Viaduct Fishery Open (Cary Lake).

Well yesterday I thought things couldn't get any worse but how wrong I was! The wife went to the bank to get some money to pay for my recent purchase but when returning with the cash on the bus somehow lost the envelope with it in & didn't realise until afterwards, We made frantic calls to the bus company & a couple of drivers we know but to no avail' That would be the last we saw of that then! She was beside herself with guilt but assured her it wasn't the end of the world & somehow we'll get it back soon enough. Back to today even though I wasn't really in the mood to go fishing I was booked in to Viaduct so with the forecast quite good made my way their.

Fourteen of us booked in today as their were other things on in the area & we were all hoping to draw the recent noted pegs, I let a few go before me before taking my turn, Ending up on peg 99 above the tree, I felt I had the chance of a few carp but didn't really think I would compete with the pegs nearer the aerator which had been producing of late or the pegs in the top corner where a few fish had been caught lately so even though I would have a look for carp I based my main day around silvers, I set up a 4x12 wire wonder on 0.13-0.10 & an 18 PR412 Hook, & a heavier 4x14 rig to fish with a double bulk, Both rigs to fish a couple of lines at 14mts, Apart from this all I set up was a bomb rod, I was going to get the waggler out but the wind wasn't in are favour so didn't want to complicate things. For company I had Mark Poppleton above me on peg 97 & Dave White on peg 96, & next to me Silvers Lover Stu White on peg 100 who would target then from the off.

I began the day feeding four balls & a cup of loose G/Bait containing a few casters & dead reds at 14mts & one ball off to my right at the same distance & started the day in the open water on the bomb & meat, In the first 30mins I had a couple of liners, Dave was first to catch a carp on are bank closely followed by Nick Chedzoy on fancied peg 102, Interestingly Stu had started his day short for silvers & was surprisingly catching well" Usually you get a few early fish then it dies but after 45mins I estimated he had around 4lb in the net so would be playing catch up with him now on the silvers but I hadn't fed a short line" I gave it nearly an hour on the bomb before praying my silvers lines were solid with big skimmers". I started on the one ball line & had a 6oz skimmer after waiting ages for a bite so onto the positive line with double caster on the hook, again I had to wait for a bite but this time I hooked a better fish but it came straight off! I had another go but no more signs, Stu was still adding small fish to his net but I was going nowhere'.

Back on the bomb with various baits but no signs of fish, Dave had taken two more carp in the first hour & Mark had now landed one but I couldn't get so much as a liner, After another 45mins of trying different areas I was back on the pole lines, I had a 1lb plus skimmer straight off the bumped another decent fish soon after, I seem to get this problem a lot on here for some reason with the better size fish? this killed it again as no more bites.

By now basically I had come to the conclusion trying to catch Stu up on the long pole didn't seem likely to happen, After Dave's Early fish he hadn't added to them & nor had Mark, Nick had netted a few more but the guy on peg 77 seemed to be doing best, I'm on here next week for the next round of the winter league so decided to spend the rest of the day in search of fish with the bomb. Eventually I did start to get the odd pull round with a couple of hours to go but they turned out to be bream over 2lb along with a tench over a 1lb' With an hour to go Mark decided to call it a day, I had managed to pack most of my kit away whilst watching a pretty motionless tip, I had a funny feeling going into the last 30mins I was going to catch a carp & with 25mins to go I did! a decent fish around 10lb but a few more required with minutes remaining" it wasn't to be as I didn't have another before the all-out although I left it out whilst trying to recover my catty I had dropped in earlier & caught another a few minutes after the whistle' I put it back in along with the one I had but decided to weigh my few silvers for the sake of it, When the scales arrived top weigh was John Gray from peg 77 being 130lb odd catching on the bomb & waggler with meat & top silvers was Nigel Easton from peg 90 with 21lb of bomb & corn caught skimmers, Dave's three fish went 19lb odd before my few fish went 10lb 12oz & Stu finished the day with 17lb of silvers most of which came to his short line, Nick was last to weigh & finished with 58lb for second on the day so hoping to be on this or the peg opposite next week then'.

