Match Reports and Write Ups

Was looking forward to the match, obviously not for the quality of the fishing, but for the quality company. 

Drew peg 61 which can be an OK peg, at least will be able to see my float. For company had Nigel the Bailiff and Chris Rolfe round the corner.

Won't bother to mention my rigs set up as never had a bite on the pole short, medium or long! So after 2.5 hours was blanking. So went out to 25 metres on the waggler in 7 footish of water feeding LR's with single on the hook and after 30 minutes had my first bite which was struck at prematurely in my haste to not blank. At least the bite gained some enthusiasm. Could not believe I couldn't catch on the pole so kept trying it on and off. The upshot had 4 small Skimmers and one Ronnie all on the waggler. Must admit the fish to save the blank brought back that feeling we can't bottle.

Weighed 3 lb 8 oz for last but one in the section. Luckily my partner Phil who was also in my section did the business coming second with 4 lb 4 oz.

The match was won by Tony Rixon (pictured with hands approaching his sleeping position) with a remarkable weight of 19 lb 9 oz from peg 45. Tony caught long with maggot over GB with minimum add caster and dead Pinkie. Well done Matey nice to watch.

Weigh Sheet:

Results of the pairs to date:

Weather set reasonable. All prepared for a hard day's fishing on this Pool today. 

Pulled peg 57 - what not behind the island? That said the light is awful along this bank, especially if its sunny with wind - it was to be a bit of both! For company had matey Glenn Bailey on peg 56. Peg 57 is in a leg of the Pool.

Due to visibility decided on setting up a 4 x14 winter yellow tip and 4 x16 black tip to fish two lines which was to be switched according to the light conditions. Had to set up the black tip rig during the match as late setting up. With Perch probably going to make up a lot of the weights set up the red tip short Ronnie rig.

Fished all the rigs over GB and Pinkie with the Ronnie rig accounting for 25 small Perch and the two other rigs fished at 4 barrels accounted for another 25 approximately, again mostly small Perch plus five small Roach. No Skimmers or quality fish at all! 

My 50 fished weighed in at 3 lb 11 oz for 3 points. Just piping Glenn who had a decent Perch first put in! My partner - "Fuzzy" struggled off a poor peg. Going to suggest he stop's giving away pickled eggs.

The match was won by Paul Barnfield (pictured) from peg 62 with 12 lb 14 oz. Paul initially caught Skimmers on the Feeder, switching to the waggler for some Roach and finally doing well on the pole at 13 metres using GB and Maggot. Well done matey.

Shay Gillman was runner-up with the only other weight of note - 10 lb 13 oz of mostly Roach from peg 42.

Unlucky Andy Gard lost the number 5 from his Sensas pole. He did strip down to his kecks in preparation to go in, but soon relised it wasn't worth it in freezing cold water. Anyone that's got a spare 5 at a reasonable price please contact Andy.

It looks like the fished have shoaled up, telling us something - Predators?

Back to the Compton with the usual suspects, for a right laugh, makes the day.

Weigh Sheets:

Results of pairs:

Surprising good turn out considering how bad Withy Pool is fishing. Suspect the Biomass is still too high 😄. 

I walked up behind the island to check the leaf situation - pegs 47,48 and 49 were iffy so these were left out. Peg 50 would be OK if the leaves stayed put!! Didn't want to draw there again at the moment.

Chatting with Barny he was spot on with his prediction of only 7 lb needed to frame.

Into the draw bag and couldn't believe to see peg 50 staring back at me - bugger, just recovered from fishing peg 49 Saturday. For company I had Mick Gale the 0.08 specialist on peg 51 - one of my favourite pegs.

Peg 50 is a peg you really need to fish long but is hampered by the Otter fence - you either go over the fence, break down or as I did ship along the bank. Choose the latter because from experience Saturday expected to catch small fish the other options were more likely to cause pull- outs.

Did set up the waggler and on hindsight should have initially fished the feeder - expect another bollocking from Rich Coles - next time! By time we started the waggler line was leaved out. So spent the whole match on the 4x14 Winter switching between 0.1 with 22 - 808 and 0.08 and a 22 green GP04 Kamasan - the lighter rig made no difference to my catch rate. The wind did change pushing the leaves up and down my peg. Overcame this by having two lines left and right using the clearest line as and when, bit of a pain. Fished Pinkie and GB on both lines for about 30 Ronnie's. Hooked what initially behaved like a big Skimmer until lifting the top set and could see it was a big Perch at the same time it ran towards the bank and broke 0.1! There is a lot of snags close in, which probably helped cause the break. This was to cost me second section. Hooked just the one Carp. With 30 minutes to go a dew started falling making shipping the pole sticky. Think we were all glad to hear the all out. 

Weighed 3 lb 4 oz which was disappointing didn't have a sign of any Skimmers I caught Saturday. This was about halfway - it fished awful. Most of the framing weights came by early fishing of the feeder.

The match was won by Tony Ponting (pictured supping a well earned pint) with 7 lb 3 oz from peg 63. Tony had 50/50 feeder and pole, with his catch being bolstered by a 3 lb Bream. Mostly caught on maggot and GB. Well done matey.

Back to the Compton with a full house of suspects.

Weigh Sheets:

Aaron Britnell was running a Silvers open on Withy Pool on Saturday and with nothing on Sunday booked in. Started with a full house booked in, but faded away to 14 of us - shame. 

Travelled with Kev Winstone today - thanks matey. So much better travelling with someone as it can be lonely.

Nowhere's fishing well for silvers at the moment so expected low weights - still no wind to get the fish moving.

Drew peg 49 behind the island in the gap peg for me today. Jason was on next peg 50 so good company - But company we both could do without - leaves in both our pegs stagnating due to lack of wind.

Waggler and 4x14 Winter Titan. However, waggler produce one indication which was a bit disappointing as it could be fished in a area leave free. Fished two lines both at 10 metres with GB and Pinkie picking off the odd hand size skimmers, 1-2 oz Ronnie's and tiny Perch from both lines, the leaves dictating when to switch. As expected it was hard. At least only the one Carp to contend with.

Whilst packing up matey Layton Palmer came round and offered to push my kit back to the van. However, I was able to do it until, unknowingly, Kev had the call of nature and had moved his van. On my return unloaded my kit next to the wrong van - twat. But a double bubble van.

I weighed 6 lb 2 oz which got me the section by triple default - who don't like a triple😁.

Aaron (pictured with the runner up's) won the match from peg 46 with  a decent weight of 12 lb 3 oz. Aaron caught at 13 metres initially with caster taking 6 lb, later switched to maggot for the remainder of his catch. Well done matey well deserved.

Back to the Compton which was rammed so off to the Mughal Palace for a drink or two and a takeaway - love draft Cobra.

Weigh Sheet:

Members can't get access to the fishery until 08:00, so with the draw at 08:30 we had the usual queue. 

Seventeen fishing today so easier to peg three sections. The pool has gone clear due to the recent rain. No signs of feeding fish.

Peg 54 for me today. Thought I had an empty peg next door which would be desirable today, however, Mick Gale arrived next door and it was he that had the empty peg.

The North bank pegs - low 60's to the low 50's are all South facing and would have serious issues with the Sun today. Brought my old Sun glasses which helped with the Sun but could only see about 5 metres with them.

Set up allsorts except the feeder which on hindsight should have been the only thing I could use sensibly - stubbornness.

Started short on caster hoping for some decent perch - just indications so switch to LR's on the hook and caught about 12 small Perch which more or less cleaned out the line. When out 3 metres with GB and Pinkie and had a couple of small Ronnie's and a few more tiny Perch. The Sun combining with the wind caused silver ripple making visibility near impossible. Out to 5 metres with a very light rig had a couple more small Perch and a Ronnie. It was almost impossible to fish. Most of the bank was on the tip, where I should have been. Chucked the waggler out to 20 metres but it was a strain seeing it. I decided to pack up early to get on with the weigh in just as the heavens opened up.

I weighed 1 lb 12 oz for last but one.

The match was won by Andy Greenham from peg 42 (pictured with his catch) with 7 lb 6 oz. Andy had a few of decent Perch on caster and some small skimmers on Pinkie and GB. Well dome matey.

As anticipated it fished hard and if it wasn't for some decent Perch showing in most nets the weights would have been a lot lower. BAA netted out the small silvers last year which are just the fish to feed under todays conditions giving bites throughout the match.

Back to the Compton with a few of the usual suspects missing. However, we did get our spot by the  wood fire.

Pick up my prescription glasses Monday so won't bother fishing until then.

Weigh Sheets:

BBC weather forecast - wet early drying up for the match, then more rain. Rain all day from either mizzle, drizzle or rain. It's the same people who are predicting half of Somerset will be under water by 2050 😄. 

Drew peg 44 which is a good peg but the only one I have problems getting in and out of - needs a couple of proper steps. Nice to see a new platform on peg 40 well done BAA.

The Pool was flat calm which was a worry - really wanted some wind to get some tow going. Started short and once again the Ronnie's had shut up shop, so a few micro Perch and one lost small Skimmer. Out to 10 metres - again with GB laced with Pinkie with single LR on the hook. Had 4 tiny Skimmer's and a few small Ronnie's. It was really slow all round the pool particularly the pegs in my section. Luckily had set up the waggler which wasn't expected to be used. Spent the rest of the match on it with single LR over loose fed LR's. Managed to pick off the odd dumpy hand size Hybrids, three big Ronnie's to 12 oz and a 2 lb Skimmer, lost another foul hooked. The feeding was difficult as no response to little and often - so feed then wait and pick off a couple - repeat. Managed to keep Carp hooking down to three.

Really needed something to brighten up what was a very miserable day weather wise. Ray Bazeley and Paul Haines provided it, they were on pegs 43 and 42 separated by a tree. Ray hooked a Carp which headed towards Paul who unknowing hooked Ray's line. So we had Ray playing a Carp and Paul and Paul playing Ray. The Carp was lost leaving Paul and Ray playing each other. The tree was making it difficult for them to disentangle. Fell off my box laughing when Ray said to Paul "Let your elastic out" Paul replied "how the xxxx do I do that"?. Both losing rigs in the tree - so a clear draw, however, heard Paul say to Ray how did you manage to get back out fishing so quick!! 

I weighed 9 lb for a section win.

The match win was shared by Shay Gillman peg 50 and Mike Gale 45 both with 18 lb of Skimmers - pictured.

Mick caught mainly hand size Skimmers fishing 7 metres on a long line with single Pinkie to a 22 to 0.06 hook length loosing feeding Pinkie. Nice net of Skimmers (pictured) which will be venerable to Cormorants.

Overall the Pool fished poorly which most fisheries are at the moment.

Back to the Compton with the usual suspects.

Weigh Sheets:

Perfect early Autumn day. However, the water level was down and flat calm which it has been for a couple of weeks now and would probably effect the fishing. 

