Sedges, Brick (And A Bit Of Tile), 28 April (21 pegs)

An excellent turnout today of 21 and it would have been 22 if everyone who had booked in had turned up but I won't mention names as it would probably backfire as I may have been told previously or had a text or something.  So a re-jig of the figures was required which made the draw a tiny bit later than normal but no harm done.
The dreaded peg 1 was left out and the match was split into three sections of seven with 2 pegs on tile (31 & 32) included in the second section.
I was originally going to leave peg 20 out as well as the wind had been pushing the fish up towards the other end of the lake all week but I was talked out of that one  (I think Rich Jones would have been happier if I'd stuck to my original plan but he did eventually manage to catch something) so a draw at the top end of the lake was desired.
Chris Packet found himself on corner peg 10 and for some strange reason wasn't overly happy with it and Stevie Wynne was in peg 11 which was a proper hand-rubbing peg today as the wind was blowing into it and carp were crashing about on the surface all over the peg.  In fact there were so many fish up that end he managed to foul-hook one when he set his wag rod up so he was more than happy with his draw (don't know what went wrong there)!
Following the slightly delayed all-in most of the usual suspects were starting on the pellet wag and Brian Shanks who is, so I've read, one of the best pellet wag anglers in the South West, appeared to be mugging a couple of fish early on from peg 16 (don't know what went wrong there either) as was the club's newest signing Aaron Britnell next door on 16 and even myself managed a couple of early fish on the wag from peg 12 before the fish seemed to go a bit cagey.  But to be honest it wasn't ideal conditions for the wag with a strong crosswind dragging the float about and hampering feeding
Meanwhile Chris Packet was having a repeat performance of last week on Cary and catching carp fishing the long pole down the end bank with meat but fortunately this week he was able to keep them coming probably because he was taking so long to land each fish and as a result was able to rest his peg for 20 minutes at a time!
In the meantime, only Aaron had stuck with the wag and was still catching, while I had gone through the a to z of methods to keep a few fish coming before sticking with the straight lead which eventually started to produce some fish after a hefty barrage of 8mm pellet to get the fish down on the deck (which seemed to do the trick).  Aaron unfortunately ran out of 8mm's and struggled for the last hour which cost him.
The weigh-in saw Chris come out a clear winner with 79lbs 14oz with me second with 70-4 just ahead of Aaron on 69-0.
Silvers was won by Keith Ray on peg 4 with a very impressive 43-6 of skimmers caught on meat over groundbait at 13m and later with paste.
Next Sunday is down at Landsend on Match Lake and half of Speci. There are spaces left for anyone wanting to book in that haven't already.  I'm not going to tempt fate by making any bold comments in advance of that one as I got a bit of stick for my predictions last week but fortunately managed not to make myself look totally stupid!

Overall Result: (hopefully including everybody this week)

1. Chris Packet (peg 10) ...... 79-14
2. Steve Burgess (12) ......... 70-4
3. Aaron Britnell (16) .......... 69-0
4. Keith Ray (4) ................. 66-2
5. Mark Radford (5) ........... 46-8
6. Simon Belcham (8) ........ 43-6
7. Matt Taynton (13) .......... 40-12
8. Darren North (6) ........... 39-8
9. Matt Williams (31) .......... 38-14
10. Ron Hardiman** (17) ........ 38-2
11. Brian Shanks (15) .......... 34-10
12. Mike Smith (19) ............. 33-0
13. Adam Caswell (9) .......... 31-4
14. Richard Jones (20) ......... 29-8
15. Steve Wynne (11) .......... 27-2
16. Alan Healy (18) ............. 23-8
17. Bob Warren* (32) ......... 19-8
18. Pete Uzzell (7) ............... 14-4
19. Paul Reed (14) .............. 9-8
20. and 2 dnw's

*golden peg

**silver peg

Silvers:

1. Keith Ray ............. 43-6
2. Alan Healy ........... 23-8
3. Simon Belcham ..... 18-8
4. Mike Smith ........... 16-4
5. Steve Burgess ....... 13-4
6. Chris Packet .......... 11-2
7. Matt Taynton ......... 10-2
8. Bob Warren .......... 9-8
9. Mark Radford / Darren North ..... 9-6
10. Matt Williams ......... 7-8
11. Ron Hardiman ........ 6-10
12. Steve Wynne .......... 6-8
13. Brian Shanks .......... 6-6
14. Pete Uzzell ............. 5-8
15. Paul Reed .............. 3-8
16. Adam Caswell ......... 2-6
17. Richard Jones ......... 2-0