 Not totally in gear today after losing the cash & having it go round in my head every two minutes but don't think much would of been different result wise, Look forward to next Sundays league & hoping trig keeps his hand going'

Full Results -

1st John Gray (Plymouth) peg 77, 130lb 4oz.

2nd Nick Chedzoy (P.I.Thatchers) peg 102, 58lb 5oz.

3rd Nigel Easton (Bait tech Viaduct) peg 90, 37lb 12oz.

Silvers -

1st Nigel Easton,  peg 90 , 21lb 4oz.                

Saturday, Acorn Fishery League Rd 5, (Paddock Lake).

Yesterday saw me back at Acorn for the next round of the league, It all started off ok in the first couple of rounds but the wheels have fell off in the last two' It seems to be a case of if your not on um you catch nowt else at the moment, Into the draw & I didn't think thinks would be much better today after drawing peg 19 on the straight, It happens to be one of the widest just over 14mts but unfortunately we were in the worse of the wind so trying to fish across would be fun"..

I set up three rigs, One for right over on the shallow 18' inch shelf, One for 13mts in around 3ft of water & a rig to fish at 8mts slightly to my down the track, I had Tom Casidy next to me on peg 15 & Paul Nicole's  the other side of me on peg 19 both of which were in my section along with a couple of swims over the other side of the lake, I started on maggot just short of the far back in the shallower water & hooked two carp in two dob-in's but they were both foul hookers & came off", Ten minutes later I had one in the mouth but a smaller fish around 2lb until I got it to the net that is before it shed the hook! Paul had started the day across but chose to start dobbing bread & although I discounted it due to the water colour he had netted two smaller size carp on it in the first 30mins, After my early signs the fish soon disappeared in the shallower water, I tried a few new areas across & even gave the bread a go but still nothing, Tom had netted a carp & had a few bits to go with it but after 90mins I was still to catch'.

 I went on the 13mt line again with maggot where I had fed a few of the same along with some micros, I had a bites straight away which turned out to be a 4oz skimmer so blank avoided" Back out & I had a 1lb gold fish" then nothing, I switched to expander on the hook but still no signs so topped it up & went back across, I did have a carp straight away, Shame it was 6oz's" & ten minutes later had an F1 over a 1lb but bites were hard to come by, Not much to tell about the rest of the day, I kept rotating lines looking for fish but it was a right gruller, I never had a bite down the track where I had been feeding corn all day, I managed one more better F1 from the 13mt line along with a few hand size skimmers, But going into the last hour I managed two better carp & two smaller samples tight over in the shallow water again on maggot, I thought I had over taken Tom until he threw a spanner in the works by catching a 4lb fish with minutes to go, Paul had only added a few small fish from the deeper water so hard for us again today. When the scales arrived Glen Calvert was top weight with 45lb odd from peg 9 but not in are section, Tom finished with 17lb 4oz in total & I knew it would be close between us but it wasn't to be as I fell just short with 16lb 11oz, Meaning I missed out on the £50 for second in the section as Mark Walsh looked to have easily won are section from the peg behind the shed on the opposite bank. It wasn't until I was packing away I realised my pole sections were jammed together, With the assistance of Tom & Paul on the end of each section I gave it the old rolling approach in the middle, It took a while to get it moving & just as I thought it was going to come free bang went my number 8 section!" Nobody to blame though but it didn't make for a good day as I soon slung my kit in the van & buggered off home with the remaining piece of number 8 section still stuck in the ass end of the number 7". So don't know who actually won the day sorry but I know a few struggled for bites again today, Felt really deflated when I arrived home things can only get better hey"..       

Viaduct Fishery Teams of Five Winter League Rd 2, (All Lakes).

