Viaduct, Spring Lake, 28 November (8 pegs)

With 4 no-shows and pretty much the whole of Match Lake frozen over it was decided to switch the match to the relatively ice-free top bank of Spring Lake and ....... nobody caught a bleedin thing!
Fortunately a few anglers reported having the odd bite and Steve Burgess lead the way with his float dipping twice on his first put-in and not long after missing a "proper" bite which completely took his maggot hookbait! He managed a third bite later on in the afternoon when he dropped his rig in and the float carried on going under but that may have been down to excess ice formation on his pole float.
Ade Crawley had his pinky chewed (which was nice for him) while Paul Elmes had several good knocks on his feeder rig in between tangles with an overhanging tree.
Derek Lucas had one definite bite on his tip rod but by then was frozen to his platform and unable to pick the rod up while Darren North also reported indications on his rod tip but they may have been liners from floating pack ice!
All was not completely lost however, as after the all-out Alan Healy dropped his pole rig into the River Cary behind him and bagged up with a pair of 2oz roach and Paul Elmes adopted a similar tactic (with Ade Crawley's pole) and landed a roach of about 8oz.

Paul Elmes with the best fish of the day and the biggest fish Ade Crawley's pole has seen all season.

Alan with half of the Healy family's fish supper.

Bullocks Farm, Match Lake, 14 November (10 pegs)

Expectations for this match weren't too great and it was expected to be hard going with the water being gin clear and the carp not expected to show in great numbers.  Alan Healy though, having spent the previous week living on rabbits and roadkill was eager to get back to winning ways and restock his diminishing pound coin collection and so used psychic powers and various other means to pull out peg 17 from the bag (which won the Avon Angling open for Paul Elmes last weekend)
Having successfully drawn the only good peg on the lake Alan predictably went on to win both the match and the silvers weighing in a total of 21-1 all caught on maggot.
Also fishing maggot on peg 1 was Mike Smith who's two carp weighed in at 20-11 to take second place followed by Steve Burgess on peg 9 with 11-13 of crucians, fantails and 2 small tench caught on maggot and soft pellet.
Following the sad demise of his stud guinea pig (and main source of income) this match saw a welcome return to the fold for Mark Britton but unfortunately playing with rodents has meant Mark's fishing has gone a bit rusty and he could only manage a lowly 4-10. But on the plus side, Mark did manage to fish the whole match without throwing his toys out of the pram and, much to everyone's surprise, was still approachable afterwards!

Full Result:

1. Alan Healy ........ peg 17 ..... 21-1
2. Mike Smith .............. 1 ...... 20-11
3. Steve Burgess .......... 9 ...... 11-13
4. Adam Caswell ........... 26 .... 10-14
5. Simon Belcham* ....... 30 .... 8-2
6. Mark Radford ............ 25 .... 8-1
7. Mark Britton ............. 19 ..... 4-10
8. Bob Warren .............. 7 ..... DNW
9. Derek Lucas ............. 15 .... DNW
10. Paul Reed ................. 24 .... DNW 

Silvers:

1. Alan Healy ...... 13-13
2. Steve Burgess .. 11-13
3. Mark Radford ... 8-1 (silvers winner by double default)!
4. Mark Britton ..... 4-10
5. Adam Caswell ... 4-6

*golden peg

Westerleigh, Old Lake, 31 October (12 pegs)

More often remembered for his monumental Sunday morning hangovers and string of ex-wives than his match fishing pedigree, Southmead's finest (only) Steel Fixer, Stevie Wynne turned the form book on it's head to produce a comfortable win.
Drawn on peg 13, Steve alternated between corn, meat and maggot at 13m and in the margins ending up with a 53-7 mixed bag which included a 10lb 7oz lump caught on double red maggot.
Surprisingly that now makes it eight matches in a row that Steve has fished without breaking a pole section or having a rod towed onto the lake!

The Southmead fishing bus was a happy place to be on the journey home as Steve's long-term partner and soulmate, Rich Jones, took second spot with 38-14 from peg 4.
Richard fished similar tactics to the winner but had more success with 8mm banded pellet on the hook. Unfortunately he did manage to lose two good sized fish which spent the rest of the day feeding in the safety of Adam Woodland's peg where they were in no danger of being caught!
Third place went to Simon Belcham on peg 19 with 38-2 caught on maggot and meat while Ryan Jordan completed the frame with 36-3 from peg 9 using the same baits in the margins and out at 13m.

Mike Smith was not far behind with 34-1 from peg 18 but lost ground however, due to a couple of spells of goose wrestling while Bob Warren chose to go for a swim after the "all out" to retrieve his new hook.  Luckily Bob's wallet is watertight so his Green Shield stamps, pension book and bus pass were all perfectly safe and dry!

Ade Crawley playing a feisty 2lb carp ........

...... and landing it 30 minutes later.

A very cold, wet, but happy Bob Warren after successfully retrieving his brand new size 14 Tubertini 808 and half a pint of leftover casters.

