Sunday open, Stafford moor fishery.

Went down on Saturday with my official photographer and we had a room booked in the duke of York in eddesliegh, which as anyone who has fished much at Stafford will know it is one of the best places to stay, the rooms are clean and com

fy, but more importantly the food and beer is generally very good, and thus occasion wasn't any different, the food was excellent and I even had a few pints of some beer I had never heard of but it was nice, even Judith had some .
Up in the morning after a decent sleep and down for breakfast which just carried on the quality of the night before, so for this it gets an overall 4.8.
Dave Stockton was in the duke with his friend Lee , Dave said he fancied peg 3 on tanners, and he only drew it, I went in about halfway through and pulled out peg 13, going on past form I remember it being a good margin peg, so I was hopeful of a few, plus it is one of the shortest walks on the complex, so Judith was happy, as it was raining and due to keep doing so all day I soon had the Brolly up for her with her seat under it, plus there was quite a stiff breeze blowing left to right and slightly in.
I soon had my kit sorted out, with a margin rig for pellet each side, a meat rig for 5 mtrs and a pellet rig for 13 mtrs which was as far as I decided to go due to the weather.

On the all in I potted some pellets on the long line and into each margin, and threw a few pieces of meat onto the short line, first drop on the long line saw me attached to a very angry fouler which eventually broke me. I had another one on shortly after which I landed, amazing the difference it makes when you hook them in the mouth.

That was it on the carp front on the long line for a while , the skimmers moved in and they were hard to hit on hard 8mm pellet, I decided to try the meat line a bit earlier than I intended , but I was rewarded with a near double figure common,

 shortly followed by a nice mirror, but that was my lot on that for a while, looked down the edge left an right and had a fish off each, I had to keep moving around the swim to keep fish coming, it was never manic but it was just a case of nicking a fish and moving somewhere else and trying to do the same, I heard someone say Dave on 3  was catching well so his feeling from the night before was looking right , I had one more carp on the long line during the match but most of my fish came from the margins and the short meat line , on the all out I new I had over 100lb but not as much as Dave on 3 who reckoned on 140 plus, the weigh in started on 36 on tanners and 96 was top weight by the time they got to me , But I went into the lead with 133.8 .

I didn't stay top for long as Dave Stockton put 165.13 on the scales for first on the day, catching all his fish on the shallow wag,

on woodpecker Nigel Rhodes on peg 18 had 135.11, meaning I ended up 3rd on the day
4th was Andy dare on 16 woodies with 106.15
5th Paul Heywood 2 on woodies with 103.14
6th on 19 woodies Mike Newman had 99.7
I must say Paul and jo  have done a brilliant job on the fishery, it looks really good and it looks as though they have a bright future down in Devon, I am looking forward to my next visit already, but due to other commitments it won't be for a few weeks at least.
Back to something more local I am running a costcutter at Landsend on Tuesday so ring msg or txt me to book in.

Tuesday costcutter acorn fishery

Back to acorn fishery this Tuesday, but I will be back at Landsend fishery next Tuesday for another costcutter so give me a ring or text to book in , 9.30 draw.
Stopped off at the bridge in Hatton for breakfast and was joined by Adriano Mercato and his fiance Rebecca hope , the breakfast was ok again 4.25. Even adj had a big one as he reckoned he has lost a bit of weight, I'm not sure Rebecca agrees.

Adriano was heard to say he would by Rebecca a new  if she drew peg 6 for him as it was next to his car and sheltered from the icy wind, and as her fiesta is older than her it would be the least he could do, so she was first into the bag of doom and lo and behold out come peg 6, well the last time I saw anyone back pedal as quick as adj it was a trick cyclist at the circus, so indolent think she is holding her breath.
I went into the draw and pulled out ball 27, stu barnett,s favourite peg, to ensure he doesn't draw it anymore he has moved back to Australia.
On Sunday there was a big weight off it  but I think the pump was running, but the pump wasn't going today.
I set up rigs to fish maggot to my rightt at the bottom of the margin shelf and straight out in front at 9mtrs, and a pellet rig for to my left to empty pallet 26, and to my right in the same depth, and lastly a pellet rig for across against the island.
At the start I fed some maggots at 9 mtrs in front and down the slope to my right, some 6mm hard pellet to my left and right and some of the same across to the island.

