Avalon teams of three, Round 4. 27/12/15

First off I just wish to say I hope you all had a great Xmas and over indulged.
I also want to thank all those who have helped me out in 2015 and I appreciate all those who read my blogs this year.

Right back to today's match and it was round 4 of the Teams of three event.
I arrived in loads of time to find that Team Mosella had done their draw and had plucked a nice set of pegs. 37 for Pete Wild.  24 for Tom Magnall and Vic was on peg 11.
The weather was due to start drizzly and dry out but winds would be strengthening until 3pm or thereabouts.

My team had a substitute for the day in the form of Derek Beard as Steve was ill.
We had the last pic of pegs, well it wasn't a choice but the order in which we put in sections. We had pegs 13, 27 and 39. Not the best as generally the right hand bank has been patchier than the pegs 1 to 23.
Eric had 27. I had 39 and Derek on 13. On paper my peg was ok but the trend with the pegs near the boards/gaps is that one end of them fishes while the other end struggles.

I got to my peg to find I had Pete Wild on p37. Mark Sweeting on 35. Jamie Cook on peg 32, Rich Coles on p30 all in my section. Rather tough methinks.

Avalon p39 rhs

Avalon peg 39

Avalon p39 lhs

I sorted the usual rigs and bait.
A feeder. A pellet wag. 2 silvers rigs (topkit & 13m skimmers).
2 rigs for carp (just off empty P40 and 9m at 11o'c direction ).

There were plenty of fish moving until 9:45 when they vanished......but most expected some ok fishing.
At the all in I potted in some gb at 13m and some maggots and meat in my 2 carpy spots.
Starting on the feeder and I had a carp of 3lb within 5 minutes and it got me off the mark......and that was it for 3hrs.
Not a bite. Nothing.

At around 1pm I did snare a pike, which I thought may have been a ghostie as it was pale and fought well. But I got all 11lb or so of it in, unhooked it and let it go. That's 3 pike I have caught this series.  I now have a reputation.....haha.

Elsewhere Pete was flying along as was Keith Clapp on peg 6. I also could see Jamie doing ok.
Rumour also came along that Tom was doing well but Eric was bagging.
Mark Sweeting was struggling as were Vic,  Derek, Mike West and one or 2 others.
I just wanted a couple more carp or while bunch of skimmers to come along as my wag, feeder and topkit lines were dire and only 2 roach and 2 minnows were had.
At least I wasn't suffering the same fate as Vic who'd lost a good few items if tackle.  Pete broke a rod but got the fish in, he also lost a couple items of tackle. Me I just lost one was to the only bit of overhang I could reach.

I managed to bump a skimmer on the pole before a 3lber was netted. That was the last action on the long pole line.

With half an hour to go I had 3lb of silvers and 1 carp.
So I put some bait down by peg 40 before putting the feeder back out and snared a 6lb fish.
A look down to the left and I missed a bite before I hooked a carp....well I presume a carp as it bolted under the empty platform shedding the hook in the process. That was my match done.  I reckoned I was 4th from 5 in my section as Jamie and Pete would be top 2. I had more than Mark, he has been having a pants series like me and Vic, I was sure Rich would have had more than me. And so it proved.

I didn't follow the weigh in as I was chatting to Eric and Rich. But by the time the scales had got to Tom in corner 24 it was Keith winning and Westy leading the silvers. Tom weighed in just under 50lb before Eric took the lead with a good mid 70lb net. Rich had 16lb+ then Jamie upper 30's.
Mark had 1lb something then Pete just over 50lb.
My attempts went 13lb+ to confirm 4th in section.

So it proved that one end of the boards produce and the other doesn't.  I felt like I fished a pretty tidy match but the fish were not playing or maybe not present.

Eric won on the day ahead of Keith and Pete so another bit of money into our pot again thanks to Eric. We were 3rd on the day as Derek was last in his section.
Overall we stay 2nd on weight fro Mosella with sedges almost uncatchable. I think they only need 7 points from 2 rounds....pretty unlikely really but you can't be 100% sure.

