Viaduct, Campbell, 31 March (13 pegs)

The extended winter continues (-4 this morning) and as a result it seems attendances are dropping off as every week now it seems matches are being decided at the draw and nobody likes to be sat on a freezing cold and windy lake watching someone getting a few from a "bridge" peg or some other area where the fish are shoaled up while scratching for a bite.
So, you've probably worked out that my match today never went too well but anyway, only 13 today and there would have been a few more but some had cancelled due to the cold weather etc (and I don't blame them) but at least it was ice-free.
As expected, peg 116 was the first to produce which was occupied by Mike Wilson (a rare but pleasant site these days).
And opposite Mike on 125 Keith Ray was also catching. Both were getting odd fish on the tip but Keith's were bigger fish that seemed to take a liking to his bread bait.
Next to Mike on peg 115 Paul Reed was also getting a few big skimmers and odd carp that had strayed away from next door.
Elsewhere, only odd carp were appearing and most had resigned themselves to fishing for silvers and they weren't giving themselves up very easily either.
In the meantime, Mike had switched to the pole and was catching steadily at 16m with soft pellet, keith was still getting the odd good fish on the bread and Paul was putting together a weight of skimmers which was boosted by a couple of tench and stray carp.
In fact Paul's skimmers and tench went 38-6 which together with four carp for 22-6 was enough for a surprise win.
Paul fished soft pellet over wetted 4mm's and corn at 9 and 13m.
Keith took second place with an all-carp weight of 58-12 and Mike rounded things up with 46-4.
Top silvers (by default) went to Simon Belcham on 128 with 8-4, just four ounces ahead of Matt Taynton on 118.

Full Result:

1. Paul Reed (peg 115) .... 60-12
2. Keith Ray (125) .......... 58-12
3. Mike Wilson* (116) ....... 46-4
4. Matt Taynton (118) ..... 25-2
5. Lee Williams (126) ...... 16-10
6. Chris Szakacs (124) ..... 12-12
7. Simon Belcham (128) ... 8-4
8. Will Dearlove (112) ...... 5-14
9. Kev Jefferies (127) ...... 4-2
10. Ron Hardiman (129) .... 1-10

and 3 dnw's (including myself)

*golden peg

Silvers:

1. Paul Reed ........ 38-6
2. Simon belcham ... 8-4
3. Matt Taynton ...... 8-0
4. Will Dearlove ..... 5-14
5. Kev Jefferies ..... 4-2
6. Chris Szakacs .... 3-10
7. Lee Williams ..... 3-8
8. Ron Hardiman ... 1-10

And finally, meeting and Agm on Tuesday night (so will be taking membership monies) and your rod licences will be due for renewal!

Shiplate, Hawthorn / Westpool, 24 March (13 pegs)

This time last year we were enjoying temperatures around 20• and getting sunburnt.
But unfortunately there seems to be no end in sight for this winter and yet again the dashboard display of the fishing bus was flashing away and warning (in Spanish) of a risk of ice.
And on this occasion it was well worth taking my Spanish friend seriously  as heading up to the airport whilst trying to find a section of A38 suitable for a Lewis Hamilton manouvre on the Sunday morning idiot doing 25mph we went past a minibus on it's side in a ditch and several other cars in uncompromising positions before it became apparent that we were no longer driving on tarmac but instead were skating along on a sheet of  ice and that Mr Sunday driver wasn't such an idiot after all.
So as a result it took a little longer to make it to Shipham cafe than normal.
Anyhow, you're probably wondering why I'm waffling on about the weather etc instead of the fishing so, we had 13 merry souls and both canals to go at so loads of room.
Nobody was expecting any huge weights and it seemed that most fancied a draw on Westpool as the talk was that Hawthorns was fishing hard at the moment and the normally productive peg 1 particularly so.  The best chance of a few fish would be the far end of Hawthorn and so Alan Healy could hardly contain himself when he drew Hawthorns 13 which happened also to be the  golden peg worth around £80.
Sure enough following a very slow start to the match which saw a good few walking the banks after an hour, Alan took the lead with one carp in the net and another lost which seemed like a lead nobody was going to catch as the only other person to have caught by the halfway mark was Rocket Ron Hardiman with a couple of blippy roach and a chublet.
Fortunately Matt Taynton on Westpool 5 (end peg) managed to find a couple of carp that were brave enough to feed and ended up with four of them caught on a maggot/pinkie cocktail over groundbait at 5m at the bottom of the nearside shelf for a massive matchwinning total of 21lbs 2oz.
Alan managed a second late carp to take second with 8-4.
Third place went to Ryan Radford on Westpool 11 with 6-11 but as Ryan doesn't go in the pools it meant Pete Uzzell's 4-6 carp, caught as he was packing up with his topkit resting on his net, sneaked him into third in the pools (by default).
Rocket Ron took the silvers money with a lowly 1-8.
As for me, my match probably ended after the first cup of micros and maggot hit the water and I never had a discernible bite all day.
Similarly Adam Caswell's match was probably over after his 4th ball of groundbait hit the deck although, in fairness, Matt, Ryan and Ron all "caught" over groundbait but in slightly smaller quantities!
I didn't go home completely empty handed though as Carol and Steve took pity on me and I ended up with a fresh laid Easter (goose) egg!