Starting on the maggot lines to begin with I never had a bite at 9mtrs, so a switch to the inside maggot  line produced one small carp of about 2lb , a couple of skimmers and some carp fry, so going no where fast to be honest, a try down each margin on pellet gave me a couple of better carp but it still wasn't quick enough, all the while I had been feeding with a catty across to the island , hard 6,s, so I put an 8mm in the band and shipped across with my favourite float on, a .1g drennan as4 , I havnt found a better float for fishing in about 12 inches of water, and I never looked back, even with the icy wind blowing into me the carp seemed to want to in the shallow water, and they wanted some food, also the ducks and ducklings appreciated the food, this is a venue where I have found it an advantage to have duck activity in the swim, the carp don't mind and it helps disguise the pole above there heads, my swim got better and better, from going nowhere fast, by the end of the match I had 3 carp nets in and I had at least 140lb, by the time the scales got to me Lee Waller on peg 22 was winning with 63lb, but my fish went 161.6 which was first on the day, Mike Owens was on 33 and ended up 2nd with 67lb, and the silver's went to ed wynne on peg 9 with 14lb, weigh sheet below.

Off to Stafford moor at the weekend, havnt fished there for a few years now and I am looking forward to getting back there, going down on Saturday with Judith and staying in the duke of York in eddesliegh, nice pub with excellent food , so we are looking forward to that.

Viaduct spring league rnd 1

This is a bit of a must fish series as the standard of angler is high, and its quite well attended with 54 fishing over Campbell, Cary and lodge, so after a 3.75 breakfast in cannards it was off to the fishery, got into the draw queue about halfway and hoped for a draw on Campbell, but no I go and pull out peg 71 on lodge, definitely not a dream draw, Chris Fox was on it yesterday and really struggled.for two carp, and as there is no silver's pay out in this league it was really a bit of a balls out carp or bust match, for company I had callum Craig on 73 and Nick ewers on 70, the rest of my section was Terry leney on 69, dick bull on 68 , Fred Roberts on 66 and Steve Tucker on 64, so three corners to try and beat,
Three pole rigs, a meat rig for 5 mtrs, a pellet rig for on the deck at 14/16 mtrs and a stalker as there were a few cruisers showing.
And a waggler to fish pellet on the deck at 30 mtrs.
At the start I cupped some 6 mm pellets on the long pole line and fired some more o it to 30 mtrs, then began on the short meat line, fully expecting an early mug fish or two, but 30 mins and no bites I was a bit perturbed especially as callum already had a couple of carp, only had a skimmer and a hybrid after 90 minutes, so things really were looking bad, Nick to my left was in the same boat but he did have one carp, so it was out on the deep wag rig, not really expecting to much, but I had two bites very quickly , landing a couple of near double figure carp.

To say it was hard was an understatement, bites were few and far between, the whole lake was fishing hard, Bob Giles over on 59 caught well early on, but he wasn't in my section, callum seemed to be getting some but apart from Nick to my left I couldn't see the rest of my section, I could hear an occasional splash from Steve Tucker over on 64, it was a match of trying to steal a fish wherever I could, and by the end I had managed 8 carp and two decent skimmers and a small hybrid, I had 8 on the wag, three on the stalker rig and one on the short meat line towards the end, thought I had 70lb ish but fully expected to be beaten by at least Steve on 64 and callum on 73, the section actually went to Steve Tucker on 64 and then I tied for second in the section with callum as we both had 77.15, the other section on lodge was won by Bob Giles on 59 with 105lb and Chris Fox was second with 73lb, as expected Campbell was the place to be with Charlie Dalton coming out on top with 235.10 on peg 115.
2nd Chris Davis on 127 with 225.13 and in 3rd place was Mark wynne on 119 with 218.3
Weigh sheets below

Had a nice day sat in the sunshine with Judith, she is one in a million, I can't think of many women who would spend there 34 th wedding anniversary sat by a lake watching here worse half fishing, here's to the next 34 🍻

Tuesday costcutter Landsend fishery

Trying to get a costcutter going at this lovely little fishery is proving to be a bit difficult, I can't seem to get people to change or try something different, so only 8 fishing today, good to see Dave blakemore making the effort, and at 83 if he can do it why not a few more. I will try again in a fortnight and see what happens, brekkie in shipham today and it was ok, so it's a 4 from me .
Got the draw sorted and I took the last one, the picture below shows the inform number lol.