Well what a difference a day makes, After being quite pleasant most of yesterday today we were greeted with rain, & plenty of it as it was forecast to continue for the rest of the day" great.. My turn to be on Cambell lake today & I still fancied a few fish to be caught more at the car park end of the lake even though it didn't fish to well yesterday, As norm it was down to Trig to do the draw for us again today & whilst we were waiting I happened to mention I wouldn't mind peg 132 in the corner, Trig returned with the draw sheet & low & behold I was on it Lol', The best pegs last time were hot peg 131 & 130 but I felt I had a good chance of a carp or two for decent points? Trig ended up on peg 52 of Match Lake, Paul Beaver Elms would be on peg 102 Cary, Shaun Townsend had peg 71 on Lodge & Vince ended up with peg 20 on Spring which is pretty pants' to be fair but the rest of us could be ok, A simple approach today, Bomb & waggler for the open water & to fish down towards the end bank but the over hanging willow tree hampers this some what, A pole rig to fish down the edge at 14/16mts & a 0.2g rig to fish in front of me at 16mts in the open water with meat. No silvers lines today, I felt my best chance would be to catch at least a couple of carp & if I could manage three for around 20lb then that should be good points so set my stool all out for them. I started the day on the wagg with hair rigged meat set at dead depth, ten minutes in & disaster" I had a bite but when I struck the small amount of line which had been blowing back towards me had wrapped around my rod tip' The carp took off which felt a decent fish but we soon parted company as my main line snapped around the rod tip causing me to lose the lot!". B*****K'S...

I decided to chuck to bomb with meat back in the same area whilst I set about re-assembling my wagg rod' After about 10mins I was just adding the hook length when the tip went round, I did manage to get this one in around 5lb so at least I was on my way, Nick Ewers was next to me on hot peg 131 & had started catching on the bomb as I expected as did the lad above him on peg 130, I gave the bomb another 20mins but with no liners switched back to the wagg searching for fish. After 30mins of trying but no more signs it was time to take a look down the edge, I started off the deck dobbing bread along to 16mts but no signs so switched to meat but that made no difference, Back on the wagg & after 5mins I hooked a better fish which was a carp around 8lb this time it was in the net" The next couple of hours were a right struggle for me as I couldn't temp bites anywhere, Thankfully I did manage another decent fish on the bomb which was caught chucking as far left towards Nicks peg as I could but by now he was catching regular fish so again they did seem to be at home on their normal peg" I estimated my three fish would go around 23lb which I though was a good target but was keen to get a few more, I had been pinging a few bits of meat at 16mts but it didn't produce a bite, I had another couple of looks down the edge again but not even a liner told me they weren't here, I new my best bet would be the wagg for the last hour or so & so it proved as I managed to add another three fish one of which was 10mins from the all out, I had 37lb on my clicker but knew Nick & The chap above him were probably going to first & second on the lake, When the scales got around to us Mark Poppleton over on peg 119 (The peg Ben Hagg Caught Nowt Off Last Time") was leading the way with 73lb odd, with a couple of back up weights of 45lb, Steve Martin on peg 130 took the lead with 84lb before Nicky ended with 121lb to easily win the lake, Certainly a peg they want to frequent at the moment but well done Nick, I was last to weigh & was cursing losing the first carp of the day as I thought it had cost me but I was surprized when my six fish went 46lb odd for 4th on the lake & 15 out of 18pts for the team so happy with that & quite enjoyed the day even though it didn't stop raining & my kit & me were soaked through!.

Back at the results & Paul had done the business again today as he took a cracking 176lb of big carp on the waggler & meat from peg 102 on Cary so a big well done to him & a maximum of 18pts for the team, Trig had done well on match lake to finish with 14pts, Shaun had managed 9pts from what turned out to be a hard area & Vince struggled for 4lb odd of roach for 6pts again from a hard area on what turned out to be the hardest lake today, Silvers wise the weights were slightly down as Dick Bull took the spoils from peg 25 on Spring lake with 16lb. Team wise Colmic came out on top again today with a total of 74pts so another good performance from these lads, We finished 3rd on the day with 61pts but it still keeps us in 2nd position after the first two rounds but a long way to go. Back again in two weeks for round three & my turn for Cary Lake so hoping to land on a few of the lakes munters.

