Landsend Winterleague round 1

Ive been looking forward to this series as last your I bombed out big time first round and never recovered. An early start, on the road at 6.20, and as usual a big breakfast is the order of the day, and very nice it was too. Nice little cash bonus today, sold around 30 of my floay range. Into the draw bag and I pull out peg 22 on Match lake. All three lake are used in this series and you swap around the lakes first three matches and then a randon draw again. I was pretty happy with it as it was around the area that won on saturday. The water was very clear thanks to a week of frosts, so a carefull aproach was needed. For company I had Pete Nurse on 24. He seams to live on that peg. Match organiser Ken Rayner opposite on 1 and Chris Koniecszny (probably spelt that wrong) on 20 to my left.With it being so shallow across to the island i didnt bother with a shallow rig as i tend to waste too much time trying to catch in near impossible conditions. Its a bad habbit ive got. So it was a pellet rig for the bottom of the far shelf. A meat rig for 2+2 (didnt think that would realy work). a silvers rig to fish two plus two to my right at the bottom of the near shelf . And a rig to fish under platform 21. I started on the meat line hoping to catch a rougue carp but nothing happened for 15 minutes. Pete had already netted a smallish carp in that time and Chris was netting one when I decided to switch lines. I dropped in on the long line where i had fed just 4 6mm pellets and almost instantly hooked up a carp. Happy days. Blank saved, unlike last years start. Back out and a few minutes later another graced the net. 4 more pellets fed and I caught two more quickly before it died. So 45 minutes in and Im on around 18lb. but then I went 45 biteles minutes on that line. so I decided to go 6 meters to the right and copy the tactics. Well blow me, it worked again and three more and a skimmer hit the net. So two hours in and Im pretty happy. But then nearly three hours with nothing. Only one twitchy bite, and I swapped around many times looking for fish. With 40 minutes left I tried the silver line again and had a beasty perch close to 2 1/2 pound. I had dropped a few maggots in to my left by now and went in there and another good perch came my way followed by a small roach but that was it then and Ken shouted the all out. At least today I landed every fish I hooked , which was very important. The lake had fished rock hard and the word was five carp was best anywhere else on the lake so I was feeling confident. At the weigh in I put 4-13 of silvers in the net, and 30-02 of carp for 34-15 total and lake and section win. It was hard all over the lakes and no big weights came out. Russ Peck won Specie lake with 69-12 from peg 32, and Rod Wootton won top lake with 53-00 from peg 58. First week of realy cold weather so it was sort of expected to fish hard. Onto the next one.

results
Match lake
Stu Barnett, 34-15, peg 22
Nick Ducket, 25-04, peg 4
Pete Nurse, 22-06, peg 24 (His second home)

Silvers,  Ken Raynor, 6-08, peg 1

Specie lake
Russ Peck, 69-12, peg 32
Steve Sewell, 31-09, peg 36
Adrian Jeffrey, 22-14, peg 40

Silvers  Tony Rixon, 21-00 (all roach)

Top lake
Rod Wootton, 53-00, peg 58
Lee Williams, 15-05, peg 51
Martin Rayet, 9-00, peg 68

Silvers  Gary Oshea, 5-12, peg 70

Landsend saturday open.

I've not done a blog for a few weeks, not because I've had a bad run, but just because I've been a bit slack. The last five matches I've framed 4 times. All third places. So I need to pick my ideas up a bit. Back to Landsend for the weekly open and the day couldn't have started worse. Five minutes from the venue and my car went into safe mode and it was a crawl for the last couple of miles. That's probably a £400 repair as it's the desiel particulate filter again. Bugger!!!!.A very nice fried breakfast was consumed and a dip into the draw bucket and peg 11 pops out. All the matches I've fished here and it's the first time I've seen it. It's been consistent lately so maybe my run of thirds would come to an end. There's a deep hole that's close to 2 feet deeper than the rest of the peg at 16 meters so that was gonna be my main target. Also along the end bank. But with a heavy covering of leaves it could be a frustrating day. A margin rig was set up as well for the platform 10. Fed all lines at the start and went to the end bank. It took 5 attempts to get the rig through the leaves but after it settled for a few second the float dipped and carp number one was netted. But that was it. No more bites there. So out to the deep hole but like everybody else at that time I sat watching a motionless float. It was bloody hard. After an hour I thought I saw a swirl through the leaves by the island so I got my shallow rig and dropped it in and carp number two hit the net. Fifteen minutes later number three. But it was another hour till my next bite and a list carp from the hole. Then my day got worse. As it it a hard peg to fish because you have to break down twice because of the brambles behind I heard a little crack. A quick check and I found an inch crack in the joint of my number 7 section. So the long pole fishing was finished for the day. So I got the bomb rod out to drop in in the hole. I did get one out and lost one but bites were very few and far between today.not much happened and everybody except Mike Ducket struggled. I managed a skimmer and one carp from close to platform ten but that was it for me. As expected Mike won it from peg one catching along the end bank with around 14 carp for 77-2. Rod Wooton was second from peg 21 with 45-5. I managed 26-9 for yet another third place. I might not be good but I'm bloody consistent lol.

Acorn Tuesday costcutter

A nice clear drive down to Acorn today, which was a lot better than the drive home due to a nasty accident on the motorway near Magor. Took me 40 minutes from the bridge to home. Usually takes 15 minutes. Anyway no breakfast anymore so it was straight into the draw and out pops 33. Smile on face 😜. It’s a nice peg next to the bridge and with no one on 34, it could be an interesting day. Steve Shaw had a big weight off this peg two weeks ago fishing maggot over groundbait down both margins. So I set up two rigs for that today. Also a Shalla slim to fish the island in 18 inches with 6mm pellet. But that never got used there. But did get a run out somewhere else later. And a  .4 slim to fish 6mm pellet at five sections on the deck halfway along the bridge. At the all in I fed my lines and went out on the top five line and fed 6 pellets over the top and was straight into a carp. But it was foul hooked and came off. Same again next drop in, #&(@&**”’. Language Timothy!!. Frustrating but at least there were fish there. After the first hour I’d put 8 in the net and lost 4, but as usual, the bridge peg fish are small and I’d only put 24lb on my clicker. At least I was catching so I was happy. But the fish moved off for about 90 minutes and I only had about another 6 by half way. Eddie Wynne next to me was going for silvers and was slowly building a weight of them, but he was working hard for it. Fair play he kept at it all day. I tried the margins on and off but saw no indications of anything. In fact I never had anything apart from a couple of silvers there all day. So I stuck it out along the bridge and slowly started to catch regularly. About an hour from the end I saw a few fish coming up for my loose feed so the island rig was adjusted and I stared a bit of slapping and took about 10 fish shallow. The last twenty minutes I went back on the deck as they spooked on the surface and another 4 were put in the net. At the end I'd had around 40 carp and both me and Eddie thought I had 120lb and we were just about spot on as I had 121- 4 for first on the day. Second was Dave Wride with 99-1 from peg 22 and third was Ray Bazeley with 88-4 from peg 9. Eddie Wynne got his reward for working hard to take top silvers with 12-4 from peg 31. Gotta admit It was enjoyable. Lots of bites and busy most of the day.