Peg 49 for me today. I was concerned about the previous state of the peg but need not had worried as Bathampton has down a great job repairing it (pictured) - credit where credit is due.

Found myself between Layton and Barny so stereo moaning. Luckily had some paracetamol with me and found them essential towards the end of the match.

The peg can be a good Ronnie peg so set up a to hand rig and the 4 metre whip. Set up to fish top set and three barrels which was restricted due to the fence behind.

Started after the Ronnie's with caster and could only catch small Perch. After 15 minutes knew they weren't feeding so went on the longer line with caster laced GB with double on the hook and had a couple of hand size Skimmers and more Perch. Hooked two big Skimmers which for unknown reason came off as did two 1 lb Skimmers - now right cheesed off. Put in a large pot of caster and again double caster and first put in hooked a decent Eel which bit through the 0.1 line. Estimated I had now lost 8 lb of fish - that's fishing. The Carp now entered the fray just couldn't feed which out immense fizzing, if fished over meant a new hook length. Waited for the fizz to stop and get a couple of small fish. It was a question for feeding minimal amount around the peg for a couple of small fish, had 6 lines going but still couldn't completely avoid the Carp. Hardly had any Ronnie's which were absent from all of the keepnets today - needed some wind badly. 

I weighed 7 lb 4 oz and beaten both sides by Leyton on 6 mm banded pellet fishing a 14 elastic!! Couldn't bear to see him losing the small fish so loaned him one of my top sets with a number 3 in. Barny the other side did is usual humongous worm and micro feeding resulting in in hooking circa 12 Carp braking a top set and loosing rigs and elastic - it's ok his second in section would pay for it all 😁.

The match once again was won by Rob Baker (pictured) with 23 lb 5 oz from peg 57. Rob used the feeder throughout the match, initially with a large cage feeder loaded with GB and micro and later shorter on the method - both with double maggot hook bait. Rob didn't have any Carp problems which was interesting. Well done matey.

Back to the Compton with the usual suspects, nice to see Pete Greenslade back complete with his bionic knee.

Weigh Sheets:

Nice for the weather to stay true for the last day of summer - rained on and off all day and a tad chilly. 

It seems South Gloucestershire has road works everywhere including outside my home - again! Temporary lights and diversions which at best are confusing especially when they leave the signs after finishing work.

Nice to see Pete Tuner back out albeit on two crutches which came in handy to retrieve his keep net which had fallen in.

Into the draw bag and out comes peg 8. I was surprised it was in considering numbers reduced to 18. My section ran from 8 to 16 which were all but better Carp pegs so silvers it would be.

Started short down the side with caster which usually brings a few quick Ronnie's and Perch so was surprised I couldn't get a bite. Switch to maggot and had a few tiny Perch and a F1 before it died. I had fed some GB and caster out in front in 7 foot of water and had a few 2 oz Ronnie's all on the drop, leaving it on bottom resulted in tiny Perch, wasn't long before this line also died. So spent the rest of the match on the waggler fished well short of the island as it was impossible to feed with maggot. Picked off a few Ronnie's and five small F1's pulling out of a 10 lb Carp trying to keep it out of the margin reeds. First time for many years I've not enjoyed fishing. 

My silvers weighed 6 lb 12 oz was surprised to see it was only 14 oz out of a silvers pick up. The F1's weighed 8 lb 4 oz.

The match was won by a narrow margin by Paul Barnfield (pictured with the silvers winner) with 56 lb 14 oz of mainly F1's from peg 6. Paul fished worm over chopped worm and micro. Well done matey.

The Silvers was won by Haydn Withers (pictured) from peg end peg 31 with 28 lb 12 oz of skimmers. Well done matey.

The pool is suffering from the lack of silvers, particularly Roach which were decimated earlier in the year.

Weigh Sheets:

Most were pleased to be back on Withy Pool which probably accounts for the numbers increasing to 25 today. Since Withy was built we have lost 8 pegs. Not sure why this is perhaps we should enquire - loose rather than repair?. Due to the numbers and with Tony Rixon having dashed home for his GB I had to find thee more pegs since the last match. I walked around and made a decision to put pegs 50, 65 and 36 in. Peg 49 looks it will be next to be lost unless some repairs are done. 

Peg 67 stuck to my hand thought I deserved a better one after all the walking. Wrong end of the lake and wrong end of the section. However, did expect to catch small Ronnie's for most of the day for some entertainment. For company on peg 66 was Barny, who for some reason was moaning about his peg!

Weighed 9 lb 10 oz not a bad weight from the peg but disappointed the small Ronnie's didn't really show spending the second half of the match scratching around trying all sorts. Most fish caught on single caster and GB. Lower water levels may have been a reason the peg died. Peg 36 was a success so consider putting 36, 37 and 39 in next time.

Was amusing watching Hughie Evans and Barny playing many Carp - "and away". I didn't hook any but a few liners and bow waves.

Rob Baker (pictured) won the match from peg 61 with 21 lb 10 oz fo Skimmers. Rob caught on a cage feeder with GB and double reds on the hook fished into the bowl. Well done matey.

Back to the Compton for a beer with the usual suspects. Plus a had a poke in the chest from Kev Winstone.

Weigh Sheets:

Looking forward to being back on Withy especially as it's silvers only. Some pegs are shallow close in and very stoney, so it was agreed keeping Carp in nets wouldn't be beneficial. 

Shay "The Tickler" Gillman never disappoints with his attire. Or is he well endowed needing a Willy Rest?

Had a walk around noting that the pegging had changed, so another walk around with Tony Rixon to sort sections etc... The level was down a bit but wouldn't effect fishing. Colour looked good.

A few on holiday etc...so down to 17. Didn't mind which peg, so pleased when I pulled one rather than being forgotten and handed a peg. Peg 41 it would be. Found myself next to Kev Winstone so it would be heads down to avoid the chest poke.

Three rigs - Short and long Ronnie rigs and a 4x14 Winter Titan to fish 4 barrels. Three lines, the short ones to fish early and the long line late once the carp come in short. Hook bait caster with copious amounts of caster on the GB. It all went to plan except didn't leave the short line quick enough and eventually landed a 20 lb + Carp and a surprise 2 lb Eel and a hard fighting 2 lb Hybrid on the long line. Remember Rich Coles catching a few Eels from this peg some years back. 

My silvers weighed 22 lb consisting of mainly Skimmers to 1 lb for third and section win. Really great fishing.

The match was won by Tony Rixon (pictured) with 28 lb 2 oz from lonesome peg 49. See his blog for further details, expect hard pellet was involved somewhere!

Next match on Bridge Pool.

Back to the Compton sat outside in the sunshine with the usual suspects, lovely end to another memorial day.

Result:

1. Tony Rixon 28-02-0 peg 49

2. Shay Gillman 22-13-0 peg 63

3. Mike Nicholls 22-0-0 peg 41

4. Andy Greenham 19-13-0 peg 65

5. Dave Poole 19-04-0 peg 44 (Whip - Hemp and Tares)

6. Kev Winstone 18-12-0 peg 42

Weigh Sheets:

Back to Hunstrete after closure due to fish spawning. Arrived early to have a walk around to see how bad the weed growth was. Only peg 29 have some, that didn't mean there wasn't some out if sight. The colour looked good, however, not much sign of fish topping especially silver fish (Ronnie's). 

Down to 19 due to holidays which helped reduce the number of pegs in open water.

Knowing you needed a draw with and island or heavy bankside cover with some depth, delighted when I pulled peg 21, it's one of my favourites especially today due to plenty of shade for at least half the match. All the section had good chance all draws you'd want.

All though the island is only 13 metres away decided to ignore it as the bottom is all over the place due to the bank collapse. So just two top sets - short Ronnie rig for silvers to the right and a 0.3 gram paste rig for the left. Had plenty of time so set up a 6" Drake to cast around  the island, shotting the float hooked a F1 on a bare hook. Thinking now that the Waggler would be my second half match banker. 

Started by feeding the paste line with micro and the silver line with neat GB with loose LR's over the top. With single LR on the Ronnie rig caught some decent Ronnie's and Perch. Thought it was going to be a good silvers day until I hooked an F1 which did me round the corner, a couple move silvers before another lost F1. The silvers had now disappeared except the odd small Perch. On to the paste over loose fed 4's and had a great 2 hours catching F1's to 2 lb. Had 25 when the peg died I think due to the sun now coming over the line. Went in tighter to the reeds by holding them back with the landing net for a couple more. With 2 1/2 hours to go picked up the waggler expecting to carry on bagging alas didn't have a bite on it trying maggot and banded pellet up and down in the water - unbelievable, but the sun was now also full on. Spent the remainder messing between all three lines and did have a 2 1/2 Tench on the Ronnie rig on the death. Me pictured landing an F1 amongst the flora and faunal lovely summers day - dreams from winter.

My silvers weighed 7 lb 12 and the F1's 41 lb 8 oz (averaging 1 1/2 lb) for section winning total of 49 lb 4 oz and second overall. Like to see proper 2 to 3 lb carp stocked in the pool.

The match was won by Tony Rixon (pictured supervising "Three Gulps") with 66 lb 5 oz from peg 28. No doubt Tony fished a back breaking 17 metres to the island - see his blog for the finer details. Well done matey.

The silvers was won by Shay Gillman from a peg 1 which is not always in or moaned about if it is with a great weight of Skimmers weighing 35 lb 8 oz. Shay caught with red maggot over GB. It's noticeable that he only have one small F1 which supports my theory that the F1's push the silvers out to never return. Well done matey good weight on the day.

Nice to be back outside the Compton with the usual suspects.

Result:

1. Tony Rixon 66-05-0 peg 28

2. Mike Nicholls 49-04-0 peg 21

3. Paul Clayton 43-01-0 peg 19

4. Paul Barnfield 40-12-0 peg 11

5. Mick Gale 39-12-0 peg 24

6. Shay Gillman 36-08-0 peg 1

Silvers:

1. Shay Gillman 35-08-0 peg 1

2. Paul Barnfield  16-04-0 peg 11

Weigh Sheets:

Final round of the silver pairs. Paul Clayton and me needed to win our sections. Into the draw bag and out comes peg 54 for me in the "Skinnies" (pictured) and Paul on point peg 64. So both potential section winning pegs. 

The Skinnies is only 10 metres wide so no waggler for me. However, the trees opposite were adorned with a few floats by those that gave it a go!! Just two rigs, the Ronnie rig for short and a 4x14 Roob to fish four barrels down the far shelf.

Fed the far line with potted loose caster and a nugget of GB and the short line with GB laced with Pinkie. Started short with double Pinkie hook bait and nothing except indication of carp in the peg. It took 30 minutes before catching my first fish followed by a good run of decent Ronnie's and a couple of small Hybrids. It died so topped up and went long with single caster hook bait, kindering caster retained by GB. Had a few more Ronnie's from 1 oz to 3 oz. This was interrupted by hooking a carp which was eventually persuaded to come off! Back short and just two fish before it stalled, re-fed. Over again and was pestered by Rudd which was intercepting the caster on the drop. the buggers were topping off the caster like a boiled egg, so plenty of caster changing. Back short and again two fish and another carp which didn't make the net, then nothing. Stayed over to the end with single LR which was "Rudd rugged". Just before the end had a 1 lb Skimmer.