Results:

1st Eric Fouracre - Young ones 79.07
2nd Keith Clapp - Sedges 57.04...
3rd Pete Wild - Mosella UK 50.13
4th Tom Mangnall - Mosella UK 44.11
5th Jamie Cook - Sedges 37.15
6th Mike West - Somerset Carpenters 20.08

Silvers - Silver peg winner
1st Mike West - Somerset Carpenters 8.04

Teams on the Day:
1st Sedges - 11pts - 103.09
2nd Mosella UK - 11pts - 100.01
3rd Young Ones - 8pts - 95.14
4th Somerset Carpenters - 8pts - 35.15
5th Fu Fighters - 7pts - 36.08

League as it Stands:
1st Sedges, 18pts
2nd Young Ones, 14pts
3rd Mosella UK, 14pts
4th Fu Fighters, 8pts
5th Somerset Carpenters, 6pts

So another tough day at Avalon, but it keeps things tight, if not a little dull for some, I am back there again next Sunday for the next round of the same Teams of Three.
Oh today myself and Paul Berry took a trip up to Plantation Lakes near Clevedon, to fish the main match lake, we had a very nice day catching skimmers up to 3 or 4lb, some roach, odd perch along with various carp. Enjoyable.

Until next time, enjoy your entrance into 2016.

Lee

Avalon Christmas Match. 20-12-15

The season of good will and cheer is upon us, brilliant...............But no one has told the fish it is a time for giving, match results from all over the country has seen a trend of venues not fishing 'how they should'.........temperatures to over 15 degrees within a week of Christmas Day. Bloody daft if you ask me. These slimy critters we set out to catch don't know what to do, light levels are low, temps are high, confusedfish.com.

Anyways, Sunday, I made my way over to the lakes and arrived in a well filled car park, plenty of nets hung over the fence after being dipped....optimism on the inside, moaning on the outside, a funny bunch are anglers.
With 23 fishing it was a nice turn out, loads of faces I know or recognised, a few of whom can catch a fish or 2. I stood around chatting to Matt Challenger, Derek Beard and a good few others. Tom Mangnall, Tim Ford, Eric and Steve Fouracre and John Fuidge were in attendance along with Ziggy and a late arrival (with his 80's music) Steve Jackson, I am sure his load music scared the fish away from the car park end of the lake.....personally I wanted to be on the 1st island or one of the top corner pegs (23 and 24).

As the draw took place I waited until near the end of the rabble and with 3 pegs left in the bag, Vic, Eric and Myself would have pegs 26 (hmmmm nah thanks), 7 (will be worth a bite or 2) and 5 (Flyer...Flyer..that'll do). I picked first and left 7 to Vic and 5 to the ever consistent Eric. Ballbags.
But onwards and upwards, there seemed to be plenty of fish activity all over the lake......that was until the 10am all-in.
I made my way to my peg, I seem to be edging back up to the far end with each match I fish here, and went about mixing up less than usual groundbait and sorting my tackle.

Avalon  peg 26

Again a feeder was set-up, and the usual 4 pole rigs:
Edge rig for carp, Topkit rig for anything, long pole silvers and a long pole carp rig (unused). I fancied a few carp from the margins and possibly tight over on the feeder. As for the silvers, this area can be really good, but in the main I have found it patchy at this time of yeat with only the odd skimmer and bonus perch or tench, the car park end being more consistent.
Baits were the usual caster, dead maggots, meat and a few micros and 8mm pellets.
For company I had Derek Beards up on peg 24, he'd do well for sure, as would Steve Fouracre from peg 23. Tom Mangnall was on a decent peg (38) and obviously Eric looked favourite sat on peg 5.