Viaduct, Cary, 21 April (18 pegs)

After a couple of dismal results our reigning club champion and former pools rapist Alan Healy seems to have deserted us.  Last week he was with Frys for the last match of their 6 match series at the ever-popular Bullocks Farm Fishery which he managed to not only frame in but also mug their £100 golden peg.
This week he was back with Frys again, a bit closer to home, next door on Campbell so we could still hear him spouting his usual bullshit.  I think he's taken a liking to Frys matches as (in his words not mine) "it's like taking candy off a baby"!
Anyway, after the first hour of our match it looked like it was going to be a re-run of last week for Chris Packet.  Drawn on 109 and fishing 8mm pellet at 14 and 16m down along the undergrowth (according to the bankside telegraph) Chris was "sacking", getting "one a chuck" etc  but what actually happened was that Chris landed 5 carp before loosing one that found an underwater branch and then spent the rest of the day convincing himself how good he is whilst catching not a lot.
Meanwhile, predictably, Brian Shanks was happily doing what comes naturally on peg 85 which is catching carp shallow on the wag and on the pole.
17 fish later and it was another payday for the Westerleigh mugger with 177lbs 3oz.
Second place went to another Westerleigh reject, Lionel Legge on 97 with 139-1 all caught on the lead with banded pellet which included one fish of 16lbs-ish that came in backwards.  That may sound impressive but having used Lionel's reel at Avalon I can safely say that there isn't a fish in Cary that is capable of breaking his line.
Richard Britton took third place from peg 99 with 115-0, again caught on the lead with banded pellet which was also the same tactic used by Ryan Radford on 86 for fourth place with 111-1.
Top silvers for the second week running went to Ryan's dad, Mark Radford
with 25-10 of proper skimmers from peg 77.  Mark caught on standard skimmer tactics of  6 and 8mm banded pellet at 13m.
Second in the silvers (and actually fishing for them) was Bob Warren with 18-8 from peg 74 caught on the short pole line with maggot.
As for me, I didn't do all that great which probably serves me right for having a pound with the club junior who nearly managed to double my weight although in my defense I did waste a lot of time walking round to peg 92 to get my float out of the trees and playing a fish that decided to swim backwards and forwards in front of me on the bottom for 15 minutes before it finally snapped the hooklength (I think it might have been a good one)!
Anyway, next week we have a full house at Sedges which is a venue that has been reasonably kind to me so if all goes well next week's update should be up a bit quicker than the last two.


Full Result:

1. Brian Shanks (peg 85) ....... 177-3
2. Lionel Legge** (97) ......... 139-1
3. Richard Britton (99) ......... 115-0
4. Ryan Radford (86) .......... 111-1
5. Will Dearlove (88) ........... 96-12
6. Mark Radford* (77) ....... 86-14
7. Mike Smith (98) ............. 76-5
8. Adam Caswell (96) ......... 71-15
9. Steve Burgess (94) ......... 61-3
10. Chris Davis (80) ............. 46-7
11. Chris Packet (109) .......... 39-12
12. Derek Lucas (81) ............ 35-15
13. Matt Williams (90) .......... 19-8
14. Bob Warren (74) ............ 18-8
15. Kev Jefferies (105) ......... 10-7
16. Pete Uzzell (102) ....... 8-7
17. Stewart Riddle / Chris Szakacs .... dnw

*golden peg

**silver peg

Silvers:

1. Mark Radford ...... 25-10
2. Bob Warren ........ 18-8
3. Chris Davis ......... 13-14
4. Kev Jefferies ....... 10-7
5. Mike Smith .......... 7-0
6. Ryan Radford ...... 6-3

Trinity, Woodlands Lake, 14 April (15 pegs)