1st Stu Barnett 121-4
2nd Dave Wride 99-1
3rdRay Bazeley 88-4

Silvers
Eddie Wynne 12-4
Dave Wride12-00

Landsend saturday open

Back for the first time in 6 months to probably my favourite venue. Always good here even when the fishing is a bit off because the breakfast is fandabidozy. After meeting up with a few guys ive not seen for ages it was draw time and out pops number 5, the narowest peg on the lake which makes life a bit easier. after a word from Jason radford who told me the fish had got a bit wise, and as the water level was so low i decided to set up a shallow rig for across to the island with a ling line. And boy was it shallow. i could see the bottom clearly at the start of the match. Not good!!.i set it so i could fish down the shelf but it was so snaggy i had to give up on that and go about a foot deep but that was well on the bottom. on and off i fished that line for about 3 hours as it was black with carp feeding. but Jason was right every time i put my rig in near them they just cruised off. Id feed and they`d come straight back but i never had a single indication from them. very frustrating. Only thing i did was foul hook one under the chin lifting the rig out. they never moved away from that line all day but i gave up with two hours to go and came in close. I had four carp in a short spell after a couple of hours when i was trying for skimmer with a 4mm over micros between two lilly beds. Mike Dicket had some good skimmers there last week but i never had a sniff of one. It wasn`t untill the last hour when I managed to get 8 carp out from infront of platform 4, that I sort of rescued my day. I ended up with 12, of which half were foul hooked, for 46-2 for nowhere in the match. not a good day over all. No silvers at all and as the silver pool was won with just over 6lb it would have been nice to get a few and go for that. results below.

!st Steve Seagar 121-11from peg 11. Mainley catching along the end bank and tight in the corner. And he didn`t whinge all day. Theres a first.

2nd Mike ducket 88-8. He caught switching from tigh acroos by the reeds and close in by platform 8 from peg. he also had the top silvers wieght with 7-12.

3rd was the ever consistant Tony Rixon  with 79-15 catching tigh over to the island and in his left margin from peg 19.

first in the silver by default was Mr Bean himself dave Wesson from peg 18 with two big skimmer and a few bits for 6-10

Harescombe thursday open

With it being ages since ive been here I was looking forward to fishing this place again. Nothing big in here but you can expect lots of bite...usually!!. nice breakfast, though i only had the small one as all my shirts are getting too tight lol. into the draw and out pops number 12. Not fished that far down before and the wind was coming from that end of the lake. That was ok as the top end was pretty blustery. Next to me was Phil Auger, i think thats how you spell it. Opposit in the corner was Ray Bazeley and i could see Paul Haines next to the landslide. The weather looked good and i was hoping for a few, but the lake didnt exactly fish its best. I started off on the meat line at 2+2 and after about 10 minutes i had a skimmer about 6 ounces, follwed, after a wait,by an F1. but then it went quiet. Phil started on the same line and was catching bits so i gues he was on maggot or caster. Ray was still quiet, thats a first lol. the wind dropped for the first time so i went across to the far side were id been pinging 4mm pellets and fished with banded 6mm. wasnt long before a had my first carp on but it was a fouler and it pulled out. I was getting loads of indications but it was snot fish messing around and when i lifted into the bites i was foul hooking fish. this was a problem for a couple of hours when i went over after swapping lines. It wa sa case of get a fish or two then nothing and mov lines.ray had started to catch short and paul had a good start but his peg died and was struggling. Phil was now fishing over long and was catching regularly on caster. lots of bits but decent fish in btween. I tried my margin but nothing was happening except all baits being dragged around by fish DNA. too small to get a maggot in thier mouths. so i mainly stuck across for the second half of the match shallow, but it was slow going. The meat line had died completely and the only place i could get a bite was against some hanging grass. Phil never stopped catching allsorts all day so i was convinced he`d won by the end as little was coming out elsewhwere.At the weight in Phil stuck a mixed bag of 65-4 on the scales. Stuart Graham on flyer 2 was second with 38lb. and i squeeded in for last in the money with 34-12. it was a bit of a frustrating day as conditions looked cock on, but thats fishing for you. Onto the next one. Might give Landsend a go Saturday.

Mathern mill Thursday open.

Back at Mathern today for the second time in a week as its only 7 minute drive for me, and I was hoping to do better than Saturdays disaster. I got a bad habit of drawing the top end of the lake when to do any good you need to be at the other end or half way down the road banks. It been about two years and  dozen matches since I've been at the good end so its time to change this crapy habit. Got to the draw and found out peg 22 was in. WTF!!!. Good pegs empty at the other end including Saturdays winner. We asked him to change it and take it out but he wouldn't, even though the weekend matches were abysmal that end and only one fish of of that peg Saturday. And with a very good angler on it that says something. Oh well, into the draw and yep, 22 in my hand. Should have just left and gone home. Not much to say exempt after a pull round and small carp first chuck on the bomb, that was my last bite. After 4 hours of absolutely no fish activity near me I gave up and went home. No point in sitting there. No idea what will win it but with 2 hours to go , Norm Sterry at the other end of the lake, was putting his sixth net in. Just about says it all. If that end of the lake keeps getting put in when there are great pegs left empty at the other end I won't be going back there much longer.