Weighed 11 lb 2 oz for second section. Felt both the carp and the Rudd prevented me form weighing a lot more. Paul also had second in section. However, we didn't quite do enough being three points from third pick up. Not bad considering we had a couple of poor results.

Well done to Andy Greenham/Tony Ponting/Mick Gale for winning the pairs. The top three pairs pictured below (where's Andy Gard):

Really enjoyable league. Thanks to Dave Gillard for running it and Tony Rixon for efficiently  weighing us all in every match.

Next match is on Bridge Pool 😔

Result:

1. Tony Rixon 16-0-0 peg 65

2. Kev Winstone 14-04-0 peg 40

3. Paul Barnfield 13-10-0 peg 55

4. Paul Clayton 12-0-0 peg 64

5. Mike Nicholls 11-02-0 peg 54

6. Hughie Evans 8-13-0 peg 56

Weigh Sheets:

Final Pairs Result:

One no-show, so peg 71 taken out again. Might be worth taking out peg 48 next time as it's fishing poor. 

Predicting the wind on Withy Pool is impossible it can blow in three directions at the same time - hard to believe but witnessed by me today - hate the wind, ask Glenn Bailey.

We had a new draw recorder to day - Tommy Winstone - pictured.

In to the draw bag shaking the bag around a disc bounced up and landed in my hand - must be a good one then, nope peg 40 again - carp corner. That said it's one of the better ones in a very poor section. One problem with this peg is no platform so have to set up in the mud and stones  - pictured. The second issue it the very stony bottom which goes our a fair distance causing hook and line breakages, making plumbing up difficult to decided the depth to set.

Set up exactly the same as the first match, but wasn't going to bother with the waggler. However, just purchased a new Shimano 2500HG reel and wanted to try it out with a modified waggler I made up - a Drake with a 2.5 mm diameter Drennan glow tip glued in. 

Fished an almost identical match as previous, only difference landing two beautiful 12 oz Roach and a lost decent Perch which would probably have given me the same weight as last time. Four Ronnie's on the waggler but the wind made it too difficult. Signs of carp but didn't hook any this time 😀The hybrid waggler proved very sensitive and the reel - really pleased with it, especially the quick retrieve. Only negative was the deep spool which needed loads of backing before putting on the 3 lb Maxima - still the best line by a mile.

Weighed 8 lb 8 oz for a section win. My partner Clayton had a decent weight but was knocked back to 4 points by ounces. Unlucky matey. Current standings below. 

The match was won by Tony Rixon (pictured with others collecting coin) from end peg 60 with 15 lb 1 oz. Tony caught at 11.5 metres using caster - see his blog for the finer details.

Result:

1. Tony Rixon 15-01-0 peg 60

2. Paul Barnfield 12-08-0 peg 45

3. Glenn Bailey 11-03-0 peg 41

4. Chris Rolfe 10-03-0 peg 55

5. John Smith 9-13-0 peg 64

6. Kev Winstone 9-08-0 peg 44

Weigh Sheets:

Due to the current Global warming cold snap checked in with Tony Rixon who was adamant it wasn't frozen, so didn't load the ice breaker. Passed Bridge Pool which had a little ice. Rounded the corner to Withy and found that pictured - Tony (who carries 5 ice breakers of differing sizes) - on the phone giving the God Boreas a bollocking. 

Wanted to avoid the high 60's/70's into the draw bag and out comes peg 43 - happy with this one. Luckily Aiden was in my section and had an ice breaker. Rounded the corner at peg 40 and was delighted to see that my peg was ice free!! 

Got to the peg and found myself in a hard section sandwich between Tony Ponting and Kev Winstone and Barny next up. Got settled in the peg and noticed the peg was starting to freeze over! Set up the 4x14 Winter Wire to fish top set plus two barrels and the Ronnie rig. Surprised how much colour was in the water. With plenty of time before the whistle had a walk around the pool and by time I got back my peg was nearing iced over up to two barrels that's ok, however, Tony;s peg the only other one ice free was still relative ice free, but would get worse in the last quarter. Decided to keep the ice at bay by tapping with the pole pot every time I fed.

Fed the long line with neat Thatchers and the short line with Pinkie laced with my usual GB. Started on the short line with single Pinkie and before I  had a bite Tony had a 2 lb Skimmer! Only one indication short so went long with double Pinkie and had a micro Perch followed by a 2 oz Ronnie. Topped this line up and came short with double Pinkie and had a couple of 4 oz Ronnie's. The pattern was feed, rest, catch a couple of fish re-feed then swap lines. At mid match I had a purple patch catching skimmer's to 4 oz on the long line and Ronnie's to 8 oz on the short line and a decent Perch. I thought I was going to catch Tony. However, come the last hour a marauding carp arrived and it wasn't until it was foul hooked that it buggered off, in the last 10 minutes added three more decent Ronnie's. Come the end my kit was white with frost land me freezing cold - no sun all day. By the time I got back to the car where it had been sunny all day my kit had thawed out. 

Whilst taking my net to the scaled slipped and did good impression of of Wayne Sleep with the splits - didn't help the hernia healing. Weighed 9 lb 3 oz for second in section to Tony who weighed 11 lb 1 oz for second overall (his net of fish pictured) so happy with that, don't think I would have caught him up with the big skimmers doing it for him. 

The match was won by Andy Greenham (pictured) with 11 lb 12 oz from peg 59.

Chris Ollis run came to a bitter end on peg 48 the Mink on the spit opposite was in and out of his peg not catching much either.

Overall it fished better with the lid on that the first match!!!

Back to the Compton with the usual suspects where the Smith and Grant double act kept us laughing.

Result on Day:

1. Andy Greenham 11-12-0 peg 59

2. Tony Ponting 11-01-0 peg 42

3. Shay Gillman 10-01-0 peg 58

4. Mike Nicholls 9-03-0 peg 43

5. Dave Wride 8-08-0 peg 55

6. Hughie Evan 7-10-0 peg 64

Weigh Sheets:

After the Christmas layoff couldn't wait to get out fishing again, which was the Bathampton AA winter pairs silvers series on Withy Pool. All available pegs were in due to 24 fishing. The pairs draw done and I had a right result drawing Paul Clayton.

I was hoping for peg 51 which is behind the island and because some pegs are currently unfishable gave two empty pegs one side and an empty peg the other. However, for the second match now my chosen peg has been snaffled by Tony Rixon who wont be making any mistakes.
 

Into the draw bag and out comes peg 40. Unfortunately Paul drew next to me peg 38. So the best we could do was a first and second section. However, we were in one of the harder sections so it was going to be a tight affair. Expected some disruption from carp.

 

Set up a 4 x14 Winter Titan to fish top set plus three barrels which plumbed up at just over 7 foot on the top set! So a tad deeper than I would have liked and a short rig at the same depth. Set up the waggler to fish around the peg. Thought the peg far too deep for the 4 metre whip but set it up anyway. 

Started short out in front on the caster on the hook over GB laced with caster and couldn't get a bite losing three hooks in a snag - bugger decided to switch to the left with the same rig and feed. I was about to give it up and go long when the float dipped and landed a 1 lb Perch followed quickly by one 12 oz. This explained why I wasn't catching the expected Ronnie's. Had there more smaller Perch before the bites went iffy so switched to single thighed rolled LR. Changed the feed to GB and Pinkie. and had a run of 2 - 3 oz Ronnie and a 6 oz Skimmer. The line slowed so had a quick go on mag and waggler over loose feed had only two small Ronnie's the fish appeared not to be responding to the loose feed - waggler abandoned. Similarly, as expected it was too deep for the whip which was tried up and down in the water for two more Ronnie's - whip abandoned. Went on the long line with GB and Pinkie feed with a single stretched red maggot on the hook. At this point Paul shouted down waving a 3 lb bream in the air - happy days. Spent the rest of the match switching between the short and long lines picking off the odd small Skimmers, Hybrid's and Ronnie's. Come the last hour things took a drastic change with the carp switching on, hooking 4 with Paul hooking 7! This probably have cost us a few fish.

 

Took 9 lb 13 oz to the scales which was just good enough for a section win and Paul was just 3 oz behind for second in the section so a great start. As expected it was a close section as was the others. However, upset arriving home to find a 2 oz Ronnie left in the net, hate seeing a dead fish due to my carelessness - sorry. 

 

The match was won as expected by Tony Rixon with 17 lb 12 oz of Roach from peg 51. Tony caught on cater - see his blog for further details. 

I think Withy Pool is a fair winter silvers match venue.

Back to the Compton with the ever growing number of suspects. Always a great end to the day.

Result:

1. Tony Rixon 17-12-0 peg 51

2. John Smith 11-03-0 peg 44

3. Tony Ponting 10-14-0 peg 41

4. Shay Gillman 10-12-0 peg 66

5. Chris Ollis 10-10-0 peg 64

6. Andy Greenham 10-03-0 peg 56

Weigh Sheets:

Last Over 55's on Bridge Pool until Spring, we now move to Withy for the Silvers series starting 05/01/2023 - 24 booked so currently full. 

Had a part walk around hoping to see all the arms removed from the platforms, alas no change. There were a few volunteers today willing to help out.

The Met office forecasting a summer hotter next year than this. Wish they would concentrate on forecasting the next day correctly. Drizzle all day - miserable.

I was hoping for another go on peg 28 to settle a score with the peg. Tony one in front of me had his peg drawn for him and handed peg 28 handed to him - bugger. Peg 14 for me which I thought would be OK for some F1's. For company Mark Tanner on 15 and Barny with incessant chatter on peg 11, occasionally drowned out by peg 26 coughing, lot of lurgy about.

Peg 14 is the deepest peg at top set at 7 foot, however it was so clear I could see down to the 3 foot margin bottom. Set up a 4x16 Titan to fish three barrels (hampered by the bank behind), a short rig at two barrels and the Waggler with a 7 inch bodied Drake to fish off the island - pictured.

Fed the two pole lines with GB laced with Pinkie short and caster long and fed some LR's over to the island. Started short with Pinkie and had one tiny Ronnie - that was it. So went longer with big Red on the hook and had a run of small Ronnie's with plenty of indications from even smaller one's. Refed and as it was to transpire was to be too much feed and went on the waggler, my banker for F1's with various hook baits mainly single LR's. The upshot it was very disappointing to not get a sniff of one, neither did Mark who fished the method for most of the day. It seems that the F1's have moved away from this end of the pool where they have been since stocking. More being caught in the gap and on the third island. Having buggered the pole lines with too much feed now up shit street. With two hours to go decided to change to caster on the waggler and sit it out for bigger Ronnie's. Have a couple better one's but nothing that would change the result. 

