Gary wall memorial match Landsend fishery

This is the annual match to remember Gary , who was another good bloke taken to early by that dreadful big C, how come it never seems to take the horrible people out there,
Well it was a bit of a disappointing turnout with only 13 fishing, due mainly.to all the matches on this bank holiday, but with some good anglers in attendance including man of the moment Craig Edmunds it was never going to be an easy win, after the normal 4.9 breakfast cooked by di, and delivered to the table by olive .
Time for the draw and I let Paul elmes draw for me and I ended up on peg 19, a good peg and very often a winning peg, for company I had Paul elmes on 18 and an old friend in the shape of Martin Alexander on peg 21. I wheeled my kit to the peg and surveyed the scene, water is still badly needed , and a bit of a trim is also required , but Mike has been busy with his plant sales, so hopefully the selling and show season is coming to an end so all should be good soon.

With the levels right down the island shelf was only 6 inches deep, now normally I enjoy this type of fishing and I can normally sort it out to catch in this depth of water, so I was confident, doh.
Also I had a good right hand margin with about 12 inches of water which is more than deep enough.

I also set up a rig for corn at 5 mtrs , just for a change from meat really, at the start I fed the island and margin with 6 mm pellet and started on the corn line, carp turned up in the margin and on the island, but I stuck with the corn for over 30 mins, losing one carp and landing one aswell, and that was the end of my short corn line, the rest of the match was spent over on the island and down the edge trying to sort out how to get these highly visible carp to take my hookbait correctly, there were plenty of fish feeding in the 6inch deep water, but getting one in the mouth was all but impossible, talk about hard, plus it doesn't help when Paul on 18 was catching a few on the other side of the gap, it may of helped him not having a massively undercut island to fish to, laying the rig up the flat bank was probably a help, then to make matters worse he began fishing down his right hand margin towards me , and was emptying it, I couldn't fish that way as the tree/Bush he was fishing up to was right next to my platform, I couldn't even see Paul let alone fish that way, but I could certainly smell him as he is an avid vaper, and it stinks, probably.just as obnoxious as the real thing. Also trig down on generally redundancies peg 24 was sacking so that was the top two taken care of, by the end I had begun to get e few but it was to little to late, I started to get some on the far side, but it was difficult, the best way seemed to be to fish three times the depth and lay the rig in with the wind to keep it all tight and straight, that seemed to work to a degree, so by the end with some of the island and a hand full down the edge so I ended up with 83lb, I did enjoy it as it was a day to work out how to catch these visible wary fish, as expected Paul won it with 205, trig was second with over 180 and Martin rayet on 16 was third with 109, top silver's went to Dave blakemore on peg 11 with a hard won 13lb, full sheet below,

Next Sunday is the last of my short Poe series matches at Chilton trinity woodlands lake, so if anyone reading this can't make, please let me know asap so as I can get a reserve, no shows do make a difference to the payouts on the day and overall, so a txt or call would be appreciated,

Last round float only league

Back to viaduct for this last round, so it was a stop off at cannards for breakfast, with Judith and Jason, very nice to so I will give it a 4.65, must be new owners as the waitresses are smiling instead of crying .
Judith hasn't been with me for a few weeks due to no dog sitter, but she was back today , which was nice.
I let her draw for me and expressed a wish for a peg on Cary, as on Campbell it can turn into a bit of a fish race, and at times there is no chance of getting back into the hunt once you are behind, she didn't disappoint as she pulled 96 out for me, and being on Cary means even if you fall a few fish behind there is always a good chance to catch up due to the size of the fish. For company I had local ace Dan white on 97 and Dave Evans on 95, so nice company today, Dave says very little generally but Dan isn't averse to a bit of banter. I new Dan was going to be fishing long as he enjoys that, swinging a piece of meat around shallow while feeding pellets, normally at 16/17 mtrs, that's not for , far to painful on the elbow and shoulder, so I set pellet rigs for shallow and deep at 14 mtrs, a meat rig for 5 mtrs, and a deep and shallow waggler.
At the start I began on the short meat line as an early mug fish or two can be on the cards, but not today, just one positive pull under on the float, but probably a liner, so 30 minutes in and already a fish behind Dan who had a shallow one, it was down with the short rig and out on the shallow pellet rig, I had three on that in the next hour as did Dan, so not much in it, but as is normal, unless you are prepared to go longer the fish back off out of range, so a look on the pellet wag, and one missed bite on that, so no more about that, the deep wag was next out and and after a hard 30 minutes I began to get some liners and odd bites, never busy and never busy enough to catch Dan who was always at least a couple of fish in front during the match.