Full Results -

1st Paul Elms (Mosella Bathampton) peg 102 Cary, 176lb 4oz.

2nd Andy Power (Thatchers Gold) peg 53 Lodge, 141lb 9oz.

3rd Nick Ewers (Thatchers Vets) peg 131 Cambell, 121lb 10oz.

4th Nick Chedzoy (Thatchers Vets) peg 100 Cary, 100lb 6oz.

5th Steve Martin (Thatchers Silver) peg 130 Cambell, 84lb 1oz.

6th Mark Poppleton (Colmic) peg 119 Cambell, 73lb 8oz.

Silvers -

1st Dick Bull (Team Amigos) peg 25 Spring, 16lb 1oz.

2nd Steve Jackson (Balti Boys) peg 103 Cary, 15lb 12oz.

3rd Mark Harper (Thatchers Gold) peg 115 Cambell, 12lb 14oz.

Teams on Day -

1st Colmic 74pts.

2nd Future Networks 63pts.

3rd Mosella Bathampton 61pts.

3rd Thatchers Gold 61pts.

5th Guru Viaduct 58pts.

Overall League To Date -

1st Colmic 149pts.

2nd Mosella Bathampton 130pts.

3rd Thatchers Gold 116pts.

4th Thatchers Vets 115pts.

5th 2nd Time Lucky 111pts.

6th M5 Angling 106pts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           

Viaduct Fishery Saturday.

I chose to take a trip to viaduct for the latest Saturday open but a bit disappointing as it turned out there were only five of us" With the popular winter league tomorrow many anglers cant commit to both days with family ect being priority but at least it looked on being a decent day weather wise with no wind. Steve decided just to pay out top weight & top silvers & decided to peg it all at the car park end of Cambell lake with the pegs being 110,111,112, & opposite pegs 131 & 130, I was hoping to avoid 111 if possible as it would be the only peg with less room so to speak, I let a couple go before me then took my turn, Yep you guessed it peg 111' Owe well. I didn't really expect to catch more carp than either hot peg 131 at the moment or even peg 110 so silvers would be main line of attack, I set up a 4x12 wire wonder on 0.13-0.10 & an 18 PR412 hook & a heavier 4x14 float on the same line/hook to fish a double bulk rig, Pluming up it was deepest at 13mts directly in front of me so would feed G/Bait here & feed another line at 14mts to the left with caster. On the all-in I feed three balls with casters & a few pinkie's at 13mts & cupped in some caster on the longer line, Leaving these to settle I started the day on the waggler casting towards the middle of the lake with hair rigged meat, I was quite surprized to get a bite after ten minutes which turned out to be a decent carp around 7lb, I gave it another 45mins but never had another sniff, Roland next to me on 110 was yet to catch but Terry Lenny on peg 131 had took an early fish. Time to have a look on my silvers lines, I started over the casters at 14mts but no early signs so switched to 13mts with single caster on the hook, I did manage to take a few small 4-6oz skimmers before bites dried up which told me to re-feed a small amount & leave it for a few minutes. Not going to rant on about the day to much but spent most of it on the pole catching small skimmers, Topping up when bites tailed off & kept looking to catch carp on the wagg in between, It fished hard today, The chap on peg 112 & his mate on peg 130 called it a day with an hour to go, Which was a wise choice as from nowhere it went from flat calm to blowing a gale smack in are chops! This ruled out the pole for the last 45mins as I couldn't see the float in the ripple & reflection on the water but still didn't manage another carp after fishing the bomb, Terry finished with two fish for 16lb odd, Roland had four carp for 28lb odd & I finished with one carp for 8lb 4oz & more importantly 12lb 12oz of silvers so at least I got £25 back to pay for the day.