No carp with the silvers going 4 lb 2 oz for a par. Looking forward to fishing Withy and hopefully by April we have more fish in Bridge Pool especially Skimmers. 

The match was won by Tony Rixon (pictured with the silvers winner) with 34 lb 1 oz form peg 28. Tony aided by his body mass fished 16 metres to the island catching F1's on corn. I noticed his F1's were all smaller than the one's I caught last match, most probably the second stocking (pictured) - interesting. Said then it was a match winner. For further details read his blog.

The silvers was won by Dave Wride with 7 lb 15 oz from peg 26. Dave caught long on maggot over kindered feed - micro, GB and maggot. His catch included an unseasonable 1 lb Tench.

Well done both.

Back to the Compton with the usual suspects. Going home me and a the taxi in front got ran off the road on to the pavement by a speeding artic when approaching Keynsham town centre - lucky escape.

Result:

1. Tony Rixon 34-01-0 peg 28

2. Phil Morgan 23-10-0 peg 7

3. Chris Ollis 18-07-0 peg 31

4. Andy Greenham 17-11-0 peg 10

5. Dave Wride 12-0-0 peg 26

6. Kev Winstone 11-02-0 peg 8

Silvers:

1. Dave Wride 7-15-0 peg 26

2. Kev Winstone 6-06-0 peg 8

3. Dave Poole 6-03-0 peg 24

Weigh Sheets:

Right cold one this morning with hard frost and temperature -4 degrees. Packed the ice breaker, but didn't think it would be needed - it wasn't. It was with great delight to see BAA have started to remove the arms off the platforms - great move, be wonderful once they're all gone.

Now, if a "Lady" (clue here) loans you their bib and brace, best not tell anyone - Jeff Grant couldn't help himself and had some stick with plenty of quips throughout the day - non are publishable.

The low numbers would see sun most of the day whilst those from 26 to 34 wouldn't see any. I didn't get involved with the pegging today, left it to Tony. Into the draw bag and out comes peg 28 - Brrrr. Wasn't long before the kit became white with frost.

No seat box leg adjusting on this venue, just plonk the box down - certainly makes it easier on the hernia repair. Really fancied the waggler so set that up with a 7 inch bodied Drake, however, with the sun now out and behind me the reflections from the trees meant fishing it to the island made it impossible to see any colour (pictured). I could find some open areas of water to fish it so set the depth at 6 1/2 foot and planned to fish that until the sun moved on from the island. Set up the usual two rigs for the Ronnie's.

Fed some very still and cold Red's out in the open water and a small ball of GB laced with Pinkies on a close line. Had a cast on the waggler but visibility was too poor. Out short on the Ronnie rig and started to catch small fish to 2 oz. Had a reasonable two hours basically putting 4 lb in the net. Tried out at three barrels over the same feed only catch a couple more ouncers and one F1. It had now become a struggle. Tried the waggler with single LR on the hook in the open water again, very hard, adding just two ouncers. Got a bit preoccupied with this line and it wasn't until the last hour that I switched to the island shallowing up to about 3 foot again with single LR which resulted in landing seven of the bigger F1's, one lost, and two proper carp, one was definitely fouled the other not sure but both broke the hook length. Could have fished this line two hours to go albeit a bit of a strain on the eyes which could have put me in with a chance of a win. 

My silvers weighed 4 lb not unreasonable on the day and my F1's 10 lb 11 oz for a 4th overall weight of 14 lb 11 oz. 

The match and the silvers was won by Tony Rixon (pictured right with his net of fish - spot the chub) with 23 lb 5 oz from peg 16. Tony caught on caster at mainly 10 metres - see his blog for the full details. Well done bubbler.

Back to the Compton with a very warm log fire and the usual suspects.

Result:

1. Tony Rixon 23-05-0 peg 16

2. Kev Winstone 21-15-0 peg 31

3. Chris Ollis 16-10-0 peg 30

4. Mike Nicholls 14-11-0 peg 28

5. Phil Morgan 13-09-0 peg 7

6. Shay Gillman 12-03-0 peg 15

Silvers:

1. Tony Rixon 16-08-0 peg 16

2. Shay Gillman 9-02-0 peg 15

3. Tony Ponting 8-04-0 peg 19

Weigh Sheets:

Only 15 fishing today not surprising with the weather conditions forecasted, some injuries and holidays also contributing. With only 14 the pegging could have been so most were out of the wind. However, that didn't happen even though both Tony and me recommended that pegs 7 to 10 be left out in favour of the far side pegs. 

Into the draw bag and out comes peg 11 a peg you would normally run to and a peg I have been waiting to draw to fish the waggler over to the island. Even though I set it up it wasn't an early option because of the wind blowing in at me at 11 o clock. It didn't get used. Whilst setting up the wind started to pick up blowing my trolley around so put some stones as chocs under the wheels. Tony  arrived on peg 8 and Andy Gard on peg 10 - both unhappy with their weather limiting draws.

Decided to fish down to the right putting my back to the wind with the long Ronnie rig and a 4 14 Winter Titan to fish top set plus one barrel out in front once the wind permitted.

Feed some GB with Pinkie on both lines. started on the Ronnie rig with single LR and caught small Ronnie's straight away. Kept them coming by topping up regularly with small balls of laced GB. Had two F1's before it went quiet.

Andy Gard shouted out to me that my trolley, rod case, roller bag and net bag had blown in the lake. The wind had swung round. Thanks to Andy we were able to retrieve all. Impressed with the Mossell bags as even though the roller bag had two roller in it it still floated! Not sure it done my peg any good though.

Switched to the in front line and had a run of small Ronnie's and three more F1's and a welcome 1 1/2 lb Skimmer. By topping up and switching between the two lines (hurricanes permitting) kept a few Ronnie's coming but it was really difficult conditions to say the least. The wind came round to the South West and was a few degrees colder, glad to hear the all out.

How many times does the wind drop once the scales arrive - again today now a mill pond. My F1's weighed in at 6 lb 5 oz and my silvers 9 lb 3 oz for a par total of 15 lb 8 oz and a silvers section pick up. 

Chris Ollis (pictured with his catch of F1's) "STORMED" the match from peg 4. Chris fished 11.5 metres down the far shelf using small pieces of worm hook bait over kindered chopped worm with a few casters. Chris caught steady through out the match. Well done matey excellent weight on the day especially from peg 4.

Silvers was won by Dave Wride (pictured with the match winner) from sheltered peg 34. Dave caught long using maggot hook bait over maggot and GB. Well done matey.

It's now confirmed that the silvers league starting on the 05/12/2023 will be fished on Withy Pool. Carp will not count this year which are to be returned.

Back to the Compton for a beer and a warm!

Result:

1. Chris Ollis 30-05-0 peg 4

2. Paul Barnfield 28-04-0 peg 19

3. Dave Wride 23-07-0 peg 34

4. Tony Rixon 22-14-0 peg 8

Silvers:

1. Dave Wride 12-12-0 peg 34

2. Paul Barnfield 12-04-0 peg 19

3. Tony Rixon 10-0-0 peg 8

4. Mike Nicholls 9-03-0 peg 10

Weigh Sheets:

Always try to fish Dave's memorial Match. He was a great servant to the club and a hard act to follow. A young Dave pictured inspecting the Monk prior to the opening of Withy Pool. 

Some food and drinks laid on by the club at the draw. Committee members cooking whilst the fishery Manger was doing his best to wash up under close supervision - pictured.

Two matches in memory today - A 24 hours carp match on the Main Lake and us match anglers on Withy pool. The carp crew pictured - bet they don't look so fresh tomorrow morning. When I left a few fish had come out with one going 28 lb 8 oz. More details and results will be available on the BAA website. 

I walked around Withy with Aaron Brinell to give some guidance on the usual pegs used by the Over 55's. With 21 fishing it wasn't too bad finding pegs even though some may need fishing in front of the platform. Due to the lack of rain the pool was down at least two foot and flat calm - it was going to be a hard match. Aaron repegged the match and for those that wasn't there peg 1 was perm peg 71 and went anticlockwise around the pool.

I was feeling really good today so no short walk for me even though some of the short walk pegs have been fishing well for carp. Our pegs were drawn for us, peg 7 is where I would spent the next 6 hours which was peg perm 62 on the North bank a peg I seem to keep drawing. Found myself next to Aaron on peg 6! This bank is very shallow at normal water levels, with low water it was going to be hard. I didn't think carp was going to be an option so set the roost up for silvers but did have a paste rig handy in case a carp or two arrived late on. I expected to catch mainly small Ronnie's which meant fishing long would be too slow so set up the 4 metre whip which got me 3 foot of water. I also set up the long Ronnie rig which got me 6 inches less. The margin was 2 inches so would fish the paste out in 2 foot - but was to stay in the roost for the duration.

GB laced with Pinkies was fed on both lines using either top two of top three at arms length. Started short and started to catch Roach fry so the next GB feed had large DR's in and once the loose GB reached the bottom I caught some 1 - 2 oz Ronnie's and tiny skimmers. However, until it reached bottom the fry were very active. The upshot was I spent half the match on the short line and the second on the 4 metre whip without a sign of a carp or anything over 3 oz. 

My silvers weighed 14 lb 7 oz which was about 200 fish. This got me first in the silvers - so mission accomplished. Last year I won the Dave Crookes and now the silvers, happy with this - one for you Dave.

The match was won by Kevin Fothergill (pictured with the silvers winner) with 89 lb 3 oz from peg 10. Kev caught on the method over to the sanctuary bank using micro and banded pellet. His catch consisted of 13 carp.

Glenn Bailey drew the point peg and out of desperation fished round the corner margin with paste and nearly got dragged into the sanctuary twice - up on the tip of his toes at one time - hilarious.

The club raised £1,000 for charity - well done everyone.

Back to the Compton for a well earn pint of Doombar.

Result:

1. Kev Fothergill 89-03-0 peg 10

2. John Smith 52-0-0 peg 3

3. Kev Winstone 45-09-0 peg 12 (P51)

4. Leighton Palmer 42-0-0 peg 17 (P42)

5. Luke Fothergill 41-15-0 peg 8

Silvers:

1. Mike Nicholls 14-07-0 peg 6

2. Kev Winstone 11-06-0 peg 12

3. John Smith 11-06-0 peg 3

Weigh Sheet:

Having fished Withy Pool all through the winter and just as we were starting to catch some of the Withy carp the club has moved us back to Bridge where there has been a recent massive fish kill. The members weren't happy with this as the recent trial match on the pool proved to be hard fishing confirming the massive loss of fish. Don't think there will be many fishing Bridge Pool in the winter.

Twenty One fishing today.

One of the short walks today and Dave pulled me peg 2 an end peg today as 1 wasn't in. I didn't know what to expect.