Full Result:

1. Steve Wynne ....... peg 13 ...... 53-7
2. Rich Jones .................. 4 ....... 38-14
3. Simon Belcham ........... 19 ...... 38-4
4. Ryan Jordan ................ 9 ....... 36-3
5. Mike Smith ................. 18 ...... 34-1
6. Darren North .............. 12 ....... 25-2
7. Ade Crawley ............... 2 ........ 18-14
8. Paul Reed ................... 15 ...... 17-10
9. Stuart Ashton .............. 1 ....... 17-3
10. Bob Warren ................. 11 ..... 16-12
11. Alan Healy .................. 10 ...... 11-7
12. Adam Woodland ........... 6 ....... DNW

Calender Change & Christmas Match

Please note that the match originally scheduled for Cider Farm on Nov 14 will now be on Bullocks Farm Match Lake.
And bookings for the Christmas Match at Westerleigh (12 December) will be taken at the club meeting next Tuesday (2 November). £20 payable at the meeting with £20 to pay on the day.
Please bear in mind that the banks and car park at Westerleigh can be slippery in winter!

Summer League Final Results

1. Mike Smith ..... 205pts ... 925-1
2. Alan Healy ........ 203 ...... 879-11
3. Darren North .... 168 ...... 716-9
4. Chris Szakacs ... 166 ...... 941-14
5. Rich Jones ........ 158 ...... 813-11
6. Bob Warren ...... 149 ...... 557-9
7. Steve Burgess ... 142 ...... 464-13
8. Paul Reed ......... 127 ...... 454-6
9. Mark Radford .... 121 ...... 706-11
10. Simon Belcham . 121 ...... 537-6
11. Ade Crawley ..... 120 ...... 455-7
12. Ryan Jordan ...... 98 ....... 525-3
13. Adam Caswell .... 90 ....... 483-11
14. Derek Lucas ...... 88 ....... 393-5
15. Stuart Riddle ..... 79 ....... 288-3
16. Paul Elmes ........ 75 ....... 426-10
17. Steve Wynne ..... 71 ....... 352-10
18. Ryan Radford ..... 65 ....... 269-13
19. Adam Woodland . 63 ....... 304-12
20. Neil Mercer ........ 45 ....... 282-4
21. Brian Shanks ..... 41 ........ 259-6
22. Craig Edmunds ... 35 ....... 268-1
23. Stuart Ashton .... 35 ........ 58-3
24. Mike Wilson ....... 31 ....... 133-7
25. Ron Hardiman .... 20 ....... 88-11
26. Eddie Wynne ...... 19 ....... 66-14
27. Dave Tippet ....... 10 ....... 40-2
28. Steve Hutchinson.. 9 ....... 35-8

Avalon, 24 October (8 pegs)

Drawn on unfancied peg 16, Psv's match secretary, Steve Burgess, had his work cut out from the start, especially when it looked like it was going to be a day spent on the tip (not one of his favourite methods). And things looked even worse after ten minutes on the maggot feeder produced nothing more than a rig trashed in the island undergrowth. However, a switch to corn on the hook produced three carp and a reasonable skimmer in quick succession before the swim died prompting a look on the pole line, fed at the start with groundbait and micros. This only produced one small skimmer and a rogue carp on double red maggot before the micro roach became too much of a problem.
The rest of the match was spent on the straight lead with a hair-rigged 8mm banded pellet and 6mm's pinged over the top, and by casting to different spots around the island another five carp were added resulting in a comfortable win with 54lbs 15oz and yet another pound off Alan Healy.
On the opposite end of the match length (peg 1), Darren North managed a late run to take second place with 23-9 ahead of Mike Smith on peg 3 whose pole and meat tactics produced 18-12 which included a double-figure "lump" and ensured top spot in the Summer League ahead of Alan Healy by just 2 points.
For the rest of the field it was extremely hard going; Docks legend, Ade Crawley could only manage 5lbs 4oz although, for once, this wasn't the lowest weight in the match, that honour fell to ex spitfire pilot Derek Lucas, who weighed in a pathetic 3lbs 9oz!

Full Result:

1. Steve Burgess .. peg 16 .. 54-15
2. Darren North ....... 1 ....... 23-9
3. Mike Smith .......... 3 ...... 18-12
4. Alan Healy ........... 9 ...... 12-8
5. Bob Warren .......... 5 ...... 11-9
6. Paul Reed ............ 7 ....... 8-7
7. Ade Crawley ........ 13 ...... 5-4
8. Derek Lucas ........ 11 ...... 3-9

Total Match Weight = 138lbs 9oz
Average weight = 17lbs

Trinity, 17 October 2010 (13 pegs)

