viaduct pole only good friday

these matches are usually very popular and today was no exception as 50 were booked in so we were on cambell, cary and lodge lake, so after a brekikie at the fountain cafe which as judith was with me today she had to pay for as the driver never pays, then it was off to viaduct me with my tackle and judith with her kindle and deckchair
the usual pre match banter was as good as always so good times.
time for the draw and into the hat and out comes 135 which is on the carpark bank of cambell and as i had the end bank to myself i thought it would be ok, even though the meat had been working well i decided on an out and out pellet attack feeding 6,s and fishing 8,s.
i set up a margin rig for each side to the empty pallets, a 4x12 rig for 5 and 14 mtrs and an up in the water rig dut with the bright sunshine and flat calm conditions this might be a non starter, all rigs were on .18 with the usual size 16 b960 , i wont dwell on the margin rig as even though i fed it apart from 2 foulers i never had a bite which is unusual as steve feeds the lake off 136 pallet and i,ve drawn it before and caught well by tyhat pallet but not today oh well.
starting at 5 mtrs on pellet i had a 5lb carp first drop followes by a few more during the next hour then the inside line died so it was out to 14 mtrs but after acouple of liners it was out with the shallow rig and that produced 4 more carp but with it being to flat it was hard going so back out on the deep rig for a couple more , at the halfway mark i had about a dozen fish in the net but it was difficult now but by swapping between the 5 and 14 mtr line i kept adding fish so by the end i had 24 carp in 2 nets and a few silvers in the 3rd net, i had a quick look in one net and thought i would be a bit close to the net limit, but the scales would tell, as usual there were lots of fish to weigh in and it took steve an hour to get to me with several nets over 100lb with alan oram on 111 being best with 166.14, my carp nets went 131.12 with one net a shade under the 70lb and my silvers weighed 10.11 for a total of 142.7 for 6th on the day and a section win by befault.
1st on the day went to alan with his 166.14 with nearly all his fish falling to 10mm meat fished at 5mtrs and into the margins
2nd went to steve denmead on 105 cary with 158.3 again on meat
3rd nick collier on 131 with152.10 again on meat
4th andy(the ginger one)power with152.01
5th stu foale 147.10 on 121
6th t rixon 142.7
all in all a very fair match with no one really running away with and with another pole onle being held on friday 29th which has now become national fishing day its selling out fast so ring the fishery asap or you will miss out tel no01458274022
dont forget your meat though or be like me and not be bothered to cut any but i bet i do next week.

viaduct weds

well i got that wrong today.into the draw bag and out comes what i tried to pass off as peg 18 which is a good island peg on spring lake, which unfortunately wasnt even in as we were on cary and lodge, so i turned the ticket the other way up and headed off for peg 81 which is the other side of the spit where i drew last week. this peg used to be a proper carp flier but it seems to have gone off the boil a bit over the last 2 seasons, fishery manager paul greenwood advised me that it was put in because local angler kieth(mash)masheeder had caught 98lb off it at about this time last year
(mint)perhaps there still there then!!!!!!!!!!! lol. i should have listened to owner steve long who told me to fish 4 and 6mm pellets for skimmers as there a lot there as they like to spawn against the spit. but i got to the peg and the area to my left was black with carp sunbathing, and as i like dapping for them on the pole i got the carp goggles on straight away, big mistake. so i set up a 4x12 on a long line for dapping/shallow rig and 2 4x12 rigs ,one to fish straight out ant one to fish on the deck against the spit, both on .18 with the usual 16 b960 hook, and i set up a .30 meat rig to fish by the monk to my left.
at the styart i cupped in some 6,s out in front and against the spit ,some meat by the monk and then picked up the dapper as there were still fish mooching around on the top, there was one at 8mtrs so i dropped the pellet just in front of it ,it turned to take it dut it misseed thepellet and i think i fouled it in the pec, that was the first one gone then, i managed another one 10 mins later but even though it was in the mouth it came adrift on the way back, by now the cruisers had backed off to my left well out of range of the dapping rig plus there were a lot less about so i think they had in the main backed out of the bay, so i went out to the in front line and the misery continued, with just a couple of liners on the deck so out with the shallow rig and 2 more lost fish, 90 mins in now and nothing in the net but i wasnt to worried as it looked to be quite hard with no one really catching well so i wasnt to worried, so out to the spit and first drop and a 2lb skimmer was on its way to the net , thats when i should have changed and scaled down but did, did i fxxx, i continued with the 6 and 8,s, there were plenty of carp against the spit eating bream spawn but they were tight in and you cant get at them as there is to much debris and foliage, very frustrating, so by the end i had managed 25lb of skimmers and 5 carp for 50lb giving me a 75lb total for no where again, and with john geen winning the silvers with 44lb and tim palant coming second with 31lb i should have listened to steve and gone for skimmers from the start as i would have probably had a good few as there were certainly a lot there , but 8mm hard pellets arent the best approach, there goes that hindsight thing again, and as for the carp well i think i lost about 15 or so which was a bit of a phil harding type of day, i think most were fouled as once hooked they just kept going, i did try and catch shallow against the spit but apart from a good skimmer i couldnt get a carp, if i draw the peg again i will be up the spit and clear the peg out as i lost count of the number of twigs branches and brambles i pulled out, i even lost 2 carp when they shed the hooks into a mass of branches on the bottom, well at least i have cleaned out the peg a bit for whoever draws it on friday as there is a pole only there.
the match was won by tony witcomb on 73 lodge which is the corner peg where he fished paste down to the tree for 180lb ish,
2nd was lewis greenwood on 76 with 160lb with pellet on the lead to start snd some fish shallow on the pole later in the match.
i,m not sure about the rest as dean and me slunked off to subway for a cappuccino and a cookie (comfort eating)