I'm back!!.... Mathern Mill open

First time fishing after nearly 6 months due to a little trip around the world to the dark side, and was looking forward to this. Been told it's fishing it's nuts off with loads of ton match weights and pleasure sessions up to 500lb. So off I go. Not even looked at my gear since I got it from storage so was hoping for no little surprises, such as forgotten tackle or holes in nets from rodents. Gotta admit, I've been a total numpty, as when I moved in April I boxed up all my water proof stuff then managed to dump it at the tip. Can't find it anywhere so I got no reason to think other than that's what I did. Thanks to Ken Rayner I've borrowed his stuff so that will do until my new stuff arrives 😊. Back to the match. Well not much to say. Very disappointed. To say it fished abysmal would be giving it to much credit. Everybody struggled to get bites. The fish had turn off completely and nothing much was tempting them to have a go. Tried all sorts but all I had was 1carp around 4lb and about 10 skimmers that I caught on corn just to break up the boredom. The only enjoyable think was being sat next to Craig Challingworth so the banter was fun. I didn't bother the scales as only around 7lb wasn't worth weighing. It was won by Peanut over on peg 7 with just over 50lb. Now that's a bad day on this venue. Ah well onto the next one wherever hat may be. I'm off to Norway next weekend so won't be out then. But watch out, I'm coming for your money...Mwahahahaha!!!

Landsend sunday open 16/4/17

Off to Landsend for what could be my last comp. Off to Australia next week so i wanted to do well in my last hoorah. 22 fishing today so it was set over Match and lake 3 and fished as two matches. After a really good breakfast, cooked by Do and served up by Olive, it was into the draw bucket. A bit strange as my ticket said 45/6, so I had a choice of which end of two islands I could fish. So i decided to sit on 46 with the islands gap to my right. Opposite was Fishery owner, Mike Ducket, and on my left but 3 pegs away was Rod Wooten. Joe McMahon was on my right but too far to see. The weather forecast wasn't looking good with strongs winds forecast. I set up four rigs today​. A shallow pellet rig for against the island. A long liner for mugging. A rig to fish meat at 2+2. I also mixed up a bit of paste and would use the same rig. Plus a margin rig to fish close to the bush to my left. Started on paste and had a 4 pounder first drop in. But only one other bite after 15 minute's so it was over too the island. Had two over there but not too many bites as presentation wasn't good in the wind. After 40 minutes i tried the mugging rig as the odd fish was showing. Gave that about 40 minutes but only had two, though one was a good 15lb. Switched around all lines for a while but the wind became so strong after 2 hours it wasn't worth the risk of fishing long, so the rest of the match was fished short. But saying  that fishing 2+2 just about became impossible, so i added a section and turned downwind about 45 degrees
Even then i had to use a foam padded spray bar to hold the pole still enough to stop the float being ripped around. Well that did the trick as i had a good run of quality fish for the rest of the match on meat. Also had about 6 to my left margin late. At the end i was hoping I had 130lb. Well I was close with my nets taking the scales round to 139-11 to win the lake. Tony Rixon, was second on our lake with 116-13 And Joe McMahon third with 81-10. It fished realy well, with some good weights. Leon Hubbard and Sean Townsend were going fish for fish on pegs 15 and 18, with Sean piping Leon by 143-14 to 141-13. Weigh sheets below. I gotta say since my return from my first stay in Australia I've been reaquainted with many old friends and made some fantastic new friends in the fishing community. I will miss this so much and would like to thank you all for making match fishing such a pleasure. The banter is unbeatable. Loved every minute of it. Farewell my friends and who knows I could be back to take your money again. Nothing is written in stone as far as the future goes. 

Acorn Good Friday Open 14/4/17

Drew peg 4 today. It was dire. End of blog

Landsend open 9/4/17

A good turnout today, 27, so we were on match and 3. A lush breakfast as always followed by me pulling out peg 65 on lake three. A nice peg with a reed bed to the right which i don't mind fishing amongst. At the start I tried the slapper but was frustrated by a few cruisers just turning away. After 20 minutes it was over on the shallow island rig but it wasn't happening. An F1 and a roach was all i got so it was another try on the slapper. Waste of time. The 2+2 line didn't give me anything. One small carp on the island rig was all i had out there so it was a try by the reed bed. Lots of movement in the reeds but it was slow. Think it was the lake nursery with a couple of puppies. Then i mugged a decent fish on meat in the reeds to get me going. I then fed a line smack in the middle of them and fished 8mm meat.
Had a run of good carp, landing 9. Had a few go deeper into the reeds but by keeping my margin pole high over them and putting alot of pressure on the rig can be dragged out without snagging up too much. Then they started bolting deep into the reeds and i lost 4 in a row. That stuffed things up. It went quite for ages. I had one from the left side against some reeds before a few more small samples just before the end to the right. I managed 77-5 which got me default section money. Happy days. And the first bit of sunburn for the year today.Tony Rixon won today with 185lb ish from peg 6 on Match. Think he should donate a quid to me for drawing it for him. Full results on his blog for today.

Viaduct costcutter 6/4/17

Still not had alot of experience here but i did know that my draw, peg 129, was a decent draw. Started on the bomb with 8mm pellet out by the airiator and had 6 in the first 45 minutes. But it slowed a bit after that and the next 45 only produced a couple more. Steve Shaw opposite​ was catching well on the wag shallow so I chucked mine out but struggled for quite a while. But i got it sussed. I had to feed cast right on top and hope one grabbed it on the drop. One it had gone to my set depth i got nothing. Steve was catching casting out and letting it sit there feeding over the top. But i couldn't get that to work. But i did have a very nice day catching some decent fish. Got broke off a couple of times but some hefty lumps. The last hour i came in on the 2+2 meat line. I had tried it easier and had a few tench. But now the carp had moved in and i put about 80lb in the net in that last hour. Would have been more but i spooked them for 15 minutes when i put a other net in. At the end i was guessing on just over 200lb. Very good guess as I had 199-05. That got me 4th on the day. Steve won it easily with 300-12. Paul Greenwood next to me on 131 had a storming finish putting  around 120lb in the net in the last hour, beating me by 2lb. Overall it fished it's nuts off. A nice day for nearly everybody today with 18 ton+ weights from 35 anglers.