Due to an unfortunate cock-up with the pegging out  
(no doubt as a result of myself being a bit worse for wear),
the Southmead angling superstar that is Rich Jones (looking even more worse for wear than I was) found himself
on peg 5 which was supposed to have been left out due to it being one of the shallowest pegs on the lake and unlikely to produce after the overnight frost.
Not a problem though for Mr Jones, however, as he then went on to win the match although he only fished the second half of the match.
The first half was spent sulking and nursing his hangover and produced only a couple of rudd until, following a wander round the lake to see who was catching, he switched to fishing luncheon meat into the margins which produced a match-winning total of 60lbs 7oz.
It seems as though luncheon meat is fast becoming the "in" bait at psv matches as Bob Warren, fishing with a brand new hook (see the previous post), from peg 22 also used it to take 2nd place with 52-2.
Third spot went to Mike Smith with 48-5, although according to angling guru, Paul Reed, Mike had 100lbs plus after the first hour!
Mike, on peg 15, caught long down both margins and out in front on his usual paste tactics but suffered a lot of lost fish no doubt due to using poofy elastic for big fish in a peg full of snags! (But what do I know) 
Interestingly (or not) all of the top 3 places were end pegs.
Fourth place and top in the silvers went to Simon Belcham who switched between 4mm pellet and an hemp & tares approach to put 44-8 on the scales from peg 26 followed up by Steve Burgess and Darren North (pegs 28 & 24 respectively) who both weighed in 40-4 although it has to be noted that Darren's 1lb silvers weight was made up of three roach of which the biggest one was no more than 3oz!!!
Way down the list in 8th was last week's winner Alan Healy who was back to his more usual form and leaking pound coins like an old tap.

Result:

1. Rich Jones ...... peg 5 .... 60-7
2. Bob Warren ....... 22 ..... 52-2
3. Mike Smith ........ 15 ..... 48-5
4. Simon Belcham .. 26 ..... 44-8
5. (joint) Steve Burgess .. 28 .. 40-4
6. (joint) Darren North ... 24 ... 40-4 (pending Steward's enquiry)
7. Stuart Riddle ...... 34 ..... 22-0
8. Alan Healy ......... 11 ..... 19-12 (no flier draw this week)
9. Steve Wynne ...... 30 .... 15-11
10. Ryan Jordan ....... 7 ...... 14-13
11. Paul Reed .......... 13 ..... 12-1
12. Derek Lucas ....... 32 ..... 7-13 (not last)
13. Ade Crawley ....... 9 ...... 7-0 (consistent)

Silvers:

1. Simon Belcham ..... 11-0
2. Steve Wynne ......... 7-11 (including 4lb snake)
3. Steve Burgess ....... 5-14
4. Ryan Jordan .......... 5-3
5. Alan Healy ............ 3-15
6. Ade Crawley .......... 2-3
7. Derek Lucas .......... 2-0
8. Rich Jones ............. 1-8
9. Paul Reed .............. 1-7
10. Stuart Riddle ......... 1-3
11. Darren North ......... 1-0
12. Mike Smith ............ 0-4 (foul-hooked fry) 

Total Match Weight = 385lbs
Average Weight = 29lbs

Rood Ashton, 10 Oct 2010 (13 pegs)

Rabbit stew and pigeon pie were off the menu tonight at the Healy household seeing as an unexpected win on the golden peg meant that the Knowle West pheasant beater was better off to the tune of £150 plus several £1 side bets to replenish the coin pile that had been rapidly disappearing over recent weeks.
Fishing paste and pellet at 13m and down the edge from peg 9 Alan weighed in 68lbs 8oz which was exactly 6lbs ahead of Bob Warren on peg 6.
Bob fished luncheon meat at 13m out into open water and could have won had he not lost a good fish when his hook knot gave up the ghost. Not only did it cost him £10 in the payout but it also meant that Bob would have to go out and buy himself a new hook to replace the one he lost and which had served him well for the last fifteen years!
Another surprise result saw Paul Reed finally take advantage of a peg stuffed with fish to grab 3rd place with 41-14 ahead of Darren North on the end peg flier who somehow managed not to win the match and settled for 4th place with just 40lbs.
Alan's win takes him to the top of the Summer League, ahead of Chris Szakacs and Mike Smith, and just 5 points behind Chris in the Year Totals. It also means that he has now won 3 out of the last 4 matches at Rood Ashton which goes to show just how well he can draw!

Result:

1. Alan Healy* ...... peg 9 ..... 68-8
2. Bob Warren ........... 6 ..... 62-8
3. Paul Reed ............. 12 .... 41-14
4. Darren North ........ 13 ..... 40-0
5. Ade Crawley .......... 1 ..... 39-2
6. Steve Burgess ....... 8 ...... 36-4
7. Simon Belcham ..... 7 ...... 35-12
8. Adam Woodland .... 2 ...... 34-9
9. Mike Smith ........... 4 ...... 32-6
10. Ryan Jordan ......... 5 ....... 24-13
11. Mike Wilson ......... 10 ...... 24-11
12. Derek Lucas ......... 11 ...... DNW
13. Stuart Riddle ........ 3 ........ DNW

*golden peg
Total Match Weight = 440lbs 7oz
Average weight = 40lbs