sunday open landsend

a good turn out today 40 ,so we had the use of 3 lakes , speci, match and johns and to be honest i wasnt to sure as to where i wanted to draw but the match lake was looking good as it had thrown up 6 ton plus weights the day before, but martin lenaghan drew for me and handed me 32 which is a corner peg on the speci lake, for company i had fabio next to me on 31 which he has drawn 9 times in the last 2 years and its a proper flier so i felt i would be up against it for the quid side bet.
i set up a 4x14 rig with a 16 b960 to fish on the deck straight out, a 4x10 for against the end bank on the deck and a 4x12 shallow rig as i expected the fish to come up as it was a nice sunny day, all rigs were on .20 xedion rig line with the same 16 hooks but on .18 hooklengths.
i started on the full depth rig straight out at 14 mtrs after cupping in somme 4mm pellets on that line and against the bank then i began firing a few 4,s over the top on both lines, i was soon getting indications which resulted in some decent f1,s and a couple of carp in the first 90 mins but then a couple of liners had me reaching for the shallow rig which was the right move as i soon had a fish and apart from a couple of fish on the deck against the edge most of the rest of the match was spent on the shallow rig feeding 4,s and using an 8 on the hook mainly to avoid the small fish, i finished with 24 carp and a few silvers for what i thought would go about 130lb, i didnt know about the other lakes but on ours i new dean malin on 38 had 30 ish carp and brian shanks on 29 had taken some good fish down the edge and across on pellet.
it turned out deans fish went 192.3 for a comfortable win on the day on peg 38, catching on pellet over to the island then later down his right hand margin on meat
i was second with 165.8 peg 32
3rd martin lenaghan 150.4 peg 1
4th brian shanks 123.12 peg 29
5th rod wootten 118.7 peg 5
6th ron(goldfinger)crandon 105.3 peg 21
silver went to tom thick(again) with 30.8 on peg 24 on his usual soft pellet approach
and as for fabio he was gone before the end with only 2 carp in the net and 15 lost so he definately had the chip shop sausage syndrome
good to see it fishing really well on this venue

viaduct weds

with 29 fishing both cambell and cary were being used, a draw on cambell is generally prefered as you tend to get more bites as the fish are a bit smaller and it has a greater stocking density, but i wasnt to dissapointed when i drew 80 on cary which is the carpark side of the spit so you have the option of open water as well as a good margin,and with the average size of the carp in this lake being 8 to 9 pounds with lots of fish up to and over 20lb if you can string some together its more than possible to win off this lake.but you must be careful as the fishery has a 70lb net limit, i,m beginning to think these fishery owners have shares in keepnet firms as lots of people are having problems sizing there fish, i cant help thinking numbers in nets rather than weights may be a better option as most fishery owners have a reasonable idea as to the average size in there lakes
i set up 2 pole rigs to fish up and down the shelf against the spit and a wag to fish at depth at the end of the spit at about 25 mtrs.
i began the match on the wag whilst feeding the spit with 6mm , and feeding and fishing 8,s on the wag. the first hour went to plan with 4 good fish in the first hour, if i could keep up this rate i may be in with a chance but no it didnt happen and i ended up with 13 carp to about 15lb and some skimmers in the margin but no carp against the spit, i dont think the cold wind and rain blowing into me helped to much, i was shivering by the end as it was only 8c which was a bit of a shock after the weekends 20c.
my 13 carp went 117lb and the skimmers went 18lb for a 135lb total. andy power won our lake and came second overall with 171lb on 85 cary on the lead meaning andy neale on 86 won our section with 142lb, in all fairness i could have had a few more fish if i had set the lead rod up but i just dont like it.
the top weight on the went to nick collier on 110 with 35 carp for 220lb on the pole and pellet out in front and down the edge at 16mtrs , i didnt get the full result as we just got in the van put the heater on and sulked off.
nick(aint got a clue)ewers would probably come second but he was way over the net limit on both his carp nets which serves him right as he was admitting to having only 100lb so he (only) ended up with 158lb.