     

Viaduct Fishery Teams Of Five (Round 1) All Lakes.

Well I was quite looking forward to this popular league again this time around fishing under the team Mosella Bathampton banner, Are team consisted of Craig Trig' Edmunds, Shaun Townsend, Vince Brown, Paul Beaver' Elms & Myself. The day started with breakfast at the Royal Pub in Somerton which was quite nice, I arrived in plenty of time for a decent parking spot before everyone descended at the fishery, Eighteen teams fishing this year so a good turn out again, Their would be some good draws & some unfortunate dire ones which we all hoped to avoid, It was down to trig to draw as his hand seems to be sent down from God' Or so we hoped? When he returned it went like this, Cambell Lake, Paul, peg 130, Shaun peg 99 Cary, Trig peg 69 Lodge, Vince peg 50 match, & Me  peg 18 Spring, Not a bad team draw, My peg can be a good area for silvers but after the first few Wednesdays silvers matches it seems to have switched off a bit, I was fortunate enough to have an island chuck & with conditions in are favour with no wind I had plenty of options, first up a bomb rod to fish over to the island with bread/meat, A waggler also to fish across & slightly shorter if need be, A 0.2g float set on 0.15-0.13 & an 16 F1 Pellet hook to fish at 16mts to the left with meat, & finally a 4x12 wire wonder float on 0.13-0.10 & an 18 F1 pellet hook, to fish at 13 in front & 14mts slightly right, It was around 4 - 5ft at 13mts & around 6 inches shallower further out.

I started the day feeding three good balls of G/bait casters & some dead pinkies at 13mts & one ball at 14mts with dead maggots added, I began the day on the bomb across to the island on popped up bread as did the pegs around me, I gave it 40mins also trying meat on the hair but not a tremble on the tip", I switched to the waggler again with meat to start with, I worked my way closer to the island even trying off the deck, I could get the rig to land within inches of the far bank but nothing was happening at this stage, After 90mins of trying to catch across none of us had hooked a carp & it wasn't looking good' I had a quick look on the pole with caster or red maggot on the hook but the float just sat their", Gareth Lennox next to me on peg 17 had now switched to a small G/bait feeder with hair rigged corn chucking quite tight to the island & it seemed to work as he soon had some better sized skimmers, Ile follow suit then", Well I gave it about 45mins but not even a liner, yet Gareth was getting indications & coming back with a fish most casts, Frustrating but they didn't want to move that's for sure, Neil Clark on the other side of me was also struggling & he couldn't catch across either but did start to put some small silvers in his net once he went on the pole, Things were looking grim. Roland Lucas who had drawn last weeks winning peg 16 on this lake was also yet to catch, It was approaching the halfway point before I had my first bite which came at 13mts on maggot, It felt a decent fish until after a few seconds it shed the hook! thankfully when I went back in I had a skimmer around 10oz so finally I had something in the net' I added a few smaller samples & a couple of chunky roach before I felt the need to top it up, I had a quick look on the 14mt line but nothing here yet & nothing on the 16mt meat line at this point. Gareth was still putting fish in his net so I had to try again on the feeder, - Nowt" I just couldn't get the fish to travel my way, I had been pinging the odd piece of corn over & even tried the waggler at depth off the island again but not a bite, back on the pole I had another run of smaller stamp skimmers & a bonus 8oz roach but with the water being clear they were easily spooked so had to keep resting it, I kept trying the bomb back to the island with bread in the hope of a wrap around from a carp which was looking to make decent points the way things were going, It wouldn't happen & it appeared they just weren't present. I kept dropping back in on the pole at 13mts catching the odd smaller skimmer to keep putting something in the net, Gareth's peg had slowed a little but he was still catching the odd decent skimmer but rich next to me was struggling with just the odd fish on the pole, going into the last hour Roland finally caught a carp on the bomb & bread which prompted me to try again but still not a sign, I managed a few more skimmers late on the pole with a couple around 10oz but did bump a better fish at 14mts when I potted in a decent handful of casters & left it for a while but that was it, I never had a bite at 16mts on the meat & on the all out thought I had around 7lb of silvers, First to weight was Glen Calvert on peg 20 who finished with 7lb of waggler caught roach, Rich had 4lb odd of bits before I was put 10lb 1oz on the scales which was more than I thought, Fair play to Gareth who finished the day with 23lb of feeder caught skimmers before Roland's one carp went 8lb odd, I didn't follow the scales around but after Chris Sandford on peg 15 had 68lb of carp dobbing bread down his edge to the tree he looked likely to easily win the lake, Back at the results it turned out there were a few blanks on are lake so my 10lb ended up earning me 12pts from a possible 18 so good for the team in the end, It turned out we had all done ok, Shaun came back with 12pts, Vince had 13pts, Trig had 15pts & Paul finished 2nd on Cambell Lake with 102lb which put him 4th on the day overall so well done to him, this gave us a total of 69pts from a possible 90 putting us 2nd on the day behind Colmic who finished on 75pts so a good start for us, As far as the winners went top weight on the day was Trev Senior who was next to Paul on peg 131 finishing with a massive 214lb" all on the bomb & meat & over on Cary Lake Martin Preston finished 2nd with 155lb of big carp on the waggler with meat, As far as the silvers went it was super star silvers ace Des Shipp who took the spoils with 25lb odd from peg 118 on Cambell catching on casters over caster, Back next week for the second round when its my turn for Cambell Lake & I wouldn't be disappointed to see us with the same team draw as the carp on this lake seem to be balled up in this area at the moment so would put me in the right area".