Earlier in the week the weather forecast had promised the best day of the year so far.  Unfortunately, by Sunday that had all changed and instead we were given a warm day but accompanied by strong winds that made decent presentation all but impossible.
The far bank had the wind straight in their faces which meant the only options on that bank were either to fish the tip or down the edge.
While on the bank nearest the car park, although the wind was coming from directly behind making it a bit easier it was still causing problems as Matt Taynton found out when four sections of his pole blew off the roller and slid straight into the lake.
However, at Psv we're a hardy bunch and Matt stripped down to his boxers and went for a swim.  Unfortunately I couldn't get a picture to show the look of shock on his face when he came to terms with the water temperature or the fact that the lake drops off to 8 feet deep quite rapidly and needless to say he never found his pole.
Rich Jones came up with the novel suggestion of ringing Misha to get her swimmers on and have a paddle about but I'm guessing she had better things to do and besides I expect her "bodyguard" would have put a stop to it anyway (unfortunately)!
Anyway, back to the fishing and after his successful day at Staunton Court last week where he came a close second behind the Mugger, the club's golden wonderboy, Chris Packet, continued his run of good fortune.
Drawn on peg 14 Chris fished 13m(ish) down his left margin with 8mm meat on the hook where he had found a small depression that held a few fish.  He caught steadily all day to win the match clearly with an all-carp weight of 70lbs 9oz which was quite an impressive feet in the wind but don't tell him that or it will go to his head and we will all be suffering small depressions from listening to him.
Second and third places were very close with Rocket Ron Hardiman on peg 20 just edging it by 5oz with 47-8 from Trinity expert, Rich Jones on peg 27.
In the Silvers, Mark Radford on peg 6 managed to find a few skimmers to take the spoils with an unimpressive 8-8.
While on 13, Simon Belcham enjoyed a very busy day foul-hooking roach fry on maggot at 4m to take second in the silvers with 3-8 which did include a couple of bonus 1oz fish.
Worthy of a mention was Stevie Wynne who managed to find a few suicidal carp on the pellet wag at 11m, that was until he managed to break his reel which is something you don't see every week.
Fortunately he was able to loan a replacement off his neighbour (I have my uses)!


Full Result:

1. Chris Packet (peg 14) ..... 70-9
2. Ron Hardiman (20) ........ 47-8
3. Rich Jones (27) ............. 47-3
4. Adam Caswell (31) ........ 39-11
5. Matt Taynton (21) ......... 39-3
6. Bob Warren (29) .......... 34-13
7. Mark Radford (6) ........ 34-12
8. Keith Ray (8) ............... 27-13
9. Stevie Wynne (25) ....... 20-5
10. Lionel Legge (11) ........ 14-0
11. Simon Belcham* (13) .. 12-11
12. Steve Burgess (24) ..... 12-7
13. Paul Reed** (10) ....... 12-0
14. Darren North / Ryan Radford ... dnw

Staunton Court, 7 April (13 pegs)

Finally it seemed we were going to have a day off from the relentless winter and the forecast was for a cloudy day with light winds and 10º and although I was still scraping ice off the fishing bus first thing, the forecast was spot on and it eventually turned into an almost nice spring day. As ever breakfast was at the Watersmeet hotel in Hartpury served by our favourite waitress who this week had her arm in a plaster cast but that didn't affect the breakfast which was as excellent as ever.
13 fishing today and pole only so five on either side (avoiding the shallower "corner of death" where three of us struggled last time round). We then had 2 on the top bank, and 1 on the bottom bank but that was switched round under the advice of our Polish Hungarian contingent.  As it happened, the top end of the lake fished better than the bottom end probably due to the warm(ish) wind blowing up that end and the "corner of death" would most likely have fished totally different today but who knows.
I would say though that this lake would benefit greatly from having proper platforms to fish from which would give people a bit more room to manoeuvre on the concrete bank where space for shipping is limited and on the opposite grass bank where the bank on some pegs slopes straight to the edge of the water resulting in a fair bit of adjusting of box legs to get a stable base to fish from.  Shipping back on this bank also has its problems as the bank behind rises about 10 feet from the water, made up presumably from what was dug to form the lake itself.  It would also allow anglers to cover a few extra metres of water in pole-only matches (which ours are).
Anyway, at the start most chose to fish long and on the deck, apart from Simon (Des) Belcham whose standard 1 rig was set up at about 6m.
Adam Caswell got off to a good start and was catching decent skimmers from the off but elsewhere not a great deal was happening.
Darren North, on peg 2, in a bid to impress his boss Brian Shanks was having a go with a shallow rig and must have caught on it as a few others soon switched to the same tactic.
Mark Radford on peg 4 was also catching odd carp shallow as was the mugger on peg 5 although Brian doesn't possess any rigs more than three feet deep so nothing new there.
A couple of hours in and Adam, the club's new silvers expert was still fishing, still catching skimmers and still making plenty of noise but his neighbours Chris Szakacs and new member Chris Packet were also catching carp shallow as was myself although mine were coming out of Chris Packet's peg when he wasn't looking.
Club superstar Alan Healy meanwhile was having an unusually uneventful day on peg 12 and was missing the absent Paul Reed who would have been his only chance of regaining any money today as even the silvers weren't helping him out and he was having to endure a fair amount of abuse.
The mugger however was now catching shallow both out in front and long up against the steel shuttering that holds the bank in on that peg and with three nets in the water, was looking well ahead of anybody else. Chris Packet had likewise dug out a third net and my peg had started to produce well in the last hour and I no longer needed to stray too far to my left to catch and even had a couple from the shallower water in death corner.
And that's the way it finished up with the Mugger first with 102-2 followed by Chris Packet with 92-8 and myself with 82-8. Simon Belcham gave Adam (whose skimmers eventually deserted him) a lesson in silvers fishing with 25-12 of mostly skimmers ranging in size from plankton to a couple of pounds caught on maggot and caster at 6m.
I've not done it for a while but the Hero to Zero award this week easily went to Alan as it's always refreshing to see someone have an off day and take it on the chin without bitching and moaning about certain other people's pegs being "solid"!
It was nice to see a bit of decent weather for a change and a few fish come out as a result although it seems Trig did a little better fishing shallow at Landsend today winning it with 226-3 from peg 22! Trinity next week and the weather is promising to be good again which is always a bonus down there.