sedges tile or was it brick lake, its the left one

20 fished today so it was a full lake, i let dean draw for me and i ended up pn 23 which is the third peg up on the left hand bank, for company i had dean on 22 and rod wootten on 24. i thought the people to beat would be paul elmes on 21 ,tim ford on 40 (both corners)and local ace tom mangnol on 39, the same peg he won off last time i ran a match here.
i set up a 4x18 rig with a 16 6313 on .12 for meat at 6mtrs , the same size rig with a 16 b960 for banded pellet on the deck at 16 mtrs and an up in the water rig just in case, bigger rigs today as its over 7 feet deep on both lines.
also a pellet wag rig was put together as i had an island chuck but with the breeze blowing off the island presentation was always going to be hard.
at the start i cupped in some meat at 6 mtrs , some 4mm pellets at 16 mtrs and began firing 8mm as close to the island as i could, starting on the meat at 6 mtrs i had a small carp first drop, then a 1lb skimmeer about 10 mins later and that was it for the meat line i never had another bite on it, 45 mins in and paul on 21 ,tim on 40 and tom on 39 were all getting carp on the shallow wag, so that was the rest of the match mapped out for me, but it was hard work as i had to keep casting as the breeze was blowing the float off the island so unless i had a bite within about 20 to 30 seconds of casting it was a case of wind in feed and cast again , most of the fish were on the small side between 1 and 2lb but i did get on good one on the wag at an ounce under 16lb , so by the halfway mark i thought i had caught up paul on 21 as his good early start had fizzled out somewhat and he was really struggling. unlike tom on 39 and tim on 40 who were both catching steadily, i did manage 2 shallow on the pole about an hour from the end , one of which was about 12lb, so by the end i thought i had a 70 plus pounds, its a bit hard to call when there are a lot of small fish involved. as it turned out tim ford won the day on peg 40 with 119.9 all taken on the shallow wag cast to the end bank
2nd was tom mangnol on 39 with 99.10 again on the wag
3rd was me with 93.6(ok it was a big 70lb)
4th steve hutchinson 48.5 peg 35 which was the top silvers weight on the day , his catch included 6 bream to nearly 8lb
5th paul elmes 47.12 peg 21
6th tim clark 42.5 which included a 13lb carp which he weighed and returned during the match, only to foul hook it again just befor the end when he was fishing down the edge where he had returned it, it smell a bit dodgy to me,
as i said steve hutch won the silvers with 48.5 but i must mention second in silvers which went to mike nicholls on peg peg 29 with 720 (quality)roach and rudd for 31.12.it all sounds a bit sad counting that many, steve only needed 6 bites to beat him in the silvers lol