I don't know if anyone has seen a "Methodist Dance" which I witnessed today. This phenomenal is brought on when a method feeder angler arrives at his peg with no island chuck - the dance starts on the yell of "I'm going home" followed by minor tackle abuse. It lasts for about 15 minutes followed by signing a song they don't know the words to. Anyway good company in matey Paul Haines today on open water peg 3

Paul Barnfield mentioned that there was still some very small Roach to be caught. In the past this end of the pool was best for them. So set up both short and long Ronnie rigs and a very optimistic paste float for the RH margin.

Started by feeding GB on both Ronnie rig lines. Started short on a single live crappy red maggot and surprise had indications straight away and second cast had a 2 lb F1. I then had a run of small Ronnie's and the odd Perch. It soon died so spent the remainder of the match on the long Ronnie rig catching mostly small Ronnie's to 2 oz four 3 oz Skimmers. For a short period tried catching carp on paste that's no longer in the pool, did see one lonely unhealthy carp swimming around. I lost a 6 oz Hybrid having got it on the landing net which I dropped for it to find it's freedom. For some reason loose feeding LCRM's wasn't working. I did have four more F1's albeit small. On the death I caught the last 1 lb Chub. 

My five F1's weighed 6 lb 12 oz and my silvers 8 lb 4 oz for a total of 15 lb for 5th overall and third silvers and section pick up. So some of the rust gone. 

The match was won by Kev Winstone (pictured right - soon to get married. I think it too soon as he has only been living with her for 29 years) with 29 lb 2 oz from peg 31. Kev caught mainly F1's fishing 14.5 metres to the the opposite island. His silvers catch include two big scabby skimmers for 4 lb (thought it needed mentioning). Not sure how Kev caught but could hear his scissors clicking away for most of the day. Although he pots like a girl thought he fished a tidy match.

The silvers was won by Paul Barnfield (pictured) with a lowly 9 lb from peg 16. Paul cay=guht mainly at 11 metres on maggot hook bait over chopped worm and micro.

As the weigh board shows the pool fish really bad compared to pre fish loss and trial match. Was the fish loss bad luck or bad fishery management - have to give the benefit of the doubt. Hope BAA management lets us get back on Withy full time until the issues of Bridge are resolved.

Back to the Compton with the usual suspects which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Result:

1. Kev Winstone 29-02-0 peg 31

2. Shay Gillman 19-0-0 peg 11

3. John Smith 18-12-0 peg 28

4. Chris Rolfe 16-0-0 peg 19

5. Mike Nicholls 15-0-0 peg 2

6. Paul Barnfield 14-02-0 peg 16

Silvers:

1. Paul Barnfield 9-0-0 peg 16

2. Kev Winstone 8-06-0 peg 31

3. Mike Nicholls 8-04-0 peg 2

Weigh Sheets:

Passed Bridge Pool with the water looking a strange colour. The feed back from pleasure anglers is only F1's being caught which is a shame. 

The days of the Willow fluff is here - pictured looking towards my peg at the end of play.

A better number for pegging of twenty. A newbie today in the shape of old Avon Angling team mate Shay Gillman - welcome matey sure you will enjoy it.

Hoping for a short walk but ended up with the longest one - peg 50 again for me. For company I had Dave "Three Gulps" Gillard on peg 51. Dave started off with a spell of Tourette's trying to level up his tackle box due to peg 51 being in a dreadful state of repair. He finally got settled in and catching decent Roach to 1 lb. Things got worse though Dave started to sing Cliff Richards songs. 

Learning from last match - forget carp and focus on Silvers. Set up the waggler for late on if things got hard towards the end. The long Ronnie rig and a 4x13 MR to fish top set plus one or two barrels. Fed the Ronnie line with GB laced with Pinkie starting on this with a single LR and had two Ronnie's straight away it then went iffy so put on double Pinkie and didn't look back for the next three hours caught a variety of silvers mainly skimmers from 1 oz to 3 1/2 lb. It was a case if going from full depth at 5 foot and half depth to keep them coming including a 2 1/2 lb Hybrid. It slowed so switched to the MR at three barrels to the right again with GB and Pinkie to keep the skimmers and Ronnie's coming. Last hour I was plagued with Willow fluff so non sensibly picked up the waggler to fish in to open water and four cast later  hooked a carp on double LR's over loose fed same only for the fluff to jam the top eye so I couldn't wind in so just point the rod at it fro the inevitable brake. Waggler abandoned. Back on the MR which was slow due to between fish fluff picking.

My silvers weighed 28 lb 2 oz for a silvers win and 4 the overall. Very enjoyable day except for being fluffed out at the end. 

The match was won by Mike Gale (pictured with the silvers winner) with 72 lb 10 oz from peg 45. Mike caught down his RH margin initially with worm settling foef8 mm banded pellet in 4 foot of water (deep margins). Mike's catch comprised mainly of 7 decent carp. Well done matey.

Result:

1. Mike Gale 72-10-0 peg 45

2. Paul Barnfield 43-10-0 peg 55

3. Rod Dufferty 29-0-0 peg 42

4. Mike Nicholls 28-02-0 peg 50

5. Chris Ollis 25-05-0 peg 54

6. Shay Gillman 25-02-0 peg 60

Silvers:

1. Mike Nicholls 28-02-0 peg 50

2. Shay Gillman 17-02-0 peg 60

2. Hughie Evans 17-02-0 peg 58

Weigh Sheets:

Thought I would be the first there this morning only to be beaten by "Just Like That" Granty - pictured

Cold this morning again - bloody NE winds.

 

Good turn out with 25 fishing, which meant pegging would be difficult. Soon sorted.

Into the draw bag and out comes first time in the draw peg 50. No emotion. For company had fellow Gas Head John Smith in the gap peg 51.

Could reach the far bank with a stretched 13 metre, but settled for two barrels as going to fish for silvers. Did set up a paste rig for the RH margin which was tried once but the carp don't usually come put from the sanctuary gap. Set up the long and short Ronnie rig and a 4x13 MR to fish initially at one barrel then later two.

 

Fed the long rig with GB laced with Pinkie and loose fed LR's down the RH side for the short rig. With single LR on the hook I had a good start on the long rig catching mainly 4oz skimmers with a smattering of Ronnie's. It died so put double Pinkie on the hook which totally revived the peg, stayed with this hook bait for the rest of the match. Kept the laced GB going in which kept them coming. Slowed so tried the short rig which was slow but did had a few Rudd and tiny Perch before abandoning it in favour of the long rig. It slowed so went over it with the MR at one barrel, later opened two lines at three barrels to keep the odd skimmers and Ronnie coming by swapping around. It was necessary to fish over the line as soon as you fed then leave and feed the other line. I did catch a few on the drop soon after feeding, definitely following the hook bait down. 

Meanwhile John had been doing battle with the decent size carp in the gap only loosing three, as John found out you can't use line clips on this peg.

 

My silvers weighed 18 lb 5 oz fro second in the silvers. Very enjoyable trying to keep some fish coming for the 6 hours albeit slow at times. 

The match was won by John Smith (pictured with some of his catch) with 58 lb 6 oz from peg 51. John caught on both pellet waggler and the method fishing 8 mm banded pellet in to the gap. Well done matey good contest between you and Geoff Francis.

The silvers was won by Mike Gayle (pictured with the match winner) with 19 lb 12 oz from peg 59. Mike caught long with worm over Chopped worm and GB and later catching some quality Roach on caster up and down in the water. Well done matey.

Back to the Compton with the usual suspects.

Result:

1. John Smith 58-06-0 peg 51

2. Geoff Francis 55-04-0 peg 45

3. Paul Barnfield 53-04-0 peg 58

4. Pete Greenslade 40-04-0 peg 42

5. Ray Bazeley 33-09-0 peg 40

6. Chris Ollis 32-14-0 peg 59

Silvers:

1. Mike Gayle 19-12-0 peg 50

2. Mike Nicholls 18-05-0 peg 50

3. Paul Barnfield 13-09-0 peg 58

4. Tony Ponting 8-02-0 peg 65

Weigh Sheets:

Wind has done one at last and the the temperature has increased, really felt if Spring was back. So expected the resident carp to make an appearance.

Didn't set up the waggler and later was to regret it, did set up the long Ronnie rig and a 4x14 Winter Titan to fish initially two barrels then later three, also set up a RJ 0.3 gram paste rig for the LH margin. Started on the Ronnie rig with single LR over GB and for the first hour had a flying start catching small skimmers and the odd Ronnie to 4oz. The line gradually faded over the second hour but did have two better skimmers. Third hour switched to the Titan at two barrel again single LR over GB and had an immediate response catch a 2 lb and 3 lb skimmer. The line soon slowed but kept adding the odd skimmers and Ronnie which were really noticeable by their absence in this peg. Fourth and fifth hour was a real struggle having to go to three barrels over loose GB came 6 inches off bottom and added two 1 lb Skimmers but very few Ronnie's. John Smith was having a torrid time losing carp in Geoff's peg lost five!! Meanwhile Barny had been caching carp to 15 lb steady. So come the last 45 minutes I went into the LH margin with the paste where I had been potting GB and micro and lose feeding 4's over the top managing two decent carp before the all out. Nice to see the paste working.

Bridge Pool still looks a bit off colour.

Another good turn out which included matey Geoff Francis making a come back after a two year lay-off from commercial matches. Very popular returnee.

Once again the weather was predicted to be awful with high winds and heavy showers. So thought I would love a peg out of the wind or off the back, thinking pegs 51 to 59. First into the draw bag and out comes peg 51. Definitely going to be sheltered but hasn't so far produced much even though it's a popular peg for pleasure carp anglers. Plenty of room as the only peg behind the island today. Happy days. For company and the only angler I could see was "three gulps" Gillard on peg 54. Peg 51 platform is half under water and uneven, so took a while to get the seat box settled in. Umbrella erected as rain already started.

Shoulders some what better but hands still an issue. Set up the waggler primarily to try for carp over caster feed towards the channel during the last hour. The 4x13 MR to fish top set plus two barrels in 6 foot of water and the 4 metre whip with a 2BB waggler with 5xno12's shot down the line to fish over the MR rig line.

Fed the whip/pole line with GB laced with Pinkie and caster. Started on the MR with single LR. It didn't take long to catch a 1 oz Ronnie. I then had a good hour catching Ronnie's to 3 oz. Fed again and switched to the whip and surprisingly had a run of small Skimmers to 8 oz - thought it would have been the other way round. Stayed on the whip until the last hour topping up the GB feed four times. Extremely heavy hail stones arrived but lasted just five minutes. On to the waggler towards the gap where I had been feeding caster regularly for look see for a carp. Alas, more small Ronnie's as the light got bad switched to a shorted line with maggot feed putting a few more Ronnie's in the net. Once again would have been very enjoyable day except for the bloody weather conditions.

I weighed 12 lb 12 oz for a match win. No carp caught.

Runner up was Paul Barnfield (pictured with the match winner) with 9 lb 9 oz from peg 68. Paul dripped caster and GB through a kinder pot.