Full Result:

1. Matt Taynton (peg W5) ..... 21-2
2. Alan Healy* (H13) ........ 8-4
3. Ryan Radford (W11) ... 6-11
4. Ron Hardiman (W13) ... 5-12
5. Pete Uzzell (H15) ........ 4-6
6. Steve Wynne (H9) ...... 2-13
7. Chris Szakacs (H11) .... 2-2
8. and 6 blanks (myself included)

*golden peg (nearly but not quite)!

And finally, a couple of reminders.Firstly, Tuesday 2nd April is Agm time. Which is that special time of year when the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Match Sec and Treasurer all stand down and suddenly everything goes all quiet presumably in anticipation of who will be voted in on the new committee!

And, of course, subs are due for paying.

And secondly, I will be away with my good wife on Friday and Saturday (sightseeing) so could all the "last-minute.com" book-ins (and outs) let me know before then please.

Viaduct, Cary, 17 March (9 pegs)

A strange thing happened to me this morning, apart from the alarm going off at 6 leaving me wondering what planet I was on (the joys of a night out in Kingswood with too much lager and a Rupali curry),  I managed to find my way to Shipham cafe and add a large breakfast to the previous night's indulgences but on returning to the fishing bus I was greeted by a footwell full of someone's rubbish, and we're talking about not just the usual fag packet and sweetcorn tins but a proper month's worth of crap!
Luckily though, the perpetrator was not the brightest sandwich at the picnic as in amongst the collection of rubbish were a couple of payout envelopes, one with Alan Oram's name on (shows how long the rubbish had been hanging around) and the other belonging to Dean Malin.
So it was plainly obvious who the guilty party was and I will be looking forward to repaying the favour!
(Watch this space Dean)
Anyway, back to the fishing, and due to a few cancellations and 1 no-show we ended up with 9 fishing which was a bit disappointing considering that Viaduct is one of, if not, the best fishery in the South West but on the plus side, we all had plenty of room and according to Paul Greenwood we would be pleasure fishing (but what does he know).
Unfortunately though, for some unknown reason, the Cary carp weren't particularly hungry.  Mark Radford over on peg 85 managed to snare a 9 pound fish on the tip on meat early as did Matt (the mugger) Taynton but his was hooked up the wrong-un and they soon parted company.
Ryan Radford on peg 99 was also in early but suffered the curse of the golden peg and was duly snapped off. Perhaps it's time Mark invested in some decent hooklengths!
 It wasn't long though before peg 96 stirred into life and my tip rod was being torn off the rest by what turned out to be a 3lb skimmer that took a fancy to a couple of bits of corn. That one was soon followed by a slightly less substantial brother of the above and not long afterwards a similar sized hybrid. A few chucks later and the tip arched round again but this time the culprit wasn't giving up easily and after a bit of sweating and careful use of the clutch (my hooklength had a selfmade knot in the middle of it and I was too stingy to change it) up popped a quite large and very bewildered looking tench! It was apparent by now that the carp weren't feeding as nobody was getting any proper bites and two hours in most has chucked the tip rods up the bank and were on the pole.
Rocket Ron Hardiman on peg 100 was catching well at 14 & 16m but they were fish that even Mike Nicholls would have been ashamed of however tucked away around the corner on 102 Adam Caswell was getting some decent skimmers. Although I couldn't see him it was plainly obvious he was catching as he wasn't wandering around the Lake and he was making lots of noise! (empty vessels .... )
By now I had also ventured out on the pole, partly out of (lead-slinging) boredom and I didn't want to waste the four balls of groundbait I'd dumped in at the start. So out to 11m (can't go longer till I get my no8 section repaired) and as luck would have it the skimmers were queued up there but only small snotty things around 6 to 8oz that enjoyed playing silly games with my double maggot hookbait. Such as slowly dragging the float the opposite way to the tow or buggering about with tiny dips and lifts and very occasionally pulling the float under properly. I'd also fed the pallet of 97 with maggot and corn but that only produced a solitary pair-of-eyes that fell off and a 2lb skimmer that was lightly nicked in the pelvic fin but was safely netted after swimming round in circles a couple of times! Back out on the topped-up 11m line and the swinger-skimmers were getting even more finicky and eventually a few roach started to show which signalled time to dump the pole and have a last hour back on the tip. Sure enough, as luck would have it, the tip headed round in the direction of the opposite bank and this time something proper was on the end as it was pulling line off the spool and ploughing off towards the 80's. Everything held in place though and a 9-10 ghostie was in the net and just to round the day off another "proper" skimmer hung itself on the hair-rigged corn giving me a total of 31lbs 4oz and a well-deserved win. In fact it was that well deserved that the carp wasn't needed as it turned out!
Second on the day was Adam with 19-2 of skimmers on the lead and at 14m with maggot over groundbait. Viaduct resident expert Rich Jones on peg 86 was third with 17-2 again with all skimmers caught on 8mm meat over 6mm feed. Most of his fish came on the pole with a couple of odd ones caught on the tip about six feet away from my nets (but I don't mind sharing)! In all a hard but enjoyable day with the only regret being that Alan Healy was away on Bullocks duty with Dean the binman so I missed out on the satisfaction of taking another of his pound coins.
Meanwhile, next door on Campbell, Wiltshire Angling's match faired slightly better but was still off it's recent form.
Winner was Trowbridge's finest canal slayer and former Kingswood Construction trowel-hand, Jonny Atkins with 73lbs of foul-hookers from peg 117.
Apparently they weren't feeding but there were so many fish in front of him he couldn't help but hook them!