1st Steve" bomber" Shaw, 300-12, peg 114.
2nd Ziggy, 249-10, peg 119.
3rd Paul Greenwood, 201-6, peg 131
4th Stu Barnett 199-5, peg 129

Acorn cost cutter 4/4/17

This is gonna be a short one as I've been a bit slack doing blogs and got three to do. Drew peg 13 which i was quite happy about. Set up three rigs. Far side shallow for pellet. A rig for 2+2 to fish 6's over 4's. And a meat rig to fish to empty pallet 12. Well it was a slow start. Tried the far side for an hour but only had one and was getting pestered by deformed roach. Don't know where they got them from but they are all bloated and miss shaped. Gabe on 15 had a great start and was surfing ahead fishing soft pellet over gbait tight across. After trying my other lines with no success i changed to maggot over gbait across but still nothing. With 90 minutes to go i was really struggling but i saw some movement under pallet 12 and had a reasonable finish taking around 8 fish. Gabe had struggled second half but three late fish was enough for a comfortable win. His total with a few silvers was 81-7 thanks to that flying start. Mine went 50-6 got 4th. Not too bad after a pretty bad first few hours. Sorry if i got the results a bit wrong but the photo of the sheet was crap

1st Gabe Scarba 81-7, peg 15
2nd M Hannam 74-7, peg 40
3rd Nikki Miller 52-0, peg 21
4 Stu Barnett 50-6, peg 13

Viaduct Sunday open 2/4/17

Back to viaduct today to try my luck again. Had a bad start as my Ray-Ban sunglasses disintegrated when I shut the glove box a bit hard. So a new pair of PI sunnies were purchased as my eyes are still not right yet and dry eyes from the wind is very uncomfortable. Into the draw bucket and 59 on Lodge was my home for the day. I wont go into too much detail but as of late, I realy struggled for the first 5 hours. Don't know what I'm doing wrong, but i just cant get a good start or catch throughout a comp. But I wasn't the only one. Three of us in a row struggled for anything. Even the silver were conspicuous by thier absence. Out of the three of us I was doing best with 2 shallow waggler caught carp and 3 skimmers after the five hours. And only  two other missed bites even though i continuously switched lines looking for for anything. With an hour to go i saw a couple of carp moving out by the airiator and got two more on the wag. Then with 30 mi Ute's left i dropped in on the margin line again under the tree and got 3 more and lost 2. At the end i was more than a little surprised to find out my 61-8 total was enough to get me the section win. Shows how poor it fished in places. Winner today was Gary O'Shea  224-03 on peg 64 catching shallow.

Viaduct costcutter

Not done a blog for a couple of weeks due to the fact ive been on a proper bad run and it seams everywhere I go I'm struggling to even get a few bites. Who wants to read about sitting there doing nothing lol. So today I thought I'd give Viaduct a go. Hardly fished this place and know very little about it. After a chat with Mr Rixon I thought I'd risk another embarrassing day and have a go here. Had a very nice brekkie at the Albion on the way and got there with plenty of time. Into the draw bucket and out pops 126. Not a clue lol. Got to the peg to find a stuff breeze blowing right to left. Three rigs today. A . 4 pencil to fish a silvers line at 13m with 6s over 4s. A meat rig to fish 2+2 for the resident lumps. And a margin rig to fish meat but didn't really think this would get a run out. Plus a bomb rod. At the start I chuck the bomb out with an 8 mm pellet and pinged a few out. Half an hour later i gave up on this line. Craig Knight on 127 was already catching doing the same but i couldn't even get a liner. I was surprised he could get anything with the day he was having. His nets got trashed by a mouse. Said mouse also got into his bag and ate his catapult elastics. So I lent him one. Then he broke off both his keeping brackets and watched his borrowed nets sink. Then he snapped off his landing net head. So I lent him one. Then he dropped three sections of his pole in and just managed to get them back before they sunk. Think he should have stayed in bed. Anyway, back to my day. A try on the meat line and that produced no bites, so back on the bomb. Still nothing. It was looking like my bad run would continue. After two hours Adrian Jeffrey called out and asked how I was doing . With my reply of I'm still blanking the float burried. Off it tore and all I got back was a scale. Moaned that one on lol. The silvers line then produced my first fish. A skimmer of two pound. Then another smaller one. But the wind was making presentation near impossible. Two and a half hours in i got my first carp on the meat line quickly followed by another one.but it was another half hour to the next fish which was a good tench. A run of 4 tench followed quickly but then a fishless hour followed. Tried all lines. Craig had about 9 carp by now and was giving me a right spanking. So with 90 minutes left I had around 23lb in the net.  I dropped back in on the meat line and from then on it was pretty hectic. The carp had finally found my feed and i put 10 in the net in that time. At the end i was surprised when my silvers went 16-6 and my carp went 87-15 for a total of 114-5 only being beaten by 4lb by Craig. Nearly pegged him back. So the last hour was very good. Just wish i could catch in the first half of matches. It fished pretty good today with alot of ton weights, the best being 228lb from peg 13. Results below tell the tale.

Mr Rixons Avalon open

Back down to Somerset today to fish this lovely venue. Had a good brekkie at Landsend on the way down before arriving in plenty of time. Into the draw and out comes 23. Corner peg , bottom left hand bank. Got to the peg and found a really stuff breeze, but it was coming across my right shoulder. Not too much to say as I struggled today. The gusty winds was playing havoc. I trashed 4 rigs along the end bank, and even had my elastic stuck in the tree twice as the wind put my pole into the bank several times. Couldn't catch any decent silvers so concentrated on a 16m line next to a hay bale in the water as this was the only ace I could get bites. I tried several places along the bank but there was lots of rubbish pushing around in the tow and the submerged reeds made it very difficult to get a rig through. The 16m line was clear of reeds so I stuck to it. Had 6 carp and a good tench, but lost 7. Torettes flying  freely again today. Gotta admit I think I stuffed up by not fishing a silvers line  enough today as when I did I only caught blippy roach on maggot or caster, when most caught on pellet, and concentrating too much on the carp. But I don't know alot about this venue and I've only fished it in good summer weather. At the end I had 29-5, which wasn't a good weight today. Ah well it's a learning game this angling lark. Weight sheet below.