Back to the pub with the usual suspects including Geoff Francis who luckily remembered it was his round 😁.

Result:

1. Mike Nicholls 12-12-0 peg 51

2. Paul Barnfield 9-09-0 peg 68

3. Shane Lovell 7-14-0 peg 45

4. Dave Gillard 7-13-0 peg 54

5. Paul Haines 7-08-0 peg 55

6. Paul Clayton 7-03-0 peg 57

Weigh Sheets:

Looks like all but a few Sea Gulls have gone from Bridge Pool - hopefully not too long a road to recovery.

Twenty two fishing today. Great job Dave's doing keeping the pairs going by juggling reserves for absentees. Hopefully I'll get a decent "Ringer" for my partners absence next match!

Another windy day. Looking around the Pool I wanted to be on the North bank where the wind would be off the back, plus additional shelter from the trees. Definitely didn't want peg 71 where the wind was gusting into from all directions.

Into the draw bag and out comes - yes peg 71, worse still Tony my pairs partner turns up on the next peg 70. Moan over as these are the best two pegs in a very difficult section. So expected 1 and 2 points from us which would be good enough on the day.

This peg is known for its small Ronnie's which I'm not adverse in catching. Set up a 4x13 MR and plumbed up at top set plus two barrels to only find five foot an additional barrel took me to six foot. Thought the Ronnie's might prefer the shallower water albeit the waters looked a bit clearer so set up the 4 metre wagglerised flick tipped whip which took me nicely to the two barrel line. John Smith fished it last match and had 7 lb 12 oz on the waggler failing to catch short, so that was set up.

Fed one large ball of GB with a few particles at two barrels. Started on the whip with single LR. The wind was atrocious with the the float going with wind far too fast and was surprised it didn't seem to bother the fish as I had five 1 - 3 oz Ronnie's in 5 casts. I loose fed a few casters over the top and next cast was trying to play a carp and was surprised I had it on for 20 seconds before the inevitable. Decided to pot a second ball of GB anticipating the carp had devoured the first.  New hook length and out again and couldn't get a bite. So Potted a ball at top plus tree barrels. whilst that settled tried the waggler which presented good considering the conditions the issue was feeding - it was going everywhere, only had a couple of small Ronnie's on this plus a lot of missed bites. On to the three barrel line with the MR and had three small Skimmers and some more Ronnie's. I was again playing a carp which was possibly fouled as it wasn't on long. This line had now died. Tried the whip again and had a few more but it was really slow and now the bloody sun had arrived making this line hard to fish. It then poured down to erected the brolly for it to do a "Mary Poppins" and got scagged. The trolley also decided to go off road and luckily got stopped by a sapling. Rain stopped and decided to spend the rest of the match on the waggler fishing it down wind in to the bay to my left. Single LR over loose fed same and was soon adding some better Ronnie's. Made a mistake of loose feeding some casters which attracted a carp hooking one which I played for abut 10 minutes and started to think I would land it but once close in the shallow water it broke me. This again seem to bugger the line up, but kept to feeding LR's to the end catching spasmodically. The little and often wasn't working, it was feed and fish out. My hands were glad to hear the all out.

I weighed 7 lb 12 oz for second in section my partner weighed 9 lb 5 oz of mainly small skimmers to win the section so mission accomplished. This has put us to the top on weigh count back.

The match was won by Paul Barnfield (pictured with the runner up - introductions unnecessary) with 19 lb 2 oz from fancied peg 54 in the narrows. Paul caught mainly on caster over caster both over to the island and down the track. His catch mainly consisted of Roach and included a 3 lb Bream and a specimen Roach of 1 lb 14 oz. Well done matey.

There was some quality Roach caught today with Dave Haines (pictured) catching 15 lb of quality fish on the 3 metre whip on maggot from peg 63.  There are loads of these quality fish in the Pool, however, the small fish tend to get the bait first.

Back for a pint with the usual suspects fro a warm around the log fire. Glad I don't have a match Sunday had enough of this weather.

Weigh Sheets:

Pairs After Match Four:

With Bridge Pool closed due to an Algae issue we were moved to Withy which to be fair due to the quality Roach fishing would be much more appropriate for the silver series. However, it was very upsetting to drive past our beloved Bridge Pool to see its sorry state - pictured - at least the Sea Gulls are having a fill.

Haven't used my Colmic 808 due to not being able to buy spare top sets, but found my Drennan number 3 fitted perfectly so decided to use that today as its a superior pole. These pegs along the North bank are shallow close in and don't drop off until about 11.5 metres. So with my shoulders still an issue I decided I would feed with the pole and fish the waggler over it. I set up a 4x14 float just for plumbing purposes. As the wind was predicted to increase I chose an 8 inch Drake bodied waggler, usual 3 lb Maxima main line and 0.14 GLine hook length to a no 20 Tubertini 808 hook - some big carp in this Pool.

I weighed 13 lb 13 oz for section second with Chris Ollis (pictured) winning the section aided by a lovely near 2 lb Perch.

Heavy frost on the car this morning - both inside and out! Minus 4 degrees.

Arrived and asked to walk round the pool to identify 13 pegs. Ray's instructions was to put in the car park bank and opposite, leaving out the North bank (too shallow close in) and behind the island. Noticed a few small Ronnie's topping on the walk. I also relised how much work the BAA committee put in to keep this fishery looking really nice - well done to all.

I didn't fancy pegs 41, 42 or 43 as they won't see the sun all day with the frost staying all day - pictured right towards the far frosted bank. 

In to the draw bag and out comes peg 41! Not what I wanted. Have fished this peg a few times over the years and have had good days in the summer but not so good in winter. The positive, it was an end peg. Great company with Pete Greenslade on peg 42.

I have had rod rings freeze over but today was very unusual and a first. During the first half of the match all my kit, including the pole went white with frost and later when it thawed ended up soaking wet during what can only be described as a beautiful sunny day! - by some!!! The rod rings didn't freeze because the water was warmer than the air. It was bloody cold, luckily I had the battery body warmer on for most of the day.

The peg is only about 13 meters wide, shelving up very quickly. Fancied the skimmers wouldn't be in this gully this time of year so would target the Ronnie's. As it was an end peg set up the waggler to fish down to my right at about 25 metres in to a bit of a bowl - still not pass the next pallet. On the pole line the light was awful so was forced to fish at top set plus four barrels to get the yellow top Winter Titan into the darker water. There was a narrow bit of light water closer in but reserved that for my new Drennan 5 metre whip reduced to 4 metre today - what a lovely piece of kit for the money - excellent value, and its no longer a virgin!

Started by feeding a knub of GB with a few Pinkies on the pole line and loose fed some casters on the whip line. Started with two Pinkies on a 20 hook and after 15 minutes didn't have a bite, so refed a bigger ball of GB (which had frozen) and Pinkie and picked up the whip with single caster and again didn't have a bite. So back out on the pole and had a few small Ronnie's. This soon died. So picked up the waggler and without any feed cast a single LR down the peg and had a bite first try, subsequently caught a few Ronnie's but again it died. Started to feed a few LR's and messed around with the depth and found 3/4 depth was perfect and had three hours catching the odd 2 oz Ronnie. Felt I got the feeding right. I had been loose feeding Pinkie on the whip line so tried that and had three better Ronnie's before that died. Went out on the pole where I had been topping up with GB which had attracted the smaller Ronnie's which were falling off due to heavy elastic. With 15 minutes to go I spied a carp rising down on the waggler line so fished that to the end catching more regularly than previously. No carp though. I did enjoy the match even though it was hard, which wasn't unexpected.

My Ronnie's weighed 6 lb 10 oz for a section pick up, so happy with that one. The only thing I now wished I had tried caster on the waggler line - next time - perhaps.

The match was won by Dave Poole from peg 63 (pictured with the silvers winner) with 14 lb 2 oz which included a 12 lb carp caught on waggler and single bronze maggot. It took a while to lake as Dave was using 0.1 hook length. Well done matey.

The silvers was won by Andy Greenham with 12 lb 14 oz from peg 45. Andy caught 50/50 11 metre pole and waggler. The waggler was fished with single caster over loose fed caster and similarly his pole line was fished with caster and GB. Well done matey.

Nice to see Steve Jefferies out again, certainly made his presence known 😎.

Made a nice change to have a match on Withy Pool, however, can expect it to fish much better in the warmer months.

Result:

1. Dave Poole 14-02-0 peg 63

2. Andy Greenham 12-14-0 peg 45

3. Pete Turner 8-02-0 peg 44

4. John Smith 7-12-0 peg 65

5. Mike Nicholls 6-10-0 peg 41

6. Steve Jefferies 5-14-0 peg 46

Silvers: 

1. Andy Greenham 12-14-0 peg 45

2. Pete Turner 8-02-0 peg 44

Weigh Sheets:

I have been having problems with my shoulders and hands and if it wasn't the start of the pairs I would have stayed home and rested

The match was to become the "day of the umbrellas". Chris Ollis Pictured with something growing out of his head!

Pairs drawn done behind closed curtains and paired with Tony Ponting - happy with this one. Twenty two fishing so two sections of 6 and two of 5. However, there was to be a good few complaints about the pegging which Dave said he would address for the next match. One angler missing with a sick note.

Into the draw bag and out comes peg 6. I was happy with this until I found out that pegs 3,4,5,6,7 and 8 were in! We never put pegs 4,5 and 6 in together. Plus the wind was hacking into my peg and just felt the silvers would not be in this narrow part of the lake, any fish would be shared with Turkey on peg 5.

I initially set up four rigs and because of the conditions the 4x14 Winter Titan was the only one to be used. Started at three barrels feeding a small ball of GB laced with Pinkie with double Pinkie on the hook and had a 2 oz Ronnie first drop in. A bit of wait for the next followed by a very welcome 10 oz skimmer. The line apparently died which lead to mistake one: Instead of staying on the same line I went out to four barrels feeding again catching a Ronnie straight away. This died so mistake two:

went out to five barrels to my left and had the same effect one Ronnie and nothing else. I felt I had broken a cardinal rule by not staying over the same line especially with the fishing being so hard. It became a right struggle trying all three lines catching and loosing the odd tiny Ronnie. The wind and rain had picked up with a strong gust bending the umbrella bank stick - pictured. Now totally pissed off no umbrella and shoulders and now neck playing up mistake three: I set up the Drennan light 10 foot feeder rod and chucked that as near as I could officially get to the gap and dead water where I suspect the fish where relaxing out of my tow. With a tiny GB cage feeder filled with GB and Pinkie I hooked a decent carp which broke me! I then had two quick F1's which isn't what I wanted followed by two tiny Ronnie's. I spent the last 20 minutes back at three barrels catching a small Ronnie and again losing a few, need a ZIM number 1 me thinks! Glad to hear the all out and quickly chucking everything soaking wet into the car.