Full Results -

1st Trev Senior (Wyvern Anglers) peg 131 Cambell, 214lb 7oz.

2nd Martin Preston (Colmic) peg 78 Cary, 155lb 3oz.

3rd Steve Tucker (Thatchers Vets) peg 77 Cary, 145lb 1oz.

4th Paul Elms (Mosella Bathampton) peg 130 Cambell, 102lb 14oz.

5th Nick Chedzoy (Thatchers Vets) peg 111 Cambell, 91lb 14oz.

6th Jason Radford (All Stars) peg 94 Cary, 82lb 5oz.

Silvers -

1st Des Shipp (Thatchers Gold) peg 118 Cambell, 25lb 1oz.

2nd Gareth Lennox (M5 Angling) peg 17 Spring, 23lb 3oz.

3rd Tim Ford (Thatchers Silver) peg 103 Cary, 19lb 8oz.

Teams -

1st Colmic 75pts

2nd Mosella Bathampton 69pts

3rd Thatchers Vets 61pts

4th Wyvern Anglers 60pts

5th 2nd Time Lucky 60pts

6th M5 Angling 59pts. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                           

Acorn Series Round 4, Paddock Lake, Saturday.

Saturday saw me back at Acorn for the fourth round of this series hoping for a better day after only 4oz off peg 19 in the last round" Hopefully I could use this as my dropped result? into the draw & I ended up on peg 36 again' as I had this peg in the second round, That day I had 20lb odd for second in the section & had a couple of fish down the edge on corn in front of the next pallet or dead reads this side of it so was quite confident of getting a few bites? This will probably be my shortest blog ever as I have nothing to write about! I started dobbing at half depth down the edge with bread but no signs so went on the deck with corn but still nothing, after 4hrs all I had to show for my efforts was one small roach on maggot & had another one fall off' I couldn't get a sign of carp no matter where or what I tried, I was totally disheartened & with 45mins to go I called it a day, The only people I could see catching was Rich Healy on peg 1 who had taken a few fish down the track on bread from peg 1 before going across to the island where he was catching quite well come the end & Kev Perry also on the island swims peg 5 who had taken a few. I didn't stay for the weigh-in but it turned out Rich won the match with 60lb odd & Kev finished 2nd with 25lb odd but the rest of us pretty much struggled, Ray Cooper who kindly lent me so over trousers as I forgot my bib n brace had draw peg 19 today ended up with the same result as me off it 4oz! what a flyer" Lol. That's winter fishing, your either lucky enough to be on a few or it bloody hard work! I need a miracle to make the final placing's now but you never no.           