Landsend Saturday open 18/3/17

Back to this great fishery for the usual Saturday knock up. Realy hoping to draw the top end of the lake which is by far the most consistent area for wins. Can't remember the last time I drew up there. Was gonna ask someone to take a photo for me so I could see what it looks like. Into the draw and out comes 21. Yep, the wrong end again. A good silvers peg, but I don't have the patience to sit it out for them so I was gonna target carp on a 7m pole line on meat as my main attack. The wind was pretty bad and didn't think I'd get much dangling done against the island at 16m, but I did set up a shallow rig to give it a go. Also a rig to fish meat against platform 20. Just in case, I did set up a silvers rig at 11m to fish 4mm over micros just incase it didn't go to plan. At the start I started on the meat line and it took about 15 minutes to get one. It was a decent fish I hooked on the eye, which was unfortunate, as it only had one eye, and the hook was right through his good one. Mike Ducket to my right got off to a flyer and was catching on meat. Rich Loveren to my left was doing his best to moan a few on the hook, and boy can he go on. I thought Steve Seager talked alot lol, but he is an amatuer compared to Rich. My next fish was a tench but it was very slow. After an hour I tried the shallow island line during a lul in the wind, but again very slow with nothing showing. So it was onto the silvers line. Tried that for 30 minute but I only had two bites and two skimmers. It was a case of searching around trying to find bites. I tried the platform to my left and had two carp and two big skimmers before that died. Had a couple more from the meat line but it never really got going today. At the end I had 50-02 for nowhere on the day. Mike and Rich both did me today so not happy about being beaten both sides. Thought it might have been better as the weather was mild. Overall it was better than of late, so things are improving.

1st Martin Rayet, peg 16, 90-02
2nd Leon Hubbard, peg 13, 74-08
3rd Rich Loveren, peg 20, 68-12

1st in silvers with a very nice bag of skimmers Mark Walsh with 29-13 from peg 10.

Acorn Tuesday cost cutter.

First match of my temporary retirement time lol, and thought I'd go here for the first time this year. Recent results have been poor so I wasn't expecting too much. Well that's exactly how it turned out. I drew peg two on the island. Started on pellet on top the shelf. But I was a bit worried as my pole kept creaking g from the damage from Sunday. Every time I shipped in or out the joint made a cracking noise. Sphinkter clenching time. Realy struggled to get any bites. Even though fish were patrolling the far side, they had no interest in feeding. After 2 hours I had one carp across plus's two F1's, and one good fish from my margin on 6 maggots. Then I went 3 hours with only one bite that produced an F1. Half hour to go I had another F1 across, then in the last 15 minute's I had four bites in the margin, only connecting with one on my last drop in for a very late good carp. Finished with 22-15. Not a good day at all. But it was pretty bad all around the lake. Today's winner was Ray Cooper on peg 31 with 51-4. Weigh sheet bellow. Not very exciting reading LOL.

Landsend winterleague round 5

My turn on Special today and a draw at the top end would have been nice. But I pull out 39. It looked all right when I got there and the water was nicely coloured up. For company I had the legend that is Tony Rixon on my right on corner peg 40. Rod Wooten opposite on 25, and Leon Hubbard on 37. Couldn't see anybody else, but I'm sure we would hear how things were going. The weather was nice and I actually got down to just a tee shirt today for while. 4 rigs today. A Shalla slim to fish 16m to the island on pellet
A .4 slim to fish at the bottom of the far shelf on pellet. Another .4 slim to fish meat at 9 and 5 meters and a .3 margin diamond to fish meat down the shelf to my left. The peg is bit of a nightmare to fish long as the dense brambles make it impossible to ship back without breaking down twice. That was to bite me in The ass later. At the start I went across with an 8 mm pellet and fired a few 6's across. Wasn't long  before I was getting  liners and spoking fish. After about 15 minute's I hooked one but after a short fight the hook pulled. Tony was having  trouble loosing several fish in the caged hay bales. Torettes flying around making myself and Rod giggle. It took a while but I managed to get one in the net. A decent double but it was hard work breaking the pole down at my 11m section to pull the pole back with a large carp putting pressure on the pole. I got another in about half hour later after a couple of lost foulers. Rod and Tony were going at it with decent F1's but Tony was still having problems with the wire cage as the fish are in there before you have chance to pull them clear. I came in on my meat line and this is where my day started to go tits up. I managed to crack my number 7 see section with my elbow on a strike. Bugger!!!!. Borrowed a bit of tape from Tony and carried on. Fingers crossed. Then disaster. I went over to the island and hooked another good fish. It took about a minute before I pulled the fish around to ship back. The fish was right under the tip so I tried to take the pole apart at the 6/7 joint. As I just started to pull it apart the fish bolted inwards and to the right. I was now stuck with the joint half apart. Couldn't ship out and couldn't go back as the pole was wedged in the bank under the brambles. The fish kept going right. Then the sickening crack as the end of the 7 section folded. That released the pressure and I managed to get it apart and land the fish. But the end of the section was crushed about 20mm down. That was now two lots of damage on that section. As I wasn't prepared to risk it I stopped fishing across. I tried the bomb over there but they wouldn't look at it even though I managed to tuck it right under the bank a few times. The next three hours was a waste of time with just a hybrid and a decent roach on meat. So I sat and watched Tony do what he does best and start catching regularly and avoiding the hay bales. I did manage two more carp. One from Tony's margin lol, and one on the meat line. But my day was ruined by my damaged pole. I might have competed with Tony if I could have fished the pole over all day as I was getting good fish and at the time I damaged it I think I was well ahead of him. Ah well, suck it up Stuey. I followed the scales round and Trigger had won the lake on corner peg ( flyer again ) 33 with 179-4. My 5 carp went 39-3 and the silvers took it to 40-4. Tony had a good second half and put 109-1 on the scales for the section win. All in all not a good day for my. First time for a while I've drawn a peg I might have got a good weight from and I blow it through no fault of my own. As they say, Ce la vie. Weigh sheets below