Full Result:

1. Mugger Shanks  (peg 5) ...... 102-2
2. Chris Packet (8) ...... 92-8
3. Steve Burgess (7) .... 82-8
4. Mark Radford (4) ..... 81-10
5. Darren North* (2) .... 77-7
6. Chris Szacaks (10) .... 61-2
7. Simon Belcham (6) ... 45-0
8. Matt Taynton (3) ...... 22-11
9. Adam Caswell (9) ..... 22-9
10. Alan Healy (12) ........ 19-9
11. Will Dearlove (1) ...... 17-8 
12. Derick Lucas (11) ..... 4-11
13. Ryan Radford (13) .... dnw

Silvers:

1. Simon (Des) Belcham .... 25-12
2. Adam Caswell ........ 14-1
3. Matt Taynton ......... 9-11
4. Chris Packet .......... 9-6
5. Alan Healy ............ 8-5
6. Derick Lucas .......... 4-11
7. Mugger Shanks ...... 3-7
8. Chris Szakacs ........ 2-15
9. Steve Burgess ....... 2-12
10. D/arren North ....... 2-8
11. Mark Radford ........ 2-1
12. Will Dearlove ......... 1-8

Hi-lights from the Agm!

Unfortunately, as a result of the Midland Spinner being under new management it was closed which resulted in a last-minute change of venue to The Horseshoe on Siston Common (which, funnily enough, is 50yds from my doorstep) so apologies for the confusion.
As is the usual format with the Agm the club committee all stood down and a new committee was voted in and so the new committee is .......

Exactly the same as last year!

Chairman:  Me
Vice-Chairman:  Alan Healy
Match Secretary:  Me
Treasurer:  Mike Wilson
Website Editor: (A new post created by me)  ME!

And on a more serious note, a couple of points were brought up and addressed.

1. Guests.
It was agreed that guests are now allowed but must be invited / accompanied by an existing member and can only fish one match without joining the club.
A club member can have only one guest fish at a time.

2. Points System.
It was agreed that we would revert to the old points system which gives a fixed amount of points to each placing regardless of the number fishing.
Which now means if you win a match with 4 people fishing you get the same points as if you win a match with 104 fishing!

3. Membership Cost.
Unchanged at £20

4. Christmas Match.
Members only and the prizes will be chosen via a draw as opposed to the order of the result.

5. Night out.
Something will be arranged.

6. Weekend Away.
Too late in the day to organize one for this year but I will attempt to book something up for next year.  Venues at the moment are maybe Holgan Farm (as last year) or the place near Newquay that I can't remember the name of!

7.  Winter Venues.
Following the dire winter we've had this year it was suggested that we try to book some venues that fish better in the winter next year. ie, waters that are less dominated by carp.  I have taken this on board and will do my best but bear in mind that when booking venues it is necessary to book a year in advance (at least) and also that many venues charge a fixed price regardless of numbers which can be a bit of a pain when only a handful book in.

8.  Match Costs.
I keep a record of all monies paid in / out on match days which is available to anybody that wishes to see it.  It was agreed a few years ago that any surplus on match days would be paid out in the pools and that is still the case. The golden peg money is added to each match regardless of numbers.


And finally,  I would like to thank everybody who has supported the club through the previous season and especially the "hardcore" who fish every week regardless of the weather, decorating requests, weddings, funerals, christenings, bar-mitzvahs etc.
I would also like to thank everybody who has helped out with pegging, weighing-in, collecting money etc and I look forward to another year of friendly banter and good fishing!

Tight Lines