It's been the inform peg recently, Shaun Townsend drew it on Sunday and won, and Rob Wootton drew it the day before that and won, so no pressure then.
I set up two meat rigs , one for 6 mtrs and one for down the edge, a pellet rig for across on the island, another for 14 mtrs to my left and a stalking rig as there were odd fish cruising about, but infant to hopeful of mugging any as this venue doesn't seem to have switched on to it properly yet, at the start I began on the stalker, but it took about 10 mins to get my first fish, and I caught that when I wasn't looking, I was at with the rig in the water looking the other way at an approaching ghostie when the pole was pulled round by a good common of about 9lb.

Just after that I had a near ten pound fish, but that was my lot on that rig, and as it turned out the match was a definite game of two halves, the 5 mtr line on meat which is normally a banker only gave me a tench and a roach, and I only had two carp from the margin, very strange when you consider the short meat line and margins have been good lately, but every day is different. The last two hours of the match were my best when do some fish turned up on the island shelf, on banded 8mm pellet over 6,s , I was being beaten by Chris Fox on 13 and Dave blakemore on 18 for most of the match , but the far side saved me and I ended up with 102lb for the win, Chris was second with 74 and Dave had 73.7 for third, weigh sheet below.

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Landsend open, Easter sunday

Back to Landsend fishery again today for another open, only 22 fishing today, not as many as last week but still ok considering it was a busy weekend for matches.
I'm also running a costcutter here on Tuesday if anyone fancies it, 9.30 draw as normal, but no breakfast at the fishery, so lillypool cafe it is then.
No nice to see Dave "the drain" Lewis back on the bank, he's been missed, and a bit of sadness today as Stuart Barnett is heading back to oz in a weeks time , but I've got a feeling he may not stay away to long, hopefully not, but whatever you do matey, Judith and me wish you all the best.

Back to the draw and I had the last ticket, peg 62 was my home for the day, not a bad peg as far as lake three goes, but it is a shallow one with barely 3 foot anywhere, I set up a pellet rig for across to the island and down to my left towards a tree with a reed bed just behind it, a meat rig for my left hand margin and a meat rig for 6 mtrs and by a tree to my right (same depth).
I took a picture of my peg which seems to have upset my official photographer.

At the start I began on the 6 mtr meat line hoping to get a couple of early mug fish, and I did luckily a couple of 5lb fish in the first 15 minutes,

There were a few fish on the surface , but they were proving difficult to mug, they were mostly moving through to quickly, I did manage get a couple during the match , but plenty more wouldn't play ball. Also the wind picked right up during the first half of the match making the island nigh on impossible to fish against with the rig getting blown through, I did get a few f1,s over there but lost three foulers as the rig was blowing into the fish, so I binned that one. The remainder of the match was spent swapping between the three meat lines and down to my left towards the tree and reeds, which was a bit torrid as you had to put some serious strain on things to stop the fish getting into the reeds and roots, but the tournament was well up for it.
The left hand margin was a bit of a disappointment as I only had one bite and fish from there, my best line was definitely the 6 mtr meat line, but you couldn't get two bites in a row, so it was a case of rotating around the lines, 13 mtrs to my left towards the tree and reeds , the tree at three mtrs to my right and the 6 mtr line, never fast and furious but there were bites to be had Southgate good enough then, no one was walking about so obviously there were a few fish being caught, especially by stu Barnett on 46 who was catching steadily down his margins, but I never had a clue as to how the match lake was fishing. By the end I was admitting to 110lb but Judith reckoned I had 115, but I new I was never going to beat stu, and that's how it ended with stu being top weight on our lake with 139.11 to my 116.13.
The match lake fished well with taught finish with Shaun Townsend winning on the day with 143.14 on peg 15 catching on meat mainly in his margins
2nd lean Hubbard on 18 with 141.13 again on meat but he did have a dozen fish on pellet across to the island before the wind mucked it up for him
3rd stu bar net on 46 with 139.11
4th Gordon canning on 22 with 124.2
5th me 116.13
6th Adrian Jeffery on 19 with 107.12.
Top silver's weight went to Martin pettiffer on 13 with 25.12
So all in all it fished well so looking forward to Tuesday, but it looks as though we are going to get a frost Monday night , but I don't think it will make to much difference.

Tuesday costcutter, ivy house fishery

Fancied a change today, so me and Chris Fox found ourselves on the m4 towards Swindon, with the schools shut for Easter it was an easy drive so we arrived in plenty of time for breakfast ,(4.25).
Turned out there were 18 fishing so Andy put 12 on the main lake and 6 on the canal, as some of his regulars were moaning about the canal being in Andy asked for volunteers to go on the canal, so I plummed for the recently renovated canal as I was guaranteed plenty of bites, as did Chris, into the draw tin and I pulled out ball 4, so a shot fish walk. I had for company Ralph on 2 and Val on 6, both regulars so they had a bit more idea than me.
I set up rigs to fish maggot on my topkit in front of my net's and corn off to my right on top 5 with corn, a deep pellet rig for down the middle in 5 1/2 foot of water and a couple of pellet rigs for across, one against the grass and the other just down the shelf a bit.