By the end I had 8 carp to Dan's 11, all but three of Dan's were on the shallow swinging rig, the other three fell to meat fished at 13 mtrs, I needed a section win to move me up the standings for the overall, but I managed another second behind Dan who had 105lb to my 75lb, three fish behind .
Before I do the results I had a nice surprise at the draw when Clint wojtyla and Shaun kitteridge presented me with a new t shirt, which I wore for the whole match, the pictures tell it all really, but thanks lads it was much appreciated.

Back to the results and top on the day was the universal angler Shaun Townsend with 217.02 from peg 126, catching mainly short on corn.
2nd Tom mangnal on peg 121 with 216.13, and he threw back a tench and a skimmer to use the net for carp.
3rd Dave white on 135 with 185.10
4th Bob gullick on 115 with 174.01
5th Steve Tucker on peg 128 with 160.01
6th Ben hagg on peg 85 with 157.10
Top silver's went to Shaun kitteridge on peg 110 with 34.05
2nd Paul faiers on peg 103 with 27.03
End of league overalls
Craig "trigger"Edmunds with 25 points and 862.03 £285 plus 50 quid for the top weight in the league by a league member, that's three league wins in three years , so really well done to him
2nd Tom mangnal with 25 pts and 650.05 £235
3rd Bob gullick on 24 pts and 652.07 £160
4th me with 23 pts and 681.13 £110
5th Gary o,Shea 23 pts and 603.07 £70
6th Dave romain 23 pts and 528.11 £50
Well that's it for another year, thanks ever one for turning up and the reserves for helping out, also a really big thanks to Steve Evans who does all the sums during the league, I don't think it would run as smoothly without him, all those who fished the league this year will get first option to fish again next year, so if you can all let me know as soon as it would be a great help, ta.

Portishead

After getting a few jobs done on Saturday morning Judith and me were off to the Marina again, it was certainly a lot hotter and brighter than our last  few visits. We decided to try on the pleasure centre side first of all , but apart from one quick bite it was very quiet, there were a few other anglers along the bank but no one had anything, so we upsticks and go around the other side where the bottom seems a lot more rocky.
I soon had a nice little go by and we were both getting bites , but they are hard to connect with.

And Judith soon got on the scorecard with a similar size mini,

I'm never going to tell anyone these little fish are rod benders, but its a bit addictive, trying to connect with all the bites is the biggest part of the challenge. We soon had a couple of visitors in the shape of Craig Edmunds and his daughter India, who is growing up fast, they stopped in on there way back from clevedon open air pool where they had a very successful crabbing session, 38 was the final tally, well done to them. Trig was soon on the rod and finding it hard to connect.

In fact he missed about ten bites before he managed a mini of his own, but he did agree its a bit addictive, and I think I can see him doing a bit with India as its a short session fix which kids and all the family can enjoy.

Trig wandered off and we were back on the mini hunt, Judith had a nice little corkwing wrasse which is another first from this venue.

So that gave her bragging rights on the species list from here, but I soon got that back with a nice flounder of nearly a pound, which gave a good account of its self on the super light little HTO .5g to 8g rock fish rods we use.

So another interesting few hours spent doing a type of fishing all the family can enjoy, plus it was only a short drive for the spicy burger in McDonalds, LOL
Off for the last round of the float only league at viaduct on Sunday then the Gary wall memorial match at Landsend fishery on Monday, and its going to be hot.