Landsend saturday open 11/3/17

first of two days this weekend here today. Today is the usual open and tomorrow is round 5 of the winter league. After a very nice breakfast  it was into the draw bucket and out pops number 5. The narrowest peg on the lake at 13 meters, at the far end of the first island. For company I had Russ Peck to my right on 7. Mark Walsh on 1 and Mike Ducket opposite on 19. I could also here Rod Wootten on 21 so entertainment was guaranteed if he didn't nod off. Three rigs today. A .1 shalla slim to fish 6mm pellet against the island. A .2 slim to fish pellet in the gap between the islands at 15 meters. And another .2 slim to fish meat down the track. it would also do to fish my left margin close to pallet 4. There were a few fish showing so at the start i went across without feeding. But nothing was doing. The fish just moved off straight away and drifted down between pallet 2 and 3. There were loads of them cruising around down there but they never moved. After 30 minutes and no bites i came in to the meat line but again nothing happened. In fact it was very slow for everybody with nobody my side of the lake with anything after 45 minutes. A go between the islands produced the same result. So after 1 hour 15 minutes it was looking bad. A go in the margin got me nowhere also. Russ had a good skimmer at this time for his troubles. Rod had caught a couple but i wasnt sure what they were. Mike had caught but also lost a lumper in the tree to his left. Another go across to the island finally got me a fish. But it was only a small skimmer. Then i got an Ide on the meat line. Russ by now had netted his first carp and mike was on about 4. Then my first carp was netted from my left margin but that was the only fish from there all day. I then lost a couple over by the island, probably foulers cruising by. Into the third hour and the frustration really started. I was hooking carp and loosing all of them. 8 of the first 9 slipped the hook or broke me in snags. Torrettes was in full flow by now. So i went out off the end of the island and started catching F1`s a couple of inches off the bottom on pellet. Some were decent size so i thought Id stick at that. Then it went quiet for before the carp finally moved in. The last two hours was spent dropping in on several spots along the island were I took another 9 carp without loosing any. At the end it was clear Mike had won as he caught very well fishing shallow between the island without needing to feed. I thought I had just over 60lb. My silver went 12-12, and my carp went 43-8 for a total of 56-4, which got me second on the day. Russ managed 35-4. Mike, as expected won with 88-10. Rod took top silvers with a lovely bag of skimmers that went 26-4. it was a tough day to start with but most started to get a few in the late stages. Back here tomorrow on Speci. So let hope the weather holds out and the fish go on the munch.

Windmill carp lake experiment

After a nightmare game at BCFC yesterday I was glad to get away from all that crap with a day on the bank. So Windmill it was. Got to the carpark and there were only 4 of us that turned up. This fishery has a reputation of being a bit windy at times so I expect the weather forecast put alot off. But!! As it was a bit nasty and such a low number two decided not to bother and left. Soft cocks lol. So after a chat with Brian Shanks and the fishery guys we decided to fish the carp lake as it has places that were a bit sheltered. Plus they wanted to know exactly what was there to catch. I didn't mind. These guys are doing a great job and working bloody hard to turn this fishery around from the shambles it was. The carp lake will soon be the new match lake and there is alot of work going on getting pegs dug out and ready for the coming summer. Brian and myself headed off to the bay at the top end of they lake where the wind was off our back. Not long after Martin McMahon turned up and sat down with the gale force winds battering him in the face. Hard as nails he is lol. After being told there are alot of small carp I decided on a groundbait and maggot approach. Not sure what Martin did. Brian only had meat and 4mm pellet so that was his approach. I set two rigs up. One to fish 2+2 in 3 1/2 feet over maggot. And another to fish at 9m with maggot over groundbait. Funnily it was 6 inches shallower at the longer length. Brian caught short on pellet before I had put a rig on. A small carp around a  pound. Nice start. I caught after about 15 minute's short. But even trying several times it was the only bite I had there. So it was out on the longer line. I had a bit of success taking 4 fish to around 3lb on that line. Martin was struggling with the horrific wind bless him lol. Brian carried catching steadily. I struggled for any bites for a while. Brian stopped catching so went to around 11m and started again on meat over pellet. So not to be outdone I did the same. Potting in 4mm pellet. It wasn't long before I picked up a couple but bites were a long time coming. Then the wind change direction a bit and presentation in front was really suffering. So I turned 45 degrees to my left and fed 4mm again. Good move. I could sort of hold the float still and i started catching. But it was a bit of a struggle landing them. When ya got a silvers rig on to catch pasty size carp and then you start hooking fish up to near 20lb, then it got a little difficult lol. The biggest I landed went 15-8. I had another double but lost 3 more huge things including one I had at the net before it broke me that I guessed at near 20lb. It was quite a bit bigger than the one I had in the net. At the end the fishery guys brought scales over and mine went just over 50lb. I was pretty happy as conditions for most of the day were terrible. Brian lost his fish and struggled for the last 2 hours but had over 20lb of small carp. Martin had one good double and a few pasties. Give him his due, he worked really hard in that wind to catch. So the conclusion is there are loads of carp to catch. How you go about it could be tricky when your catching small stuff and a huge lump comes along. Tackle choice could be Interesting. Next Sunday's match is gonna be on that lake so if you fancy a few fish it could be worth a go. I'm at Landsend so can't make it. But the fishery is now in good hands and I recon it's gonna be a great venue when they have finished with it.