At the all in I deposited a nice helping of maggot and meat near the empty pallet of peg 27, a couple balls of groundbait went in at 13m, I didn't fancy any longer as the wind was due to increase in strength. I fed both topkit lines by hand with mostly caster.
I spent the 1st hour on the feeder swapping with hookbaits from maggots to pellet to meat, it was literally on the hour that I had a fish, a 3oz perch on maggots, all fish activity had stopped and everyone was struggling, peg 28 had landed a carp as had Derek and Steve.
The 2nd and 3rd hours were a struggle, I only added a couple roach on the long pole, but I wasn't the only struggler. Despite everyone trying, what it seemed, everything, nobody was putting much in the net, Mike West over on peg 19 losing a few carp to the reeds. I was sure the other end would be doing a whole load better.....hmmm. I did see Phil Dodd and Tim Ford (just about see him), net a carp each during this spell. I kept plugging away and it was around 1:30 that I managed a perch of 1lb from down to my left on the topkit, my only successful bite there all day, I bumped an okay fish, possibly a bony mouth perch soon after. The right edge, despite it looking fishy never gave me a bite, similarly the empty peg of 27 never gave me a sniff all match.

Avalon p26 lhs

Avalon p26 rhs

As we arrived at the last hour stage I was on 2 perch and about 3 roach, probably 1lb. Steve was on 4 carp and Derek had a handful also. Out on the long line I had a bite and a nice amount of elastic came out and a 2lb skimmer was netter, a 6oz sample followed before another 1lb skimmer was netted.
With 10 minutes to go I wanted a carp, but knew I was unlikely to get one so stayed out long and had another knock, it felt like a decent skimmer, it was but just as I reached for the landing net the hook pulled out, upon inspection it showed a maggot had folded over the hook point...ballbags. It was a good 3lb+ fish comfortably. I only added one roach after this as was cursing the luck I had.

The all out sounded and I soon had my gear packed away before Vic arrived with the scales, he'd started at peg 48 and there were some low weights, including a DNW was James Cooper and 1lb 3oz to Jacko. Matt Challenger was leading the silvers with 8lb 4oz, that was 2 skimmers (bream) and Tom Mangnall was top weight overall at this point with 24lb exactly.
I tipped my carpless net onto the scales and registered the 3rd best net of silvers, 5lb 7oz. That bumped skimmer looked to have cost me the silvers pool (paying only 1 overall and 1 silvers), but then everyone loses fish but annoying none-the-less.

I made my way back the car park and was offered soup and mince pies, all of which went down very well so thanks to Vic and his lovely wife. But everyone was moaning how slow the fishing had been and that Eric had caught a few and looked odds on to win.
So it proved, with him winning ahead of Derek Beards and Tom Mangnall. Matt Challenger won the silvers ahead of Jim Jenner.
The presentation was made with some brilliant prizes from rods to large hampers, alcohol in various forms and a good few items of tackle. There was none of those typical poor prizes, all were quality especially the huge hampers.
I came 15th and chose a bundle of expanders, tackle/catty pouches, mince pies and a pellet pump which I gave to Steve Fouracre as he'd broke his.

I had the last chatters with peeps before setting off home.

Results:
1st, Eric Fouracres, peg 5. 28lb 13oz
2nd, Derek Beard, peg 24. 26lb 15oz
3rd, Tom Mangnall, peg 38, 24lb

Silvers:
1st, Matt Challenger, peg 40, 8lb 4oz

Weights on the day.

Next up is a Boxing Day match on Sedges' Brick Lake then back to Avalon for the next Teams of 3 match.

Until then, have a fabulous Christmas.
Take care, stay safe.
Lee

Pawlett Club Christmas Match, The Sedges. 13-12-15

Another year has almost passed, it has been patchy for me this year with some crappy results, these, I think, out weighed the positives.
However I still have 2 or 3 matches left in 2015, today's, next Sunday's Avalon Xmas match and another round of the Teams of 3 at Avalon, oh plus I am fishing The Sedges on Boxing Day and possibly this coming Wednesday at the same venue.

Back to today, the weather looked the best it has been for a few weeks, wind was very light and temps were up to around 14 degrees, so rather mild. 28 fishing so a tidy number.

I arrived at the lakes in plenty of time to load the trolley, have a cuppa and then a natter with a few of the other anglers.
There seemed to be a few fish topping around the pegs 4 to 7 on Brick, plus 10 and 11, the far corner pegs on the same lake. I didn't take a look at Tile as I didn't fancy it today (as usual), so I put a metal block on that lake, hoping it would also avoid me at the draw.
Pegs 14, 15 and around 4 to 6 were the numbers I wanted as I intended to fish for the skimmers, hoping to qualify for the club's Silvers Final in 2016, I am unsure if I had qualified so thought it best to make certain. Obviously a corner peg would dictate carp would be my quarry.
Half way along the rabble and I stuck my hand in the bucket and pulled out peg 9, second to last peg along the left bank of Brick Lake, not too bad, maybe a touch far along for the silvers, but you can never be sure. It was also one of the golden pegs for the day.