On the whistle I fed corn to my right a big handful of maggots just past my net, fired some hard 4mm pellet across and fed the same size by hand down the middle, which is where I started, it didn't take to long to get a bite and land a small carp, and they are quite small, between 3 and 5 to the pound, for some reason the bites down the track didn't last for long, so I was soon going across with the slightly deeper rig, bites straight away, but I felt they were shallower , so I went onto the against the grass rig, and again had bites instantly, but after a while and feeding with a catty , they were coming up in the water, so it was off the box and I made up a rig to fish just over half depth, a fishery rule is that you must fish with at least 12 inches deep, which at times is to deep, especially when you can see better carp slurping off the grass, but that's the rules and its the same for all.
I was getting a bite or indication most drops but these small carp can be a bit tricky at times, I was told you really needed some bream to boost your weight as there are plenty in here and as they go to 4lb one fish is worth a lot of small carp, so during the last couple of hours I kept trying the two short lines and fair enough I did have a few good bream up to 4lb, by the end I never had a clue as to what I had caught, I have enough gauging big fish at the mo, so these little fish I had no chance, I did get three better carp up to 3 1/2 lb and some better f1 type thingy,s , but I was still surprised when my carp went over 54lb and my silver's over 23, for first on the canal, being a costcutter Andy pays only sections with first for biggest weight and top silver's weight.
Weigh sheet for the match below.

So a nice day if not a bit busy, Andy runs a costcutter every Tuesday, normally on the main lake lake unless numbers dictate, but he does run a costcutter every Thursday on this canal.
He also has some opens over various lakes so give him a ring to book in.
I'm running an open again at Landsend on Sunday still got a few spaces so get in touch to book in, also I am going to run a costcutter at the fishery on Tuesday, so again give me a ring to book in, both matches will be a 9.30 draw.
Back to ivy house and Alan oram was top weight on that lake with nearly 38lb of skimmers and one lone carp for a 44lb total, pic below of Alan playing a carp which took his bare hook while shotting his float, it was considerably bigger than the one he caught in the match.

After th a match we were treated to some of Karen's finest homemade scones with fresh cream and jam, definitely a 5+ for that one , thanks Karen,

Landsend open

Not a bad turnout today with 28 booked in , but a no show meant 27, still ok these days for an open match,
As is now normal it was an excellent breakfast at the fishery (4.75), quick to the table and hot.
Mike let us use match and number 3 lake, so I put 14 on match and 13 on 3,
Stu Barnett drew for me and handed me peg 6, happy with that as its on the gap in the island, for company.I had Gary o,Shea on 5 and Mark Radford on 8, the only other anglers I could see were Martin pettiffer on 18 and Ron hardiman on 19.
Only three rigs today, a meat rig for 6 mtrs, a stalking rig and a pellet rig for over on the island shelf in about 12 inches of water, where I would be feeding hard 6,s and fishing with a banded 8mm. It didn't take long and with the promise of the hottest day of the year so far it was all looking good.

On the whistle and with a few fish floating around I started with the stalker rig , I missed one first put in, but I had one on a few minutes later, which was duly netted, but apart from one more a little while later they didn't really seem interested , so it was a day spent mainly on the depth (12 inches ) over on the island shelf. I ended up having a bit of a peg to peg duel with Gary on 5, it all seemed a bit nip and touch really but fancied I had a few bigger carp than him, so I was confident of being ahead of him but it never pays to get complacent when you are trying to beat an angler like Gary, but it was a nice day with the sun beating down and plenty of fish. With several nearly getting into double figures.

And Judith was having a nice day , its the first trip for a long time there was no need for any thermals, including the pink boots.

I've had a nice day ending up with 31 carp including half a dozen on the short meat line which were of a better average size also one side of nearly three pounds from the meat line, Gary reckoned I had probably beaten him by 30lb, I wasn't convinced it was that much but I thought I had beaten him though, also Ryan Radford over on 16 had been doing well and lake three can throw up some good weights , but I needn't have worried as my 31 carp and the lonely ide went 185.10, and I lost 2lb from a net AGAIN, doh
2nd was Gary o,Shea with 150.2
3rd Chris Fox on 41 with 133.02
4th Ryan Radford on 16 with 132.13
5th Joe McMahon on peg 1 with 117.7
6th Shawn Townsend on 46 with 110.7
Silver's
Martin pettiffer on 18 with 15.2.
Judith liked this peg today as there is a bench up at the top of the slope behind the peg which gives a good view of the lake.