Windmill open 26/2/17

Not done a blog for a couple of weeks as I've caught bugger all to talk about. Didn't fish yesterday so was looking forward to it. Only 7 today, but by the new fishery rules it meant the golden peg was in. Into the draw and out comes 22. Wasn't too displeased as that side of the island had a bit of recent form. Even though it was from peg 25 winning the last two matches. I had the end peg today so only Dave Haines next to me on 24. Strangely, even though he was next to the form peg, he never went across all day and just fished his top two for silvers, even though there was no silvers pool. Ah well, it left the far side for me to exploit. 4 rigs and a bomb rod set up. A .1 Shalla slim to fish 16 meters to the island straight in front on pellet. The bomb rod would take care of searching the island in other spots. But the pellet rig never got used as at the all in the wind picked up alot and made it impossible to go that far. A meat rig to fish at 10 meters. A silvers rig incase it was hard. And a margin rig to fish corn to my left in a big gap in the vegetation that plagues this place. At the start I fed my lines and went over to the island with 8mm pellet, waiting for the wind to drop. But it never all day. After half an hour and no indications I came in on the silvers line. I had a few but they were tiny roach. So after a while I went back over casting around. Another half hour before the tip went round, and it was a good skimmer around 2lb. Not what I wanted but no one else was catching so it was a welcome addition to the net. I tried the meat line after two hours but it was impossible to hold the float still so that didn't last long. Back over and I managed  two carp in two chucks for about 14lb. So I was now well ahead of anybody else. Dave was catching regularly but it was mainly whitebait. I came back on my silvers line and there were quite alot there but they were mainly very small. And even at two plus two line it was very hard to present the bait still in the hard wind. So I decided to concentrate on the bomb and just hoped to pick up a couple more. But it didn't happen. With an hour to go I came into my margin line. In 20 minutes I landed three small carp. And I mean small. They probably went just over 3lb between them. A quick re-feed and back over to the island to try my luck and I finally got a few pull rounds landing 4 in the last half hour. At the end I was guessing on around 35lb. My silvers went over two and my carp took it to 37lb something for the win. I didn't get the result sheet photo and I'm not too sure who got second as I wanted to get away for the rugby. But second was around 7lb. Sorry it's a bit vague. It really did fish hard and I consider myself a bit lucky to find a few that wanted to feed. Remember I said the golden peg was in, well I had it , so a nice little bonus pick up. Happy days

Landsend Saturday open 11/2/17

Didn't do a blog on last weeks Winter league at Landsend cos I forgot. Not much to say anyway. I drew 25 on special, and spent the day loosing nearly everything I hooked. Didn't help when the only place I could get a bite was amongst the snags along the end bank and I'd basically lost them before I could do anything. Ended up landing just two carp and a a couple of silvers for 10lb and last but one in the section. That's my series over.
Back to today and it was bloody hard. It was clear after one hour that the top two would come from 11 and 13 as usual. If ya don't draw at that end of the lake you ain't got a chance. I had my first fish from peg 3 after over 3 hours and basically just scratched around for the very odd bite. Had one small carp and seven roach. With fifteen minutes to go it was clear I wouldn't come anywhere and not catch anything else  as long as I had a hole in my ass. So I packed up early. The few I had probably went just over 3lb. Didn't wait for the results. And with the rugby and football on I made a quick getaway. .

Windmill sunday open 29/1/17

Not been here yet this year and as the weather was looking horrid I left it untill I got up before deciding I was gonna bother. First time here under the new regime. Glad to see the place might be in good hands. They are open to suggestions and mine was to shoot all the friggin ducks. You cant fish to the island anymore as its just a duck smorgasbord when you feed. The match here Thursday was a grueller so I was hoping today would be better as it has warmed up a little bit. Into the wooden box and number 1 comes out. Not a bad draw as its in the deeper water. There was around a dozen fishing and I really didn't fancy a draw in the shallow end. For company I had Jerry Welsh to my left on 3, Dave Wilmot the other side of the bowl on 28. And Scott C, sorry didn't know his last name but he was a northerner on the golden peg so all guns were aimed at him not getting it lol.Three rigs and a bomb rod today. A rig to fish in four feet as close to the margin as the out of control reeds allow. A silvers rig to fish caster over groundbait at 2+1 length. And a meat rig to fish at 13m in the deepest part of the peg. At the start I went straight to the island on 8mm pellet on the bomb, but as soon as the first pellets hit the water all hell broke out as the ducks homed in on it and it was like a diving comp to see which would vacuum up the most. f-----g things. so after 20 minutes of that I came in on the silvers line. At this point Dave had already had a good skimmer plus a carp, and Scott had two as well. 15 minutes and bite less I decided to go on the meat line. Well that was a good move. Straight into fish. A bit small but I was catching. To keep it reasonably short I stayed on that most of the day. Dave and Scott were keeping ahead of me in the fish count for the first half of the match but I was close. Then the wind got too much and I tried the bomb on the pole line with haired meat and took 4 in 30 minutes. It just happened that the bigger fish had moved in and they had doubled in size. Dave slowed right up at this point when he was probably ahead. Scott continued to catch but a lot of his fish were small. I went back on the pole with 90 minutes left as the wind abated and I continued to catch well up to the end with some big fish. at the all out I was sure id be near 100lb. I was first to weigh and my 22 carp went 101-08, and that got me the win for today. Scott had out caught me but he was stuck with mostly smaller fish and got second with 76-10. Dave`s fish dried up with an hour to go but managed third today with 61-01, including top silvers with 8-09. A few realy struggled with a couple of blanks so it was all down to the draw really. Below is the weigh sheet plus a couple of pictures showing how the pools pay outs will be from now on. But as its new management they will see how things go and if changes are required they will be, but I'm sure the anglers will be happy with how it will be done. The new guys look like they know what they are doing. Sorry, but photos are a bit dodgy but you can make it out.

landsend saturday open 28/1/17

As i hadn`t had a two match weekend I thought id kick this weekend off with a trip to Landsend. after a delicious breakfast cooked by the fry up Queen di, it was into the draw bag. 14 fishing and ten were on match, and four on Speci. I drew 32 on Speci and was pretty pleased. Joe Mcmahon had fish it last week and was top weight on the lake with 52lb. it was milder today and quite sunny but after dipping my hand in the water it was clear the water temp was freezing. Not a good sign.three rigs today. one to fish 16m tight to the end bank in 3 feet of water on maggot. it would also do for fishing infront of empty pallet 31. a .4 slim to fish meat at 16m in open water. and a silvers rig to fish maggot over micros for anything silver if it was hard. opposite on 33 was Ken Raynor and matty Baber on 34. I was the only angler on my side of the lake. started against the end bank, but after 15 minutes and no signs I switched to the short silvers line. nothing there either so it was back to the end bank. after a short while I had a little perch followed by a decent carp. then nothing for ages. in fact nobody was getting any bites. and it stayed that way for a long time.ken got his first bite and fish after three hours. Matty was biteless. 4 hours in and I got my second car, after switching to pellet. Ken had  big perch of 2lb +. but that was all he had apart from a losy fouler. I did manage one more 15 minutes before the end but that was my first bite in two hours. Matty remained biteles untill the end.top honours on the day went to Allan oram, on peg 19 with a nice net of silvers that went 12-12 and three carp for a total of 29-12. my net went 19-15 for nowhere today. Gotta admit I `d like to say it was realy hard today but it wasn't that good lol

!st. Allan Oram, 29-12, peg 19
2nd Eric Foreacre, 25-00, peg 21
3rd Rich Lovery, 21-04, peg 40

Landsend winter league round 2

Off to Landsend for round 2, hoping to make amends for the first round disaster. During a lush cooked breakfast, as it was too hot, I managed to draw out peg 41 on lake 3 today. It was fished yesterday so the ice had been broken and not re-frozen over night. Very low weight off of it yesterday but I wasn't too worried as I was hoping  everybody else breaking there Ice would spook a few my way..