landsend weds

with a couple of late cancellations we only had enough to put every other peg in around the match lake so we had plenty of room, i made the mistake of letting martin alexander draw for me and he gave me 24 , not a peg i really like but it is capable of throwing up some decent weights, opposite on peg one was the fire brigades finest daffodil in the shape of tony witcomb so at least we would see if the paste was going to start going yet.
i set up a shallow rig on .16 to fish the open water and against the end bank but apart from a couple of rudd it never was a goer so i wont waste my finger tips on it again.
i did a .30grm for the deep water at 12 and 10 at 14 mtrs with a 16 b960 for hair banded pellet and a 4x10 with the same hook and both on .16 xedion rig line to fish on the deck up the right hand margin by an overhanging tree. today was to be an out and out hard pellet day as thats all i had with me.
at the start i cupped in some 4,s in the deep water on both lines and some in the right hand margin by the tree, first drop in produced a roach as did the second then after a short wait i hooked a good carp on a 6mm hard pellet , it came in easily till i showed it the net then it took off like a scalded cat and broke me, so i refed that line and went to the 2 o,clock line, i took a few good skimmers and a couple of carp from here before it died so i fed again and by swapping between the 2 deep lines i took a few more smallish carp and some good skimmers till about the halfway mark when both swims died, the other end of the lake seemed to be fishing better as i could see john bradford, dean malin and martin lenaghan all catching, with dean and martin catching shallow and deep and john catching on his usual caster at 4mtrs, even the past(e) master tony on 1 was catching shallow under a tree to his right on his topset shallow, off to the tree for me at 14 mtrs and i caught 4 or 5 in the next hour with no problems, as this peg needs you to fish next to the tree stump but the fish normally run under the stump and snag you but so far so good, then the fish seemed to remember what to do as i began to get done seriously with every fish running away under the stump in the last 90 mins i probably caught 5 and lost 8 or 9 plus a couple of floats and i even pulled the elastic out of the pole and left it in the tree, but at least i could go and retrieve it after the match, to be honest i thought i was well off the pace as there seemed to be plenty of fish coming out at the top end of the lake with dean and john bradford having the lions share. what i didnt realise was that john wasnt even putting his carp in the net and it turns out he had 13 carp to double figures , seems a bit wierd to me as he would have won as he weighed in 36lb of silvers so his carp would have given him enough to win i would have thought. dean malin won with 102.11 from peg 15 with some shallow on hard pellet and the rest on meat down the edge
2nd was tom thick with 83.12 which also included the top silver weight of 40.14 of mainly f1,s taken on soft pellet and meat at 13mtrs on peg 5
3rd martin lenaghan 78.3 peg 13
4th me with 76.3 peg 24(must try harder)
5th tim ford 75.2 peg 7
6th tony witcomb 63.9 peg 1
even after chucking 13 carp back john managed the silvers by default with 36.4 of mainly skimmers on caster on peg 17.
if any one is interested i will be running a match at landsend on the match and speci on sunday the 17th draw at 10 book in with me at the shop 01179517250 or ring mike at landsend on 07977545882 and we are at avalon next wednesday.

shiplate farm

just a mention about wednesday, we wenbt wrecking out of poole on silver spray, a nice 38ft cat, shame the skipper didnt look at the same weather forecast as me as by the end of the day it was so rough we were falling over. perhaps he needed the money. i did manage 6 pollack up to about 12lb ob live sandeel, judith cooked it for tea on friday night using that age old recipe for pollack where you cook thee fish with fresh ginger, garlic and various spices in a sauce inside a cardboard box, when its done you take the fish out of the box throw it in the bin and eat the box as it tastes better, but seriously we had one taste of the fish ,threw it in the bin and had burger, chips and beans instead lovely .
back to shiplate and i,m pleased to say i didnt have to rename it as it fished quite well considering its a young venue. paul(beever)elmes drew for me and handed me peg 3 on hawthorn lake which is the newest of the 2 lakes being used and as this was the first match on it no one really new where you needed to be, for company i had snow whites favourite dwarf on 2 in the shape of jason radford and on 4 was bristols newest roy orbison impersonater, ron(goldfinger)crandon, all we knew was that it had been stocked with a lot of 2 and 3 to the pound carp plus some skimmers and better carp to 5lb. with 5 ft of water down the middle i set up a 4x14 rig with a 16 6313 to .14 and a 4x10 rig with the same line and hook to fish up the far shelf.at the start i began with maggot over pellet at 4 mtrs and i soon had a couple of small crucians and small carp in the net but that line dried very quickly except for bottle top skimmers, by the end of the first hour ron was beating me as he hed taken 3 better carp from the far side and by now dean on 5 was catching up the shelf on maggot over 4mm pellet, so i went across with corn and had 4 better carp very quickly, and about an hour later i had another and that was really the end of my sport apart from a few more small fish on maggot, dean was still getting odd carp but even he was getting plagued by small silvers, further up the lake the anglers there were getting lots of small carp with odd better samples showing aswell so the bulk of the fish on our lake seemes to be at the far end(yes i am bitter and twisted) . by the sound of thing the other lake(west lake)was also beginning to produce some of its big bream and skimmers aswell as some better carp so it was hard to tell where the winner was going to come from, in the end it was russ peck on peg3 west lake with 58.10 of mainly carp with a few skimmers all taken on maggot over pellet fihed at 14 mtrs at the bottom of the far shelf
2nd was andy france with 54.10 on peg 11 hawthorn
3rd dean malin 45.14 peg 5 hawthorn
4th bela bakos 42.11 peg 12 hawthorn
5th martin alexander 40.13 peg 7 west
6th scott puddy 35.14 peg 14 hawthorn
7th tim ford 34.6 peg 5 west, good to see tim back on the bank as he hasnt been able to go since the 22 jan and he won his section
8th steve seager 29.11 peg 6 hawthorn
9th me yay with 29.4
for a new venue with no real hisdtory we had a good fair match so it will be a venue i will be visiting again, and its only 35 mins from my house
GET WELL SOON SHRIMPHEAD