Short pole series, penultimate round

After the 4.5 breakfast at the copper kettle cafe in w s m it was off to Chilton trinity woodlands lake for this round, enjoyed the normal warm welcome from Tom and misha, nicer fishery owners you would be hardpressed to find,
It turned out I had three missing today, one was a reserve who wasn't allowed out at the last minute, another told me after the last match he couldn't make this one, but the chances of me remembering by the time I drove out of the Carpark was very slim, and the other I didn't know wasn't coming as he txted me in the week and assured me he would be there, but things happen beyond control sometimes, so I will wait to hear on that one , so I had readjust the money for the Dailey pay out aswell as the end of league payouts,
I tried to get Lilly (Tom and misha,s daughter ) to draw for me, but she went all shy on me , so mum had to do it, peg 11 for me then today, no complaints as peg 12 is always left out as its a bit close, also two of the pegs not drawn were 13 and 14, Adrian Jeffery was next to my left on 15,so plenty of room to draw from, needless to say I had a bit of stick, but I'm not fat , I got thick skin.
And it was that quiet along the bank I even had rabbits out on the bank feeding.

To my right was the oldest swinger in Bridgewater , Mike west on 10,
Rigs today were a deep and shallow pellet rig for 5 mtrs , the deep one would no for the topkit meat rig, a shallow one for the same length, and a margin pellet rig and another for the front leg of the empty peg (12).
I fed all lines and went out on the shallow rig as its common here to get some mug fish early, I did hook two in the first 20 mins, but they both came off, the first one was definitely fouled but the second was in the right place, by the end of the first hour I had caught one on the deck, Mike had 4 in the net by now, all on paste. Also Glen Bailey opposite had had a few on the same, but no one was getting it alight, although bela bakos on peg 2 seemed to have the most.
 After that it went quiet, but I kept plugging away on the deep rig, catching odd fish, by the halfway mark I had about the same as several others, including Joe McMahon on 33 who I was having a three quid side bet with as he was confident of getting his last three back off me in one go, and it was touch and go until I went down the edge and to the empty pallet , the last ninty minutes were my best, where I went from an also ran to possibly winning, I thought I had about 120lb , but I overclicked a bit as I ended with 110lb, but it was still enough for first spot, with bela running me closest with just over the ton, so a double win weekend, very nice to, I think all the room definitely helped, but I do my best to ensure the pegs are full, but today was one of those days when it went a bit pear shaped.
1st me with 110.4

2nd bela bakos on 2 with 101.4
3rd glen(3pots) Bailey on 27 with 88.3
4th John white on 28 with 74.2
5th Jason Radford on peg 32 with 70.13
And 6th place went to Joe McMahon next to Jason with 70.7, lol done by 6oz off the next peg, and he had to hand over 3 quid to me,

Silver's went again to Dave Lewis on peg 25 with 24.10 of mainly skimmers on worm, well done to him,

2nd in silver's went to Mike Nicholls on peg 3 with over 300 small things for 18.11, even Mike had trouble identifying some of his catch as he had to ask so we could tell him what it was.
Last float only league next week at viaduct, then on the bank holiday Monday I am running the Gary wall memorial match at Landsend fishery, to ring txt or msg me.to book in, it will be a 9am draw.

Landsend Saturday open0

Before today's fishing, here's my league dates for next year
Short pole series
13/5/18 todber manor, hillview lake
15/7/18 Chilton trinity woodlands lake
12/8/18 todber manor hillview lake
9/9/18 Chilton trinity woodlands lake
Float only league
27/5/18 viaduct fishery
10/6/18 Landsend fishery
1/7/18 todber manor hillview and home ground
22/7/18 shiplate farm
19/8/18 sedges
26/8/18 viaduct
There is also a Saturday silver's league at Avalon
2/9/17
16/9/17
21/10/17
4/11/17
11/11/17
18/11/17
Ring Vic Bush to book in on 07977210078
Back to today and  after di,s normal 4.75 breakfast it was draw time, only a dozen fishing so plenty of room, I was second into the draw and out comes 21, I havnt been in this area for a long time, but its normally good so no complaints from me, for company I had Martin rayet on 22 and Mark Walsh on 19.