For company I had Steve Seager (above) opposite on 68, doing his best to be the worlds worst angler with an ice breaker, so there was no peace and quiet for us today. Rob Watts on fancied peg 70, and Rich to my left on 42. Adrian Jeffery was in ear shot so Steve could be in for some abuse again today. 3 rigs today. A .1 Shalla slim to fish maggot across to the spit (below)

in 2 1/2 feet of water. A .2 diamond to fish maggot or caster down both margins. And a .4 slim to fish maggot at 11 meters, in open water, as far as the ice was broken, on maggot. At the start I cupped in maggot and caster down the margins. Maggots and soaked micros to the spit. And just 4 maggots and. Pinch of micros at 11 metres. After 16 minutes, and two F1's down to Rich, I had my first bite at 11 metres and hooked a decent skimmer, but the elastic went around a hidden piece of ice and the hook pulled out. Next drop in a good carp on but it bottomed out my  number 5 elastic as it headed for the island and snapped my .010 hook link. Next drop in a roach dropped off. Aaargghhh. Not good. Then no bites, so it was a small refeed and a switch to the spit. But nothing happened there. So it was back to the 11 metre line were I took a few skimmers and managed to hook and loose some carp. As the day went on it was a case of feed at 11 meters, get a fish refeed then change lines. The spit line produced a right lump half way through at about 12lb. But it was the same there. Feed, get a fish then move. If I didn't feed I got no bites. 5 carp found thier way to my net during the match , which was looking for pretty good on the day. But I lost 5 carp in total thanks to snags and fish just snapping my silvers rig. The margins s produced nothing apart for two tiny fish. Rich on my left struggled after a good first hour, and Steve had a good finish with two carp in the last 20 minute's so it was going to be close. At the end I was guessing at 20lb of carp, and 3 1/2 lb of silvers. I was first to wiegh on the lake and my carp wiegh was spot on but my silvers went  5-9, for 25-7 total that got me top spot on the lake. Rich had a total of 16-14. Steve managed 23-8. Mike Ducket had second wiegh with 24-4. So I redeemed myself today. Needed that Bradley as I can't drop any more points. The match was won by Craig Edmonds, doubt g what he does best and emptied it on peg 13 on Match lake for 151lb. Well done Trigger. Your a star. Too many wieghts to show so check the photos for full results.

Landsend Saturday open 14/1/17

The weather forecast for this weekend was supposed to be terrible but was nowhere near as cold as expected when I left home. Got to the lakes nice and early only to find the cafe was close today. Bloody great. No food on me and only a bottle of water. I pulled out peg 15 which I thought was a half tidy draw. I won't bore you with any details as it fished terrible. 6 bites all day for one big skimmer and one carp. Also lost a foul hooked carp, but that was all for me. Packed up with 15 to go as I couldn't see any point t in sitting there to the end. Didn't get the results, but im guessing Beanie won as he was the only person catching. Was gonna go to Windmill tomorrow but think I'll give it a miss. Fed up of sitting In the cold scratching around for a couple of bites. 

Landsend sunday Open 8/01/17

After a horrendous run lately I was heading out with no confidence at all. After another of Di's excellent breakfast I was last but one to draw. I managed to pick 58 on the top lake (number 3 lake) which everybody said is a good draw. Well if someone could stuff it up it's me lately. . For company I had Steve Seager to my left on 60 and Adrian Jeffrey across the other side of the island on 53, so banter would be good, mainly aimed at Steve. Only two rigs required today. It was almost one rig covers all as there was only  4 inches difference all over the peg. A .1 Shalla slim to fish tight to the island in 2 1/2 feet with banded 6 mm pellet. And a .2 slim to fish everywhere else. Settled on a caster line and meat line at 7 metres at angles from straight in front. Plus a meat line to the right margin at 10 metres and  corn line in the left margin. That never produced a bite so no more on the corn line. At the start I went across to the island. It wasn't long before my first fish was in the net. Only small at 2 1/2 lb but it was a decent start. That was quickly followed by a 5 pounder ten minutes later. Happy days. Adrian had already started to catch across to the island and Steve was bringing out every excuse as to why he wasn't catching. Nothing unusual there then. But for me that was it for ages. I stayed long for 40 minutes but just one more missed bite was all I had. I came short on the caster line and hit a good skimmer first drop in but lost it. 15 minute's and no more action. So it was on the meat line. Good skimmer first drop, then nothing for ages. Hmmm not going to plan. So after about 2 hours it was on the margin meat line. I had a couple there but they were pastie size. After 2 1/12 hours I had about 11lb. Not happy!!. Adrian was still catching regularly. Steve had a couple and proceeded to give detailed explanations about every move he made. Still nothing new there lol. Kevin opposite had overtaken me with two good carp and a few silvers but had lost two or three which slowed his catch rate. Second half I decided that I'd try and force the issue and upped the feed quite a bit. That had the desired effect. But it wasn't hectic as it was a fish or missed bite then change rigs or lines and let the fish return. The island was by far the most productive. At the end I had 13 carp and one skimmer for what I thought was 45  - 50lb. As I thought Adrian had top weight on our lake and the match with 88lb I think. He caught tight to the island and the only bait that went in his peg was on his hook. , Three white maggots. He never feed once all day. Tight arse!!!!. In fact he was unhappy that he occasionaly had to change his hook bait. I didn't get a photo of the sheet so I'm going by memory. I'll amend it if I'm too far out. Kevin Molten opposite ended up with 42lb for third over all. I was close with my guess with 47lb which got me second. Fourth on the day was match organiser Tony Rixon with 38lb from peg 15 on Match lake. He also had top silvers with 16lb.