Sedges Brick Lake peg 9

Arriving at my peg I thought it looked okay, if not lacking the fish activity seen in pegs 10 and 11 or around peg 6. For company I had Kev Crouch on peg 10, Nick Selway on peg 7 and opposite was Martin Heard on peg 11, he looked a good bet to win today, he had Jason King next to him on peg 12.
I went about setting up a few bits of tackle.
A waggler at depth rod, a tip rod with a small feeder on plus 4 top kits for the pole:
First was a 0.8g rig for silvers at 14m, second was for silvers again but a strung out shotted 0.4g float.
Third rig was  0.2g margin rig for down the edge to my right and finally a 0.6g rig for meat at 7m in the 2 o'clock direction.

Sedges Brick Lake peg 9, right hand side,

At the all-in I deposited some groundbait at 14m, this was lacced with dead maggots and caster.
Some maggots and meat went on the 7m line and some 6mm pellets and meat went down the right hand edge at 7m.
I began on the feeder with a popped up pellet as hook bait, but it was ages before I had a bite, actually I had swapped between both the waggler and feeder for the first hour without success.
Kev on peg 10 had landed a couple carp on the method feeder, Steve Fouracre on peg 20 had a carp or 2 and so had Mike Davis further along my bank.
It was around 1hr and 10 minutes into the match before I had a positive take on the feeder and a 1lb skimmer was netted on popped up pellet, another soon followed on popped up bread then came a 10lb carp to popped up pellet, that was a short 20 minute burst. Then it died again.

A look on the long pole line saw small 2-3oz skimmers taking the maggot hookbaits, their bigger relations absent for most. I persevered and to be honest it was frustrating, Kev on peg 10 was catching regularly on the method and pellet waggler. Martin Heard had one or 2 fish also.
Nick was in the same boat as me, struggling for action of any kind!!
Soon enough we were at the halfway stage and I had in my keepnets, 2 nice skimmers of 1lb each, 3 little skimmers and one carp for maybe 14lb total.
I was getting line bites and odd knocks and pulls, but despite trying the waggler at varying depths it was not productive. The waggler never gave me a fish all match
It was at this point I changed the hooklength to 0.10 and a size 18 hook for double dead maggot, hoping for a few skimmers.......I was rewarded with a double figured carp, why do they do that? Anyways another carp of about 8lb followed before bites dried up again.

It was now 2pm and I was up to 3 carp (28lb) and maybe 6lb of bits off the long pole line.
All the while I had been feeding my 7m line by hand and the right edge via the odd cup of meat and pellets, this edge never gave me a bite all day.
I tried the 7m line and missed a couple knocks before a 2lb skimmer was netted, then another before a near 10lb carp was landed. A 15 minute spell without a bite, swapping lines etc, before coming back in to 7m and repeating the process of 2 skimmers and a carp, rest and return.....
So my last 90 minutes was spent doing this and I kind of felt i was clawing myself into the section monies contest as both Kev on peg 10 and Mike Davis looked to have in the region of 90lb and were likely to be in the top 3 (I hoped), but it was the silvers I had come to catch and was now catching a few of decent stamp plus odd rogue carp.

