom Thick had won off it at the weekend with 80lb, so hopefully there would be a few carp around, so i set up a shallow rig for slapping, a depth rig for out in front, a short meat rig, a margin rig for down towards the end bank,

and a wag for pellet on the deck at 25mtrs, it all looked good, the only other angler i could really see was roy ede over on peg 1.

It was a hard day, one skimmer on the short line, a few more on the pellet on the deck and a couple of small ( by this lakes standards) carp , nothing shallow, had a couple on the wag, again smallish, and four down the edge, my 8 carp and near double figures of silvers went 58lb which surprisingly was top on the day, just beating merv clark on 11 by a few pounds, steve kedge won the silvers from peg 4 with over 30lb,

Sunday and we had a shop outing on the sea for a team "bonding" day on teddy boy charters with mikey out of minehead , it was a good day with plenty of banter and plenty of bites, 9 differnt species caught, rays, huss .doggies, cod,bass, hounds conger, the day will be documented on the shops Facebook page so i wont dwell on it here, but it was a mkst enjoyable day.

Monday, chis fox booked acorn for a match, 26 max , and it filled up quickly. really good breakfast in the wessex flyer in whitchurch, 4.65(no tinned tomatoes), only one no show , down to excess alchohol, we all new where we wanted to be, so after pulling out peg 25 for myself i wasnt to confident, i had long time friend alan oram to my right on 23 , and craig challingsworth on 26 to my left , with bob "bunghole"gullick living up to his name and drawing peg 5 we.would all be fishing for second , and thats what happened ,bob won with 170+, well done second with 140+ was matty hamilton on peg 1 , and third spot went to glen Calvert on 19 with 116lb, top silvers was kev perry on 17 with 37lb, and sue faiers showing better half paul hiw its meant to be done with 25lb off peg 20, me , well i had 68lb(nearly) for absolutely nowhere at all, always next week 😂😂