Shiplate Farm (Westpool).

A total change of plan today as I was heading for the open at Viaduct Fishery but after stopping at Burnham for breakfast on route I felt as rough as I could be after suffering from a stinking cold for the last few days, I abandoned the breakfast & made a call to Steve I wasn't up to travelling that far so arranged to head home & pick up the wife, Dosing myself up to the nines in the process & making the trip up the road to Shiplate, At least she could come back in minutes if I wasn't up to fishing but I didn't want to waste my only chance to fish on the weekend. Not a bad turn-out with 14 fishing but with only 15 pegs on the lake & that many on here I expected it to be hard again, Obviously fancied peg 15 would be my choice but I left it up to the wife to have ago for me today hoping to avoid the narrows for a bloody change! She handed me the ticket opening it to find myself on peg 2" FFS.." what made it worse is the only empty peg today was peg 4 & I would be between Nigel Webber on peg 1 & John Hawkins on peg 3 so not a lot of room with it only being 13mts to the far side, I really didn't fancy it today & was in two minds to fish feeling the way I did but decided to at least try, Owe & who was lucky enough to land on 15? Yep resident Peanut Howell" I've never known someone draw so many end pegs!.

Simple today, A dobbing rig for searching across, A rig to fish tighter over in just over 3ft of water against some stick-ups & finally a rig for down the track in 5ft of water, on the all-in I cupped a nugget of micros down the track & went across on the bread with the rig set a few inches off the deck, 25mins later one small roach!, changed to the deck rig against the stick-ups with expander on the hook feeding a few micros with the cad pot, I did have a carp around a 1lb & lost a better foul hooked fish, I tried the track rig but nothing so began a new line slightly to my left with corn hooking some fish would appear later in the day, I tried other areas of the far side but couldn't get signs of fish, I reverted back to the spot I had caught & eventually had a fish around 3lb, Not going to harp on as it didn't really happen, Nigel had three carp across on the bread all day, I finished with two better carp & three stockies & John who spend most of the day with just a skimmer & some small roach started catching down towards the empty peg 4 in the deeper water & finished with Five decent carp, I called it a day with 30mins to go so was soon packed up desperate to get home in the warm, It turned out to be hard for most today as John went on to win with 33lb so switching lines proved worth while" I tried short but just didn't have the room to draw fish, to be honest I didn't expect much today but by halfway my 10lb or so was looking ok but I never had a bite anywhere in the last two hours, Luck of the draw at this time of the year but not the day I wanted for the start of 2018". I didn't have time over the Xmas period for my stats from last year & it didn't help the lovely Wife threw my list away' even with nearly three months away from the scene I managed to fit in 56 matches through the year picking up in 32 of them with a total of £1387 back in the pocket so not a bad season, Coming up I have the Viaduct Teams Of Five starting next Sunday, Are Team as far as I know consists of the Famous Craig (Trigger) Edmunds, Paul Elms , Shaun Townsend, Vince Brown & Myself so looking forward to it but we all know some of it will be boom or bust with the numbers of us fishing but with Trig there to draw for us we cant go wrong can we?? Lol.

Todays Results -

1st John Hawkins (Wormheads) peg 3, 33lb 8oz.

2nd Golly Jones (Shiplate Farm Pensioners) peg 7, 31lb 1oz.

3rd Julian Pinkett (Wormheads) peg 11, 30lb 12oz.

Silvers - Ron Stark (Weston) 7lb 4oz.    

      

Shiplate farm (Hawthorns Lake) New Years Eve.