The all out soon arrived, just after I had bumped off a couple nice skimmers, I hoped that they would not make a difference to my net of silvers, with only 1 silvers pot to go at I was confident of having enough for the best weight off Brick, but wasn't sure how Tile lake had fished.
As I packed my kit away I reckoned on Kev, Mike and Steve Fouracre being top 3 on the lake, maybe with Martin Heard there or thereabouts as he had landed a few fish late on from along the end bank.
Jamie asked me to weigh in Brick Lake while he did Tile, so I started with peg 1 and Nigel Hull.
He had 24lb, before Mike Davis on peg 3 had 81lb+. Then we weighed the next three who had between 17 and 29lb before it was my turn.
I had 2 weighs of carp, only 7 carp, but they amounted to 68lb 9oz and topped up with the silvers (24lb exactly) gave me the lead with 92lb 9oz.
Kev Crouch weighed next and I expected him to move slightly ahead of me, but alas he hadn't, he had 78lb 2oz of carp and a 4oz skimmer. I was a touch surprised by that.
Around to peg 11 and Martin Heard, he asked what the winning net was and people stated it was me with 92lb, he was a touch surprised as he had not seen me catch much. Anyways he weighed in and totalled 77lb exactly. Jason King was next with 54lb+. Then came a few 20lb+ nets before we got to the last person on the lake, one of my Teams of Three team-mates, Steve Fouracre, again I thought it would pip me and it nearly proved so with his 12lb 8oz of silvers and 74lb 8oz of carp combined pushed him to 2nd spot with 87lb.

I went and looked at the weigh sheet from Tile Lake and saw that the top silvers was 14lb and ounces and top overall on that lake was 74lb 10oz to Chris Higgs, he'd got off to a flyer but slowed up during the day, plus he had a couple double figured lumps in his total.
So I had won overall, had top silvers weight and was sat on one of the golden pegs.....bargain!! So i qualified properly for both the All-Winners final and as hoped, the Silvers Winners final.

It was back to the Legion in Pawlett for the presentation and some grub.

Weigh Sheets

Results:
1st, Lee Williams, peg 9. 92lb 9oz
2nd, Steve Fouracre, peg 20. 87lb
3rd, Mike Davis, peg 3. 81lb 8oz
4th, Kev Crouch, peg 10. 78lb 6oz
5th, Martin Heard, peg 11. 77lb
6th, Chris Higgs, peg 36. 74lb 10oz (top Tile Lake Weight)

Silvers:
1st, Lee Williams, 24lb. Peg 9.
2nd= Phil Clapp, 14lb 4oz. Peg 34.
2nd= Jason King, 14lb 4oz. Peg 12.

So a hard going 4.5hrs, it was quiet for most during this time, except 3 of the corners on Brick, but I was chuffed that the skimmers turned up as they can be a great weight builder, as it proved today.

Next up is Avalon's Xmas match next Sunday, but I may fish Sedges' open on Wednesday as it is my last day's holiday of 2015.

Until then, Take Care.
Lee

Avalon Teams of 3, Round 3. December 6th 2015

The day started ok, a nice drive over, weather due to be dry in the main but we had strong winds which were due to ease off around 2:30 or soon after. Oh it was quite mild too with temps likely to be 14 degrees or more.

A the teams were getting correct and present they'd draw as it is a rolling draw.

Steve Fouracre was to do our team draw and we didn't have the best selections left. But the way it fell was Eric on peg 6, flyer. Steve on peg 19, ok enough.  I was in the duff section on the road bank and would be fishing peg 32. I like it in the summer.....it is less good in the winter.

The Sedges, league leaders and the annual team to beat, had an ok draw with Jamie looking good for my section and maybe overall. He was on the end peg and could cast to the end of the boards.
Keith was on a nice peg and Phil had the least favourable pick on peg 26 or 27.

My next door neighbour to my right was Mosella's Vic Bush on peg 29 and to my left was Jim Jenner on peg 35. Second or 3rd in my section is a target as the two pegs with the boards should do well.

I began to sort my kit out and mixed up some groundbait. I also had some live and dead maggots.  Pinkies. Corn. Caster and a few micros and 8mm pellets.

I sorted my feeder rod and assembled 3 pole rigs.
The 1st for topkit to my right....loose fed maggots and caster.
The 2nd for 8m in front, groundbait and maggots.
Lastly a rig for down to empty peg 31 plus the same rig would do for under the branches to my left. I would feed dead maggots and corn.

Peg 32, Avalon Fisheries.

The all in saw me pot some groundbait in front and some bait down to the peg 31.
I started on the feeder and the first 30 minutes was biteless but I recovered loads of line and lost 3 feeders to snags.
I wasn't keen to try the feeder for the rest of the day......but I did and remained fish less on this tactic.