It all looks nice and green , but a bit to much for me to be honest, but Mike has got plans for some serious pruning.
4 rigs today, a couple of pellet ones for across, one on top of the shelf in the real shallow water. And one just off in the slightly less shallower water, a meat rig for 5 mtrs and a pellet rig to fish down to my right towards the empty peg (20).
I won't bore you to much with the details, but it was a slow start , but tilt did pick up in the second half and towards the end I could get into the margins quick enough, the meat line only gave me two carp and a bream, the far bank was solid in everyone's peg who fed it, but the fish were extremely cagey today, they were happy to eat all you could chuck at them, but the pellet with the hook was left mainly alone, a few did make a mistake , but it was the margin in the last 45 minutes sealed it for me, I put 43 lb in that net in the last 45 minutes, at the end I thought I had about 115lb and was really close as I had 117lb exactly, which was first on the day, just pushing Daniel Craig's stuntman (Pete nurse) into second with 95.1 off peg 15, with Joe McMahon coming in 3rd with 86lb, that's a hatrick of nuggets off him.

Full weigh sheet below, rod Wooten won the silver's off peg 11 with 14lb.

Short pole tomorrow at Chilton trinity, a bit less wind is forecast so hopefully a bit easier day.

Two match weekend again

I must say I am rather enjoying having Saturday's and Sunday's off work, so this week it was off to Todber manor with Chris fox again, after a nice breakfast at cannards(4) it was off to the fishery. High twenties fishing , and to be honest I don't mind where I draw as plenty of bites are virtually guaranteed, well into the draw and out comes 47 on hillview, one away from flyer 48 which was occupied by me OLDER mate , one David roper,

I set up a rig to fish pellet on the deck at 5 and 11 mtrs, as it was a bit breezy, a meat rig for up the slope to one side at about 4 mtrs, and a margin rig, but I never expected that to work, as it seems you need a bit of space to let the margin happen, so no more of that then, also the meat line was a waste, I did have a few fish at the start on the 5 mtr line, but the barley straw from the marginal bales seem to have built up at the bottom of the nearside slope making it impossible to keep the hook clean, so most of my match was spent fishing at 11/13 mtrs, mainly on the deck, although I did stop and set up a shallow rig just over halfway through as Mark Illingworth on peg 45 was catching f1,s shallow with regular monotony, again that never happened either for me , I did get a few , but roach and small skimmers were proving a pain, so I stuck in the main with banded pellet on the deck, I did end up with 54lb , so it was a day of plenty of bites, weigh sheets below, with Jack stamp coming out on top with 158lb off peg 41, looking at the results as a whole it seemed a bit of room today was a definite advantage.

Onto Sunday and after another nice breakfast at the copper kettle cafe, (4.5) it was off to the fishery with Jason Radford, it is without a doubt one of the best kept fisheries in the area, and if Tom mangnal had his way it would have even less foliage around it,
19 fishing today so I left all the balls in the bucket and what was left was it then, I got the draw underway and let Clint wojtyla draw for me , hmmmm peg 13 was my peg for the day, not one of the desired corners, no

 , Clint saved one of those for himself in the shape of peg 10, for company I had Dave Evans on peg 14 and long time friend and coffin dodger Martin Alexander on 12, it was good to see him out with us today, even if he can't hear a thing and just told me to nod or shake my head to any questions he might ask.