Only just h found time to do this write up with the reality of returning to work" I did manage one more match or more of a knock-up before the new year was upon us, A few asked if anything was on so we arrange eight of us to fish hawthorns lake, Easy pegging then using every odd number so everyone had plenty of room, The lake had a tinge of colour but I put that down to all the resent rain we've had in the area of late, I had the last in the tub today finding myself on peg 5, I expected the lake to fish hard today so set up a rig to dob bread across and to fish off the deck down the deep edges, A rig to fish on the deck a few feet off the far bank in 4ft of water being a 0.2g AS1 on 0.15-0.11 & an 18 F1 pellet hook, & finally a 4x12 malman for down the track in 6ft of water again on 0.15 to an 0.10 hooklength. I had venue resident Steve Peanut Howell on peg 3 but couldn't see his as such but sure I would here him if he was catching"??.

I went straight across on the bread dobbing along the far bank, I hooked a fish within seconds but it was a fouler & came off, went back across a bit shallower but soon after the same happened' At least I thought there were a few fish present? Well their was" In the next 30mins all I had were two small roach n not a sign of a carp, I decided to feed a small amount in the deeper water & off the bank & feed some G/bait & casters down the track to my left & some micros off to the right & let them settle. I switched to banded pellet across still searching along the far bank & eventually had a carp in the net but nothing followed, I had a quick look down the track on expander & had two skimmers over the micros but only a couple of roach over the G/bait feed. I hadn't heard much from Peanut & didn't here any splashing so presumed he wasn't do to well either, I wont go on to much about the day but as we expected it was hard, I managed a couple more skimmers down the track on expander but bites were few & far between, I did have a run of one pasty carp, One decent fish & another skimmer all caught across in the deeper water again on expander in as many dob-in's but after that just two small roach there all day, I had tried down the edge on the deck with corn & off the deck with bread but didn't have a bite' Mid way through the day I began to feed a corn line down the track to my right at 12mts, I did have a look with an hour to go but nothing & after trying all my other swims I went back on it with ten minutes to go, I missed a bite as soon as it settle which I wasn't really expecting, Back out & it happened again the with just a minute to go had a  skimmer over 1lb off it & was cussing myself for not trying it a bit earlier' Peanut had piped up after catching two carp, The second which he admitted to hooking in the head but still got it in over 6lb" but he didn't have much to go with them, That's until I shouted the all-out & got off my box only to see him playing a fish hooked down the edge with seconds to go & turned out to be around 7lb" The jammy C**T!" when the scales arrived it had fished hard with 18lb 14oz being top so far & 6lb of silvers was best, I ended with just under 6lb of silvers & my carp went 12lb odd for a level 18lb but the jammy (After The Whistle) peanut spoilt my pick-up finishing with 22lb to win the day" He does a fair bit of sea fishing & I swear he uses a sea hook down the edge as they never come off! Still I suppose he has to pick up sometimes" Owe hang on he did last week,' Mug of the match for coming stone last!" Lol.. Top silvers went to Glyn Wickham from fancied peg 1 with 8lb odd but it was hard for all of us today but nice weather wise so glad to be out on the bank, Thanks to owners Steve & Carol for letting me run a couple of matches over the Xmas period & to the effort they put in to maintain the fishery, Well that's it for another year, Had a bit of a lull in the middle part taking the best part of two months off & haven't travelled to far until I know more about the wife's future once she has seen the specialist next month! I did have a total on matches fished & total pick-ups threw the year but it looks like the wife has hid it so sort for my blogs starting in the New Year, Well all the best to my fellow anglers for the coming year & more importantly enjoy it" Happy New Year".

Full Results -

1st Steve Howell (Foul Hookers Uk) peg 3, 22lb 8oz.

2nd Mark Jones (Shiplate Farm) peg 15, 18lb 14oz.

3rd Dom Sullivan (Mosella) peg 5, 18lb.

Silvers -

1st Glyn Wickham (Tom Thick Baits) peg 1, 8lb 3oz.