My few silvers weighed 2 lb 4 oz for last but one in the section which was tight except for Paul Clayton on peg 7. Think I could have done much better had I stuck to the one line. Well done to my partner though. My two F1's weighed 2 lb 9 oz.

The silvers was won by Tony Rixon (pictured right - bugger would stop laughing) with 12 lb 1 oz from peg 15. Tony caught long and short with caster and GB - see his blog for in-depth details.

Now for the Umbrella carnage:

My bank: stick bent

Dave Haines: Umbrella top blew Mary Poppins like over to the main lake.

Paul Claytons: bank stick broke in half

Kev Winstone: His new Umbrella is now in peg 27.

No pub for me, rushed home for a very hot bath. Now out to the garage to dry the stuff out.

Ray Bazeley is running a match on Withy on Thursday 13/01/2022. Book in with him.

Pairs Result to date: Note the weigh sheets were hard to read so weights subject to confirmation: Drop one result: No shows get 6 points - equivalent to last in section

Weigh Sheets: Only posted for prosperity!!

Very heavy rain throughout the night with some localised flooding. We were promised a dry breezy day carrying a chill from a North Westerly. Didn't quite get that right, we had a reasonably warm sunny day - except those pegged in the shade all day. Had my usual walk around and found that the colour had dropped out slightly so expected a hard day.

Twenty three of us today, a number which leads to difficult peg choices which can lead to some disagreement. Hopefully we won't limit the numbers until we get to over 34! Think we should give peg 13 a try out?

Second into the draw bag and out came peg 15 - very happy with this one. For company on peg 16 was Pete Turner and Paul Haines on 14.

I set up the waggler and had a few casts and thought it would work well in the conditions. Both short and long Ronnie rigs set up, in addition to a 4x16 to fish top set plus two barrels and a RJ 0.3g Slim to fish the margins.

Fed the long Ronnie rig and the two barrel lines with GB laced with micro and LP's and started to feed the RH margin with LR's. Started over the GB line with single LR and as expected started to catch "Ballers" and not much else. The Ronnie's were noticeable by their absence. I did had four small Skimmers before I had two F1's after which the line dried up. Tried the two barrel line and have one indication - didn't seem to like the GB today. I was now itching to pick up the waggler, so tried it for an hour at various depths with double LR on the hook over loose fed LR's. A bit disappointed to only catch a few small silvers whilst Paul on 14 was catching F1's regularly on the method. Presentation wasn't quite right I think, so sadly the waggler was retired. It was obviously fishing hard for both carp and especially the silvers. Picked up the short Ronnie rig with single LR on the hook over the loose feed and had a reasonable good hour catching silvers including a 1 1/2lb Skimmer and a similar sized Tench, but mostly "Ballers" - its bites. I then had a Carp about 4 lb then another of 5 lb. I switched to the heavier RJ rig with double LR's and could get a bite! So back on the short Ronnie rig with double LR's on a 18- 808 and started to catch some better carp from both margins. Kept trying the heavier rig but couldn't believe it wasn't working. I think the Ronnie rig was presenting the bait how they wanted it - following it down - perhaps. Back on the light Ronnie rig worrying it was too light for the size of fish, started to catch carp again. It then went tits up due to my crap loose feeding, and started to get "loose feeditus". Feed too long then too short then spot on only to bring the carp up in the water leading to foul hooking. Wasn't long before I lost my short Ronnie rig to a fouler - not unexpected. Sat it out on the heavier rig finally catching some better carp but the feeditus was still prevalent. I tried the worm which just got "Ballered". The carp were certainty responding to the loose fed rather than potting.

I overheard Hughie Evans say to Chris Ollis "put some more "pudding" in" an expression often used by Willy. Weeks. His fishery memorial plaque (between pegs 34 and 1) pictured above - Willy did a lot for the club in the form of "fishery management". If you know you know. Topper referred to as "The Doings".

My silvers weighed 7 lb 12 oz and my carp 53 lb 13 oz this gave me a winning total of 61 lb 9 oz and joint third overall in the silvers. Not a completely satisfying day due to the Feeditus.

It was a low weight which took the silvers by John Fry (pictured with the match winner) with 9 lb, mainly Skimmers from peg 7. A peg John knows well.

Back to the Compton with some of the usual suspects - where was birthday boy MD I ask?

Result:

A Section:1. Harry Muir 25-05-0 peg 4

Silvers: Kev Winstone 7-12-0 peg 3

B Section:

1. Paul Haines 39-10-0 peg 15

Silvers: John Fry 9-0-0 peg 7

C Section:

1. Mike Nicholls 61-09-0 peg 15

Silvers: Mike Nicholls 7-12-0 peg 15

D Section:

1. Hughie Evans 44-02-0 peg 26

Silvers: Chris Ollis 8-01-0 peg 24

Weigh Sheets:

Usual walk around and I must say the club volunteers have done a great job tidying up the islands (this might see Tony Rixon back). Top picture is a view from peg 24, it makes the island look further away. The other picture is of the middle main island which now looks very pretty. The trees/bushes on pegs 17, 18 and 21 have been removed - looks like a different fishery. I fancied peg 29 for a day on the silvers.

These matches are well supported with a consistent turnout - 21 today. The weather was perfect for fishing some cloud cover and humid.

Into the draw bag and out comes peg 21 again happy with this, beginning to think I'm a draw bag. For company I had Tony peg 19 and Hughie peg 24. Tempted to set up the long pole to fish to the island, but thought I would leave it to others to see how much of the removed tree is in the water! So got out top sets from the Carp pole plus number two of the Drennan margin pole. The short and long Ronnie rigs set up, plus a RJ for the margin with either maggot or worm. The plan was to fish for silvers for half the match and F1's/Carp. So three lines - one out in front at 10 o clock using a black top in white water - this combination gives the best visibility for me where I fed GB laced with DR's. I loose fed LR's both sides for the short rig where I would also fish the RJ. Starting on the long rig I started to catch small Skimmers and Ronnie's. It's never long before the F1's bully in and soon had one in the net, creating need to refeed. Whilst the feed settled started on the short rig to the right to fish out the Perch I knew would be there. They are growing and seem only to feed for the first hour or so need to get some early low hanging fruit in the bag. Even these were being disrupted by the F1's. Caught a couple of F1's before going back on the long line where I added a few more silvers, very short lived before the need to top up, so thought I would try the short rig up in the water with loose fed maggot and after missing a fair few bites had a some decent Ronnie's to 8 oz - lovey, plus a bonus 1 lb hybrid. With about 10 lb of silvers I changed my plan and after two hours switched to fishing for the F1's earlier kindering DR's with double LR's on the hook had a great last 4 hours catching 27 F1's plus two carp losing two due to my stupidity of bullying - never learn. The left side was the most productive.

My silver weighed 9 lb 15 oz so 1 oz from my estimate. My carp and F1's weighed 47 lb 8 oz. for second overall weight of 57 lb 7 oz and a double bubble section silvers/overall. Not the highest weight but the best day's fishing this year on Bridge Pool - caught steady all match and the weather was perfect - until!

The match was won by Dave Wride with 66 lb 9 oz from peg 17. Dave caught on the pole in the water.

The silvers was wo n by Dave Haines with 18 lb from peg 11. Dave caught short with either maggot or caster. Well done to both.

I look around to see where anglers have drawn and have to say that John Smith (aka Cliff) draws some very poor pegs as he did again today, an excellent angler in the wrong pegs me thinks.

It was back to the pub with the usual suspects EXCEPT ME. Going down the road something fell off a tractor which I ran over and punctured the front near side tyre. Dave Gillard stopped to help change the wheel having got the wheel nuts off we couldn't get the wheel of the studs. We needed a mallet which we didn't have after kicking the life out of it and concerned that the car would come off the jack I called the AA and after an hour wait they sorted it for me. As it happened the AA man had fished Withy the day before. Thanks Dave.

Result:

A Section:

1. Kev Winstone 33-14-0 peg 33

Silvers: Paul Barnfield 10-12-0 peg 3

B Section:

1. Harry Muir 25-04-0 peg 7

Silvers: Dave Haines 18-0-0 peg 11

C Section:

1. Dave Wride 66-09-0 peg 17

Silvers: Ray Bazeley 12-04-0 peg 16

D Section:

1. Mike Nicholls 57-07-0 peg 21

Silvers: Mike Nicholls 9-15-0 peg 21

Weigh Sheets:

First to arrive and had my usual walk around. The water looked clear which wasn't a good sign for the fishing. However, what struck me was the tired condition of the platforms, the wood has now significantly aged. Most have had plastic non-slip flooring covering up rotting wood. The time has come.

Good turn out of 23. Named called out and I pull myself peg 14. Happy with this one. Again I wasn't running to the peg my trolley was pulling me down the hill ?. For company I had Dave Poole peg 15 and Rod Dufferty peg 11.

I fed the LH margin heavy with micro, the RH light with loose fed LR's and the out in front long Ronnie rig with GB laced with DR's. I started on this whilst I kept feeding the RH with LR's and the LH with hard 4's. I had six 4 oz quick skimmers (nice to see these). I fed again and appeared to kill the line. I think the an F1 or two had come over the feed. So tried the paste in the margin and was surprised to find no indications, not even from nibblers, umm. So tried the RH margin with single LR on the short rig. The arms on these platforms are very restrictive in this respect and a bloody nuisance. I started to get a Perch one a bung, nice to see some have grown on to 3 - 4 oz, still plenty of small one's though. Very difficult to estimate your weight with such a mix of size. It suddenly stopped and subsequently I hooked a F1 which came off. I had a few do this but did land four. Once the Perch had had enough I added a Tench, a near 2 lb Perch and a couple of quality Roach to 12 oz. I then had a 4 lb Carp before the line needed a rest so tried the paste again and nothing! Water too clear for the F1's I think. So fed some micro on the long Ronnie rig and had a 2 lb skimmer and a few more 4 oz'ers on single LR's. The fishing became very hard and with the wind not as bad I wished I had set the waggler up, but thought about doing it but couldn't be bothered as I thought I was too far behind to catch up not realising that it was fishing hard for everyone  Decided to scratch around with the short rig and sneaked a few more small fish and a minute before the all out hooked a decent Carp which had the adrenalin pumping, managing to land it within the 15 minutes overtime.

My silvers weighed 18 lb 8 oz which surprised me and my two carp 17 lb for a total of 35 lb 8 oz for a double bubble section and double bubble second overall for both - happy days, but must admit that I thought I was well off the pace today. I fed half pint of LR's to catch the majority of my fish - light feeding the answer - who knows?

 

Result:

A Section:

1. Harry Muir 28-03-0 peg 7

Silvers: Dave Wride 8-11-0 peg 3

B Section:

1. Mike Nicholls 35-08-0 peg 14

Silvers: Mike Nicholls 18-08-0 peg 14

C Section:

1. Paul Haines 29-08-0 peg 21

Silvers: Phil Morgan 4-02-0 peg 18

D Section:

1. Kev Winstone 50-08-0 peg 27

Silvers: Kev Winstone 21-10-0 peg 27

Weigh Sheets:

From my walk around I didn't think it was going to fish that well. Fancied peg 1 only because the aerator was running.