I'm running another one there next Sunday so to book in txt or contact me or ring Mike at the fishery to book in, same as this week , 9.30 draw fish 11 till 5.

Barston lake

Travelled the 98 miles with Chris Fox to fish this fundraiser for the English disabled squad as they get no funding, so a good cause, on the way the good old Toyota blue bus passed a bit of a milestone.

240000 miles , a good advert for the engine, I think the body work will give up before the engine.
We had breakfast just up the road from the fishery in a premier inn, and it was good, starters, mains and afters for brekkie, (4.5).
Got to the fishery for the draw which is held in the golf club, all very civilized.
Into the trophy draw tin and out comes peg 12, short walk but all info see me to say it wasn't to good unless you can cast a method feeder and wafter/popup 90 mtrs to the 18 green which is on an island, as I never had the tools or ammunition to do it I was going to fish the pole and wag then with pellet long on the pole and on the wag and meat at 6 mtrs.

Well I'm not going to wax lyrical about my day as to call it disappointing really would be an understatement, I had a skimmer and a small carp on the pole at 14 mtrs , missed a bite on the wag and had a late 3lb bream on the meat for the grand total of about 6lb, not a lot to do really, unless you like a bit of plane spotting as the lake is under the flight path for the east Midlands airport, so all manner of planes were landings all day.

It fished really hard all round with only 40lb needed to win, lots of people had less than me , it was definitely a day for long range feeder fishing, so that let me out it then. Chris had a worse day than me with one skimmer and one roach, at least we had the raffle to fall back on , should have known better, we were soon back in the van empty handed .oh well , off to acorn on Tuesday, then down to Landsend on Sunday,

Viaduct fishery fishomania

Booked a day off work for this one , I havnt done one for a few years, and its a real draw bag job with the near end of Campbell being the preferred draw, any way more importantly was the breakfast stop, Judith and me stopped off at Landsend on the way, and it was its normal excellent standard (4.75), also the banter was funny as the mardens death squad were having a knock up on the speci lake.
Any way on to the fishery and my plan to turn up late to ensure I could escape if I drew badly , or I packed up early, I was last into the Carpark today's fishery meter maid , Colin dyer put me right in the entrance. Into the draw queue and I was nearly last and pulled out peg 52 on the match lake , not a lake of choice but at least I would have a days fishing, the lake has a lot of f1,s, carp and skimmers , hard 6,s over 4,s has been working so I set up a rig for on the deck deep and shallow at 14 mtrs, a meat rig for 6 mtrs and one for down the edge, and as the wind wasn't to tricky I set up a wag rod for the pellet across to the island, I treated myself to a new 12foot  drennan acolyte carp waggler rod, and I got to say its a treat to use, light responsive and with with a good action.
I started the match on the 14 mtr line with pellet, but after 45 minutes in, I was still fish less, only a couple of liners so I put it down and picked up the wag, I really wanted to feed 6,s across but a bit of a breeze made it difficult to get them across, so I had to fees a few 8,s instead, I didn't feel it was ideal but needs must.
I started putting a few fish in the net, small carp and f1,s.
I had a nice days fishing , switching between the wag, 6 mtr meat line and the margin, I had my biggest fish for the short meat line in the shape of an 8lb common.

I also had a run of slightly better carp from the margin, but lost one in a snag which upset the applecart as far as my margin went. I did end up with 81lb so I've had a nice day , no complaints.

I had to get the pink wellies in 

Bob Giles came first today off 111 with 178.13, but only just as he lost a net as he went over the 80lb cut off point for nets

2nd lee(mushy) farmer on 78 with 177.11

3rd Craig Edmunds on 131 with 177.8

4th Alex Murray on 97 with 144.3

5th Rob Jones on 113 with 141.12

6th Tony Gilbert on 110 with 139.13

There were 17 weights over 100lb .and in 17 place was Kevin Millard on 44 who was top weight on the match lake so he won my section, aaargh lead chucked, lol well done matey.

Off to Barston tomorrow with Chris Fox for a fundraiser match for the British disabled team, looking forward to it.

Next Sunday I'm running a match at Landsend so ring, txt or message me to book in.