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.

Tuesday costcutter at Landsend fishery

Travelled alone today as my official photographer, Judith rixon had to go to work. Stopped off at shipham for breakfast, it was ok.
Got to the fishery to find only 9 fishing, a bit disappointing, but in will persevere trying to do it every other week in the hope the numbers will increase, there aren't many better places to sit with the peace and quiet and wildlife.
Waited till nearly last to draw, there was only me and Lee Waller to go, so I picked up a ticket and opened it to see 15 on it, Lee had 13, stu Barnett was on 15 on Sunday and struggled, but it has been a good peg for a while yet, but saying that with only 9 fishing there wasn't a peg I didn't mind drawing.
Got to my peg and soon had the relevant rigs assembled, a margin meat rig to fish either side , a meat rig for 6 mtrs, and a pellet rig for across on the island, which I left with quite a long line on so it would double for a mugging rig.

I started on the short meat line , and to say it was slow would be an understatement, I did lose 3 foulers but it took me 2 hours to land my first carp, so I was a few fish behind the anglers on my bank and several fish behind Martin lenaghan who was using the empty pegs around him to good effect, putting regular fish in his net. But I have learnt that on some of these smaller lakes it pays to be patient, and today was no different, as it went on the peg began to come to life, with fish over on the island, although it was only 12 inches deep, it was hard to see them, but an odd tail tip or a tiny movement on the water was the only thing that gave them away, and the margins also started to pay up, the left hand side is normally the best side as there is lots of cover.

But not today , I only hooked one down on that side, but the right hand side really kicked into life towards the end, I was torn between the island and the right hand margin, both areas were giving me fish,

I was catching only about 3 mtrs past the end of the toolkits on the roost, which I must say is a very good piece of kit from Preston innovations, although I was catching well, it was never going to be enough as Martin on 5 had built up a good lead, he was catching as well as me at the end but the early lead was going to be unattainable, and that's how it ended with Martin running out the clear winner with a very good 159.4, catching mostly on shallow pellet , or mugging a few , also some down the edge on double corn, well done Martin.
I was second with 119.10, it should have been more as I went over (AGAIN) in one net, so I got knocked back to 80lb. (Twat)

3rd rich Heatley on 11 which has been a bit of a peg of death recently, but he did well off it today with 76.13
4th adriano(adj) Mercato who seems to be enjoying his break from speci carp fishing with 66.3, even though he did keep throwing various pieces of kit into the lake all day. On peg 22.
5th kev molten on peg 18 had 64.2.
6th Leon Hubbard on 20 had 61.3, which included the top silver's weight on the day with 20.2.
I will run another another one in a fortnight so give me a ring to book in,
Got a day off Saturday to fish the fishomania qualifier at viaduct, then Sunday I'm off to Barston with Chris Fox to fish a fundraiser for the England disabled team, best dust off the method rod lol.

Landsend league final round

The forecast for today was for unbroken sunshine, and they weren't wrong , it was a warm day,as long as you could sit in the sun, hopefully the sun will stay out this week as I'm running a costcutter down here on Tuesday, so ring or txt me on 07974807941 to book in, or ring in veals tomorrow on 01179260790,
Back to today and with the later draw it was a nice easy day , shame we had to lose an hour's sleep though, Judith was with me again today so I spoilt her and paid for breakfast, well it is mother's day.
I was quite late into the draw but was more than happy to see 13 looking back at me again for the second time in this league, last time on here in won the lake and the day with 130lb, so hopefully I could emulate it today, company wise I had stu Barnett on 15 and opposite was Dave Westcott on 11 who was standing in for Nick duckett,
Last time I caught well on maggot off the deck at 14 mtrs to my right, then later on meat in the same place, so two rigs done for that, a pellet rig for up on the island shelf, a pellet rig for along the left hand end bank, a couple of rigs for meat, down by the Bush to my left and at 6 mtrs in the deep water.
To say it started.slowly would be an understatement, the maggot rig never worked apart Rom a lone roach, so 20 mins in and I put some meat in expecting a quick response especially as stu had a carp first put in then lost one soon after, but 30 mins on that and only a liner and I was beginning to think up some believable excuses for not catching on this flier, I never actually hooked a carp till about the 90 minute mark and that was against the island on pellet, with  the Sun out today I expected to see quite a few muggable fish cruising about , but they were very noticeable by there absence, I did get a couple more off the island but they soon disappeared never really returning, the water had a Brown tinge to it but not enough, and these canny fish are super spooky on some days, and today was looking like one of those.
A switch to the long pellet rig against the end bank gave me a few  , suddenly the day was getting better, the fish were on the small side really , just the resident fish that live in these end pegs all year long, I needed some bonuses as Gary o,Shea on 18 was beginning to catch well , and I new his fish would be bigger, I kept switching between my various short meat lines and the long pellet lines and kept putting odd fish in the net.

I did see an old friend in my peg in the shape of an orange koi common, so slapped the pellet on its nose and it took it, I've lost count of the number of times I've had this fish LOL.

I've caught steadily till the end but due to the size of the fish in felt owns always behind Gary on 18, stu on 15 had a few fish down his margin, but had really struggled , and left to watch the football just before the end, opposite on 11 Dave never had a carp, he ended up with just a few pounds of silver's, as I thought Gary's fish were of a better stamp than mine and he ran out a clear leader with 162.15 so well done to him.

I managed to come second with 119.2, I did lose 2lb as I went over in a net , luckily it didn't make any difference today.
3rd Russ peck on 29 with 79.15
4th was Lewis Jones on 27 with 71.15
5th Steve hutter on 34 with 65.2
6th Andy hembrow on 55 with 60.12
7th Shaun kitteridge on 51 with 53.8
Silver's went to Ken rayner on 31 with 15.4
Well done to trig Edmunds for winning the league ahead of Gary o,Shea then Andy hembrow and Steve hutter.
And Ken rayner won the league silver's title ahead of fishery owner Mike duckett.
Well done to Ken rayner for running the league in the face of lots of adversity LOL, and a big thanks to Andy seery for sponsoring the league with some of his very good go nuts and so simple  groundbait .
Any one looking for a match in two weeks time , I'm running another open here on that Sunday (9th)