Set up pretty much the same as last week, a pellet wag, a deep and shallow pellet rig for 14 mtrs, a meat fig for 5 mtrs and a margin rig. At the start I began on the wag and it panned out pretty much the same as last week, I hook 4 and landed three, losing one in a snag about halfway back, Martin rayet on peg 11 had much the same, the only person with more was Joe McMahon on peg 7 again who was getting a few shallow, as the match went on Martin on 11 kept sneaking a few in, so it looked as though he was looking good to win, but I kept feeding the long pole line with 6mm pellets and with about two hours to go the peg g came to life a bit, I had a few quick one shallow before the disappeared but the deep rig began to produce, foulers were a bit of a problem but I had several in the mouth, the short meat line gave me one carp and a skimmer, I was always a bit behind Martin, also Leon Hubbard on peg 1 was catching towards the end, with peg 20 not drawn , Clint on the other corner (10) was also enjoying a late burst, in between trying for squirrels, I thought I may just scrape 120lb at the end but I over estimated slightly as I only had 112.1. Martin rayet won with 135.1, catching mainly slapping along the end bank, so well done matey.

2nd was Leon Hubbard on peg 1 with 116.15
3rd me with 112.1
4th Clint wojtyla on peg 10 with 83.9
5th Joe McMahon on peg 7with 73.15, and another quid from his piggy bank for me.

6th Tom mangnal on peg 2 with 63.4
Silver was won by mat tomes on peg 15 with 28.7, mainly on soft pellet over groundbait.

Next week its round 3 of the short pole series at Chilton trinity woodlands lake, if you can't make it please let me know asap so I can try and get a reserve, many thanks.

Penultimate float only league, plus a bit.

Before I get to float only league, a bit of a word about Saturday. Me , Judith and our youngest son Jamie decided to go and do some drop shotting and plastic chucking on the Bridgewater and taunton canal , at huntworth, so we parked in the boat and anchor spud, had a coffee then got the rods out, apart from a 2lb poke for Jamie, it was another epic fail, lots of weed to contend with which made keeping the lures clean was impossible, but we gave it a go,

We decided to shoot over to the ksd  for a quick Chuck, we ended up at bradney bridge, and that was just as hard, I had a perch and the other two blanked, well it was more of a perchlet to be honest.

Back to today, and another full house with 40 fishing over both lakes, tile and brick, after a nice breakfast at the copper kettle cafe it was off to the fishery,
Got the draw underway and let des shipp draw for me, peg 6 on brick, in the middle of the lake .

 I would have preferred one of the corners but there were some proper drawbags out today, so trig on one , Scott puddy on 10 and corner specialist Tom mangnal on 11, Clayton Hudson was on 20 but that's a hard peg,
I was in a McMahon sandwich with Joe to my left and his dad Martin to my right, rigs today were a deep and shallow pellet rig for 14 mtrs, a meat rig for 6 mtrs, a pellet rig for my right hand margin by some cover, and last of all a pellet waggler,
On the all in I fed all lines and started on the wag, it was a bit quiet to start , by the end of the first hour I had had 4 bites , hit three and missed one , but three good carp put me ahead of the anglers either side, but it was never going to happen on the wag. So a switch to the pole after the first hour, there some fish about, but never enough to really trouble (or so I thought) Scott puddy up on 10,  I had one carp and some skimmers on the short line, two down the edge on pellet, and the rest on the pellet on the deck at 14 mtrs, I thought I may have just done enough to reach 100lb but fell a bit short as I weighed 98.8 which was enough for second in section behind Scott who had 115.2, so I was only 2 fish adrift really, but a second in section will do.
First on the day was that man again Craig Edmunds on peg 1 with 151.12, catching mainly on hard pellets against the end bank.

2nd Bob gullick on peg 27 with 132lb
3rd Dave romain on peg 39 with 117.3
4th Scott puddy on peg 10 with 115.2
5th Dave Evans on peg 40 with 113.10
6th Tom mangnal on peg 11with 99.3
Silver's
Glen Calvert on peg 9 with 39.2
Chris Fox on 4 with 26.4
K/o final
Craig Edmunds 115.12 £100
Dave romain 117.3 £75
Shawn kitteridge 92.14 £50
Gary o,Shea 87.10, £sweet fa
And I won a quid off young Joe.

I also won a quid off Shaun Townsend as he went over the 100lb net limit and lost the lot tut tut, but he took it well, it seemed to upset him more losing a quid to me  rather than the 30 quid section money,