Full Result:

1. Steve Burgess (peg 96) ..... 31-4
2. Adam Caswell (102) ......... 19-2
3. Rich Jones (86) ................ 17-2
4. Matt Taynton (78) ............ 16-4
5. Ron Hardiman (100) ......... 10-10
6. Mark Radford (85) ............ 9-0
7. Derek Lucas (80) .............. 8-2
8. Stevie Wynne (90) ............ 6-2
9. Ryan Radford* (99) .......... 5-12

*golden peg 

Silvers:

(regardless of the fact there was no Silvers pool)

1. Steve Burgess ...... 21-10
2. Adam Caswell ...... 19-2
3. Rich Jones ........... 17-2
4. Ron Hardiman ...... 10-10
5. Derek Lucas ......... 8-2
6. Stevie Wynne ....... 6-2
7. Ryan Radford ....... 5-12
8. Matt Taynton ........ 2-6 

And finally .... a treat for the ladies

Dean Malin showing off his 1-pack!

Plantations, Coarse Lake, 10 March (17pegs)

Spring finally showed it's face during the early part of the week leading up to this one, but it was short-lived and by Sunday morning winter was back with a vengeance with a bitter easterly wind to contend with and although the temperature in the fishing bus was showing 4` it felt more like 0` in the windchill.
In order to secure the whole Lake for ourselves we needed a minimum of 15 fishing but with it being Mothers Day, despite much furious texting, I only had 11 booked in. Luckily we (Alan) managed to snare half a dozen of Frys finest ringers at short notice who were happy to fish somewhere other than Bullocks or the Docks  where there would be a possibility of a few bites.
Sure enough there were a few bites for almost everyone and despite the cold wind the carp were feeding.
Jason Bird on peg 25 was off to a flying start with a couple of quick fish on the method chucked to the island and Merv Sivell surprised himself and everyone around him catching  on the pole at 14m with soft pellet on the noted flier peg 6.
And on peg 4 yours truly was having some action on the lead with double corn chucked in the direction of the island.
However, self-confessed venue expert Chris Szakacs was the man on the money with 10 good sized carp caught on corn at 4m down his right hand margin which, with his silvers, went a matchwinning 62lbs 8oz.
Jason Bird wasn't overjoyed with having wasted half an hour playing a Canada goose and a rather large island, neither of which came in very easily and quite possibly cost him the match.
As a result he had to settle for second with his 13 carp which went a total of 52-4.
Third place went to Marvelous Merv Sivell with 30-0 followed by myself with 23-12.
Silvers went to Bob Warren with 10-2 from peg 8.  Bob, after his religious 3 minutes on the tip, caught on caster down the edge and later a chopped worm which produced a bonus perch of 2lb plus.
Cadbury Angling had had a silvers match on the day before which was won by Andy Hembrow on peg 7 with 34lbs of skimmers caught on soft pellet. Steve Mayo was second with 21lbs from peg 5.  Ray Cooper dnw'd from peg 5 today .... hmmm!

Overall Result:

1. Chris Szakacs (peg 18) ...... 62-8
2. Jason Bird (25) ................ 52-4
3. Merv Sivell (6) ................. 30-0
4. Steve Burgess (4) ............ 23-12
5. Mark Radford (28) ........... 21-1
6. Alan Healy (1) ................ 19-2
7. Bob Warren (8) .............. 18-11
8. Mike F (38) .................... 16-10
9. Paul Reed (32) ............... 12-2
10. Andy Curry (33) ............. 12-0
11. Kev Jefferies (39) ........... 10-4
12. and 6 dnw's

Silvers:

1. Bob Warren ..... 10-2
2. Andy Curry ....... 5-4
3. Kev Jefferies ..... 4-9
4. Paul Reed ......... 2-15
5. Mark radford ..... 2-8
6. Chris Szakacs .... 2-5 
7.