I would love to say I had a great day bagging a few carp and plenty of skimmers, but it never happened. In fact I could not see anyone catching much all day, though I did see Jamie using his landing net a good few times and my team0mate Steve had a few fish along with a few more snags and lost rigs.

I again ended up fishing down both edges, the long line to peg 31 never gave me a bite, this was surprising as I thought I would get a carp or 2 from there, maybe a decent skimmer. It never happened.

The groundbait line in front gave me a whole roach and a couple of missed bites.

I did catch a few fish from my topkit line to the right, a skimmer of 1lb, a crucian near the end of the match that must have been 1.5lb and a perch of perhaps 2lb, plus the odd ounce roach and perch, oh I did have a chub of 2oz. I bumped what I believe was a skimmer or a decent perch around the midway stage of the match.

Avalon Fisheries, p32, looking right...!!

My left edge gave me a near 4lb carp at 3:20pm, plus a small perch and a couple of missed bites. I did foul hook a carp here too, I was left with a scale.

Left Margin, p32 Avalon Fisheries

Towards the end of the match it looked like I was going to be last in the section as I was sure Vic had plenty more than me and I was certain those further along must have had a few more carp than my solitary sample. I guessed I had perhaps 8lb including my carp.

The whistle blew and I packed up and went about loading my car.

I went and saw Jim, he reckoned on 10lb, Vic had more than that and I was surprised to see the guy on the peg Jamie had last week tip back less than 6oz of fish, I was less surprised to hear Jamie reckoned on having 60lb plus a couple nice skimmers.

I was soon following the weigh-in and the usual banter and stuff carried on right the way around the lake. We saw John Fuidge win the silvers, yet again, with 18lb. Eric won section A with 44lb-ish and eventually this was enough for 2nd on the day. He pipped Tom Mangnall who had 35lb.

We carried on and weighed in Steve and he managed mid-20lbs and looked set for section 3rd.

Around to my bank and Rich Coles on corner peg 24 had high 20lbs to take the section lead, then came Phil Clapp, he topped that with ounces under 30lb. So Steve was 3rd in section.

My section began with Vic Bush having around 12lb, I cant remember if he was just over or under, but he pipped me as I weighed in 10lb and ounces.

Jim had 5 or 6lb which was 1lb+ of silvers and a single carp. Then the DNW before I lifted Jamie's nets up to weigh him in. His 3 weighs gave him 68lb+, including the 2 skimmers that over 5.5lb between them.

So it was a harder day this week, the snags getting the better of a good few of us, but there were no blanks, but the expected pegs produced the goods on the day.

Top team on the day went to Sedges with our team second on weight ahead of Mosella UK.

The result means that Sedges top the league with our Young One's team in second ahead of Mosella, Someset Carpenters and The Foo Fighters. But it could go anyway over the next 3 rounds.

Results:
1st Jamie Cook ,  The Sedges, 68lb 8oz
2nd Eric Fouracres,  The Young Ones, 44lb 7oz
3rd Tom Mangnall, Mosella UK,  35lb 3oz
4th Phil Clapp , The Sedges,  29lb 6oz
5th Mike West, Somerset Carpenters, 26lb 10oz
6th Rich Coles, Fu Fighters, 26lb 5oz
 
Silvers - Silver peg winner
1st John Fuidge,  Fu Fighters, 18lb 9oz

Teams on the Day:
1st, The Sedges 11pts
2nd, The Young Ones, 10pts  (78lb 2oz)
3rd, Mosella UK, 7pts (62lb 1oz)
4th, Somerset Carpenters, 7pts
5th, Fu Fighters, 6pts

League Standings:
1st-  Sedges - 13pts
2nd- The Young Ones - 11pts
3rd- Mosella UK - 10pts
4th- Fu Fighters - 7pts
5th- Somerset Carpenters - 4pts

Next weekend is the Pawlett Legion Angling Club's Christmas Match at Sedges, the following week is Avalon's Xmas match on the 20th in which I believe there is spaces free so give Vic a call to book in.

Until then, take care.
Lee