Another good turn out of 25 making the pegging different! Dave Gillard called me peg 19. Happy enough with this - shot walk and plenty F1's. For company I had Dave Poole on peg 20 and Tony Ponting on 18.

Plenty of time to set up which leads to inevitable pre-all in conflab - anglers on pegs 14,15,16 and 17 pictured.

I set up two 0.3 gram paste rigs - one for out in front in 6 foot of water and one to fish to my left at three barrels of the Acolyte margin pole. The rig would also have done for the right towards the tree but would have been rig suicide. Also both the short and long Ronnie rigs for the Silvers.

I started by feeding a pot of micro out in front and started over it with the paste. This is always a good tester as to how and what is going to feed. I was expecting a couple decent Skimmers and F1's. However, the paste was getting nibbled by small Silvers. This told me it was going to be hard, especially as the water had gone a bit clear. Meanwhile Dave Poole was catching small Silvers on his long whip. I made the decision to switch to the Silvers. Firstly, on the short Ronnie rig and later out in front on the long Ronnie rig, both with single LR over GB. I was catch small fish regularly and started to catch Dave up, both catch small Skimmers and Perch with a smattering of Ronnie's. I thought I would have a quick look down the left with the paste rig, so fed it with micro and went in with the paste. The problem here was that there was some wind blown silver stuff on the water which reflected the sun light and no matter what float tip colour I tried I couldn't see it very well - settled for red. There was was quite few times when I lost visibility only to see it coming back up leading to foul hookers. I did have eight F1's and one decent Carp but got frustrated with the not being able to see the float and even though there were plenty of Carp about I gave it up to see the match out on the long Ronnie rig.

My Carp weighed 18 lb 12 oz and my Silver 17 lb 10 oz for a silvers section win. So mission accomplished.

The match was won by Andy Gard (pictured with his catch) with 62 lb 5 oz from peg 25. Andy caught mostly from his margin on pellet over pellet. Andy was helped by having an empty peg each side pegs 26 and 24!

The Silvers was won by Chris Ollis (pictured with his catch of decent Skimmers) with 28 lb 10 oz from peg 28. Chris caught on two lines at 11 metres with worm hook bait over either GB with worm feed or over potted micro.

Weights were better than I had anticipated.

Result:

A Section:

1. Paul Barnfield 59-14-0 peg 8

Silvers: John Fry 15-12-0 peg 4

B Section:

1. Tony Ponting 44-15-0 peg 18

Silvers: Bob Feltham 11-0-0 peg 17

C Section:

1. Andy Gard 62-05-0 peg 25

Silvers: Mike Nicholls 17-10-0  peg 19

D Section:

1. Kev Winstone 35-13-0 peg 32

Silvers: Chris Ollis 28-10-0 peg 28

Weigh Sheets:

Had my usual walk around the Pool which had coloured up somewhat, probably from the recent wind and rain. Not much signs of feeding fish though, except, around pegs 18, 19, 20 and 21 - as per usual. Fancied any of these pegs plus peg 1 which was occupied by Kev Winstone - pictured - where was he after the match?.

Dave Gillard called me peg 27. Happy with this as it's a great waggler peg. Arrived at the peg to find myself next to Paul Haines on peg 28. Dave Haines was on peg 29 one of my favourite Silvers pegs. Not to worry as I would be targeting the F1's on the waggler and the odd stock Carp.

Firstly, I set up the Drennan 12 foot Carp waggler rod - I love this rod, wish Dad could have used it. Two Paste rigs a 0.4 gram for out in front on the top set and a 0.3 gram for the RH margin. Simple, well not quite as it would prove!

I started on the waggler with double DR hook bait over loose fed DR's, however the wind had picked up making it impossible to fish it properly. Very disappointed when I had to abandon it. So out in front with paste over potted micro and had a run of five Skimmers and a small Tench but only one F1 - my real quarry. Meantime Paul was getting an F1 every chuck on the method feeder, but was having issues with the brambles loosing a few in the process as well as feeders. Nonetheless I was well behind with Carp and decided to try and build on the Silvers I had by setting up a short Ronnie rig for the LH bay where there was some shelter form the wind and a 4x14 Titan to fish over the paste line with GB and DR's. The upshot was neither was producing any quality - mainly small Perch. So these were abandoned in favour a monk for the rest of the match in the RH margin with the paste. Things got emotional as I was foul hooking decent Carp and couldn't work out why. As time progressed I started to land a few including some F1's. With Paul now financially out of pocket by seven Method Feeders was also monking in his margins. I started to catch him up and the Carp I had just before all out did it for me - just.

My Silvers weighed 10 b 15 oz and my Carp 47 lb 5 oz for a section win and second overall.

The match was won by Tony Ponting (pictured with the match winner) with 66 lb 6 oz from peg 20. Tony caught mostly from both margins using corn over corn - well done matey.

The overall Silvers was won by Dave Haines with 19-08-0 from peg 29. Dave caught in his usual manner - Short to hand using either maggot or caster hook bait over some GB and loose feed. Well done matey.

I think I might know why I was foul hooking so many, but need to do an experiment in the garage to confirm or otherwise.

A few suspects missing from the pub today - just the eight.

Result:

A Section:

1. Hughie Evans 45-07-0 peg 7

Silvers: John Fry 14-02-0 peg 4

B Section:

1. Ray Bazeley 49-01-0 peg 14

Silvers: Pete Greenslade 13-02-0 peg 16

C Section:

1. Tony Ponting 66-06-0 peg 20

Silvers: Paul Barnfield 18-04-0 peg 21

D Section:

1. Mike Nicholls 58-04-0 peg 27

Silvers: Dave Haines 19-08-0 peg 29

Weigh Sheets:

Last minute decision to fish today as I had planned to watch the local cricket 20/20 derby match, Somerset v Gloucestershire, which we cancelled due to some mates having to self isolate. My team won!

Arrived in plenty of time for my usual wander round. The Pool looked in good nick with plenty of fish showing. I fancied peg 1 near the aerator. Good turn out of 25.

Dave Gillard pulled me peg 31, an area I just can't get away from. For company I had Dave Poole on 32 and Dave Haines peg 30. This use to be a good area for a few better Carp, but not nowadays due to them being removed, just a handful left.

I set up the waggler for over to the opposite island incase of a struggle, not for F1's as they don't seem to hold up here, but Silvers. Then a short and long Ronnie rigs. The pole stayed in the case.

I fed the waggler line with LR's and both short and long Ronnie lines with neat GB. Started on the short line with single LR and caught Ronnie's straight away and had a really good couple of hours catching mainly Ronnie's to 3 oz with a smattering of Perch which seem to have grown on some this year. Went out on the long rig and had two Skimmers one good one, I was soon back on the short line as the wait for a bite was far too long to catch similar size fish. I kept the GB going in on both lines and had a cast on the waggler and again was catching the same size fish and with the wind picking up it was soon retired. Back on the short line and found it quiet and was soon to find some F1's had moved in over the GB and had three very quickly, still the Silvers were being canny so set up a paste rig and have two more F1's then back on the Ronnie rig and started to catch again. As the match progressed the harder it became so by switching around I kept a few more coming including another decent Skimmer. Had there still been any number of Carp left in the Pool I would have one, very few caught today. I think it needs restocking with a mix of 2-3lb Carp.

My Silvers weighed 20 lb 12 oz for a section Silvers win and top Silvers on the day. The five F1's weighed 8 lb 7 oz definitely growing.

The match was won by Dave Wride (pictured with the Silvers winner) with 53 lb 10 oz from peg 27. Dave caught "on the pole in the water".

Back to the pub with the usual suspects. Getting use to this table service one positive to come out of the epidemic.

Result:

A Section:

1. Bob Feltham 48-0-0 peg 1

Silvers: Paul Clayton 12-09-0 peg 6

B Section:

1. Rob Baker 38-0-0 peg 19

Silvers: Phil Morgan 9-04-0 peg 17

C Section:

1. Dave Wride 53-10-0 peg 27

Silvers: Paul Barnfield 13-06-0 peg 24

D Section:

1. Paul Haines 36-12-0 peg 29

Silvers: Mike Nicholls 20-12-0 peg 31

Weigh Sheets:

5 am checked the weather and saw the eastern sky (pictured) - "Red sky in morning shepherds warning" - how true - Gale force winds, rain on and off and bloody cold for the time of year was to follow throughout the day. Far too windy for umbrellas.

Arrived a bit later than usual so didn't bother with the usual walk around. Twenty one fishing which was good considering the weather forecast, also probably because BAA have stopped the stupid mid match weigh ins which was putting anglers off going. Dave called me peg 29. This peg is a good Silvers peg so would do me sir.

Found myself next to Granty on peg 28 (again), always good fun to be with  especially in the pub with his story telling with Cliff.

Plenty of feeders being set up as no one would be fishing long pole. I set up three rigs the first a margin paste rig which was to sit in the holster getting wet all day. A 4x13 Martin Rayet (MR) float to fish top-set plus one barrel, but did have another barrel in the holster incase. Finally the Ronnie rig which I thought might not present well enough in the conditions.

The wind on this venue tends to continually change direction from minute by minute, but the main thrust was from the SE, which put the tow from left to right , however, the float would be going the other way so feeding the GB laced with DR's was fed up tow. Started on the MR with single LR on the hook and soon had my first tiny Perch on many, which tend to feed for about an hour before switching off completely. I had a run of F1's including a small Koi (where did that come from). As soon as the wind abated I picked up the Ronnie rig which worked better than I thought and accounted for a couple of big Ronnie Roach and Skimmers. As soon as the wind picked up I switched back to the MR. So by switching between the two rigs more or less kept Silvers coming throughout the match, interrupted by the occasional accidental F1 and one decent Carp.

My Silvers weighed 19lb 4oz for top silvers on the day. My Carp weighed 18lb 10oz for 4th overall. If it wasn't for the bloody weather I would have thoroughly enjoyed the match.

The match was won by Paul Barnfield (pictured with the Silvers winner) with 62lb 12oz from peg 4. Paul caught on worm over micro feed at 10 metres, nice to have the ballast to fish that long in todays conditions. Well done matey.

Now to dry out all the kit ready for another soaking Sunday at Westerleigh.

Result:

A Section:

1. Paul Barnfield 62-12-0 peg 4

Silvers: Hughie Evans 7-12-0 peg 1

B Section:

1. Kevin Winstone 40-09-0 peg 18

Silvers: Dave Haines 7-07-0 peg 14

C Section:

1. Tony Ponting 28-13-0 peg 19

Silvers: Paul Clayton 2-08-0 peg 24

D Section:

1. Mike Nicholls 37-14-0 peg 29

Silvers: Andy Gard 4-02-0 peg 27

Weigh Sheets: