Warwickshire Avon Pensham Sunday 14/10/12

This Sunday saw us on the Pensham stretch of the Avon for a Cradley Heath club match, I have not fished for more years than I care to remember this stretch is slower and deeper than the the next stretch upstream which is Pershore, Pershore is more noted as Chub, Barbel & Roach venue where Pensham is more Bream & Roach. As per usual the rain gods had decided to do there dance in the week leading up to this match leaving the river up and coloured, looking on the web cams it looked up around 18 inches to me but when we got there I would say it was more like 2ft. I drew a peg just below the car park that looked like it had a bit of slack water but on closer inspection the cut away bank below me was just boiling over and didn't look very inviting at all, it looked like there was something just below the surface which without the extra water on would probably be above the water. I just set up one pole rig with a 5gram flat float to be fished at 6m just below me which was just out of the main flow and a small openend feeder, I planned to fish chopped worm & maggots on the pole line with worm, cater & maggot in the feeder with a little amount of groundbait to hold it all in.
To cut a long story short the match was crap for most I messed about with the pole for around half an hour before throwing it up the bank as it don't think that the bait was on the bottom for more than 5 seconds before the water erupted lifting the float out of the water!, I had a massive 14 eels ( sorry elvers they were that small ) and one daddy ruff for 2lb 2oz no matter what I put on the hook or what size hook I put on tiny eels was all that I could catch. John below me had 3-4 eels and half a dozen bits for 1lb 6oz and Baz Robson below him had 3-4 Roach plus eels to beat me by 8drams for 2lb 2oz 8drams. The match was won by Martin Yardsley on upstream peg one opposite the last couple of pegs on Pershore with 3 Bream for 12lb on the pole and he lost another, Ollie was 2nd with one good Bream and two smaller ones for 9lb on the feeder, Shaun was 3rd with one bream for 2lb 12oz, for most less than 1lb was the norm on a very hard and rising river. Baz managed to scrape in 4th leaving me winning the section it was just a shame that there was so much water on as in the right conditions there would have been a lot more fish caught.  

Staffs-Worc canal Hinksford Sunday 30/9/12

This Sunday saw us on the Staffs-Worc canal at Hinksford which is a stretch we fish a few times a year and it normaly produces a few fish, there was some bad news though as there was a league match on the venue the day before but at least we had both sides of the bridge booked so half the pegs were up towards Swindon that hadn't been fished the day before. This was were you would need to draw to win we all  thought as fishing a peg that had been fished the day before on a natural venue does'nt bode well for a good days sport, there were 21 fishing today with 10 pegs above and 11 pegs below the bridge you virtualy had a 50/50 chance of getting one of the unfished pegs. I drew out peg 4 which was on the right side of the bridge so the first part of the day had been done now all I had to do was find out how far up the boats I was, the upstream part of Hinksford towards Swindon has got a lot of moored up boats which is always a danger pegging in a match just incase you get a boater working on his craft or he decides to pop along to the shops mid match ruining your peg. Ollie had managed to get away with just 3 pegs on the boats as the first few pegs are infront of the water works and the top pegs are either side of the turning bay where the are no boats, my peg put me infront of the first 2 boats at the upstream end of the stretch just 1 peg below where I had won a Cradley match from a couple of years ago with 7lb+ so I was happy with my peg as long as the boaters didn't start a party! Well as I began to set up the guy on the boat opposite awoke sipping a cuppa before I noticed him walking up and down the moorings looking for something? When he had found what he was looking for my jaw dropped!!!!! 5mins from the whistle he walked upto his boat with an extension lead and sander!!! F**K ME??? I looked at Brian in the next peg as the bandana wearing hippy began sanding his boat, Brian just shook his head in disbelief . This is the reason you cannot put pegs opposite moored up boats, I couldn't do anything about it now I would have to grin and bare it. I had set up 4 rigs to attack the peg which was 13m across to the boats I was going to fish the bread down the track at 10m, the squatt at 13m, the caster line was at 13m at an angle of 10 o' clock just out of the track and a hemp line at 14.5m up to a gap inbetween the 2 boats.
On the whistle I potted in 2 balls of g/bait on the squatt line and one pot of liquidized down the track while loosefeeding the caster & hemp lines, the first half hour produced 8 fish on the punch 7 of which were small Roach and one Gudgeon. While not setting the world on fire at least I was off the mark but the first boat of the day wiped out the punch down the track so a move to the squatt up to the boat was called for, I started catching on the squatt Roach & Gonks but they were all on the small side so it was just a case of getting my head down for now. I tried different feeding patterns and putting some more groundbait in but couldn't find any better fish at least the guy on the boat had stopped sanding his boat he was now doing some painting, around the 2 hour mark a friend of mine came walking up the towpath saying that there were a couple of guys catching better net fish down the bottom end of my section I was on around 40 small fish which was probably around 2lb. It looked like I was going to have to catch some better quality fish on the caster or hemp as Brian in the next peg had started to catch one or two better Roach and Perch fishing the chopped worm, my mate Paul agreed that if I carried on with the squatt fish for the rest of the match I was looking at around 4-5lb which was ok but Kev Clarke around the corner was catching a lot of net quality fish. It was time to try the caster line which I had been priming since the start of the match with 8-10 casters every 5mins, so out went the rig laying it in upstream of the natural flow which is the way I love fishing the caster on the staffs-worc canal and the float just kept on going I lifted into a better fish that pulled a few feet of no 4 elastic from the pole tip. First drop on the caster had produced a lovely 8oz Roach a nice start I was just hoping there were more and on the next put-in the same thing happened this time another Roach of 5-6oz, now I was starting to think how long had the fish been there eating my free casters while I was squatt fishing? within half an hour on the caster I had managed 7 net fish 6 were Roach and 1 Perch which were all around the 5-8 oz mark which gave me around 2 1/2lb and doubled what I had caught in 2 1/2 hours of squatt fishing. Just as I was about to ship out again a boat came around the corner then after I had waited for him to pass 30 seconds later another one came passed no problem I thought after they had gone through I fed around 15 casters with the pole pot, I was going to have a look on the hemp line for 5mins allowing the caster line to settle again after the boats. I went over on the hemp and had a 3oz Roach after around 5mins so I gave it another 5mins but with no more response I was itching to get back on the caster line I think that my hemp line was too close to the disturbance from the boats opposite. I was back on the caster line but 5mins went by without a bite then 10mins went passed and I was cursing the 2 boats that had gone over my line while the fish were feeding when the float shot under and I was connected to a bigger fish, the fish shot across to my right towards Brian and was trying to get under the far side boats I shouted to Brian that this one was no Roach I was starting to think Chub. I managed to get the fish under control after a couple of minutes but when it came to the top down the middle I was surprised to see it was a small Carp, after a short but scrappy fight on a no4 elastic I netted the Carp which was around 1 1/4 - 1 1/2lb a nice bonus that I thought as I placed him in the net. I sat on the caster for another 10-15mins without a bite so was it the boats that had moved the Roach or was it the presents of the Carp that had saw them off? I tried the hemp line again but while I was fishing it the couple that lived on the boat opposite that looked like they had been for a lunch time pint had come back and the guy looked at my float from above asking if I was trying to catch his Carp? Well that's that line F***ed I said to myself no self respecting Roach is going to take my hemp with a Bob Dylan lookalike staring down at them from above!!! I told the guy that I had 1 small Carp but was now biteless he and his misses told me that there are loads of Carp under the boats in this area that get fished for buy some locals on a night with bread on rod and line. Then the guys misses proceded to clean the canal side windows of the boat by hanging on to the top rail of the boat while shuffling along a tiny foot ledge that runs the length of the boat hanging her bum over the water at the same time, I looked over towards Brian as she had her back turned towards me he just shook his head in disbeilf trying not to laugh as a made a motion with my pole that I could have shoved it up her ARSE!!!! I went back on the caster with 30mins left as both my far lines were now shot thanks to them the float sailed away with my no4 making a b-line towards the boats at a fast rate of knots before my hooklength broke, I had hooked Carp no2 for around 5 seconds at least I was now wishing that the couple had told me about the Carp this morning I might have set a rig for them. I was now 25mins from the whistle what do I do? Set up a carp rig and sit out the rest of the match, I would have to set one up from scratch as all my Carp rigs are in my other draws at home I had 0.14 & 0.16 Chub rigs in my box but there were small floats with short line for fishing the far bank and not deep enough for fishing down the track where I had hooked the 2 Carp from. I took the lazy option and just put another hooklength on and carried on fishing but I didn't have another bite till the end of the match.
I was left wondering what might have been had the couple on the boat not decided to sand the boat down, clean the windows and generaly make a lot of noise all day, I would nave been happy if the Carp had not turned up as I was catching some nice Roach until they came and spooked them. The pegs to my left had not fished that well with 3lb odd the best from them my net went 6lb 11oz, Brian next to me had 6lb 12oz doing me by 1oz great, he had some nice Roach and Perch mainly on the worm. Kev Clarke won the match with 9lb 15oz of big Roach & Perch on the worm, caster and a few hemp Roach the last hour. We found out later that Bri and I were 2nd & 3rd as the best from below the bridge was Ollie with 4lb 14oz from the pegs that had been fished the day before, Steve was the best from the fliers infront of the water works with 5lb odd for 4th. If only the couple on the boat had stayed in bed all day I might have had a few more but I was happy to have come 3rd and caught a few fish after having 1 bite 1 fish on the river last time out.

River Severn Severn Stoke Sunday 16/9/12

This would be my 3rd match on a river on the bounce and another that many of us had not fished for many years Severn Stoke which is inbetween Worcester and Tewksbury, the river a slow and deep here with the main targets Barbel & Bream and the Barbel down here run big many into double figures.
Too cut a long story short I had 1 bite in five hours a single Bream of 4lb 3oz which I had on the worm I had spent most of the day on the pellet or worm fishing for the Bream and Barbel, Andy below me blanked and Stu above me had 1 bite the same as me a 1lb 9oz skimmer, the match was rubbish with clear water it was a struggle with a few blanks recorded. The match was won on the red rock upstream by Terry with 11lb on the float with Chub & Roach which was his first win in the Halesowen club so well done to him, Baz Robson was 2nd with a Bream & Barbel for 10lb and 6lb of Roach & Perch was 3rd. There were 4 of us that had a single Bream but I was beaten by 1oz for the section by Ade who had 6 small Perch with his solo Bream, I had tried a maggot feeder right over and run a stick float through but even this failed to produce a bite, one to forget this one.

River Avon Bidford & Marcliff Sunday 2/9/12

This match saw us on the warwickshire Avon at Biford & Marcliff another venue that many of us have not fished for many years, I think this year our club secratery has booked venues that used to fish 20 years ago to see if there are any fish there now! I drew upstream of the car park which is Bidford around 100yards before you get to the next fence, I set up just 2 rods a feeder rod for the pellet and a waggler rod which I planned to feed maggots over. I was going to fish the feeder just short of the far bank reeds and feed up a wagg/maggot line down the middle which was around 8ft deep, I started on the pellet feeder which after only 20mins wraped over and saw me land a nice Barbel of around 5lb a great start. With around a hour gone bite no2 gave me the same result as the first a 5lb Barbel and I was starting to think that this was going the same way as Arley a couple of weeks ago, with 1 1/2 hours gone bite 3 was Barbel no3 around 4lb and it was the same as Arley 3 bites 3 fish inside the first hour and half. With 2 hours gone I had another bite on the pellet but this one was no Barbel as it came across the river too easy and when I got it under the rod ready for netting I saw it was a Chub of aroung 3lb, then as Chub do it made a mad last minute dash for the roots under the bank and as I tried to pull it away from them the hook pulled out S**T. After that the peg went quite on the pellet so I switched to the wagg which I had fed quite heavy from the start putting around 2 pints of bronze maggots in so far, second run through the float buried as I hooked my first fish a small 4oz Chub which fell to a double maggot. I had 4 of these small Chub and a couple of Gonks before I hooked a better fish which was a 12oz Chub, I had another 3 of these better Chub and a few bits plus one small Roach before I went around 10mins without a bite so I was going to switch back to the pellet for the last hour but it was a fruitful 45mins on the wagg putting around 4-5lb in the net. I chucked the pellet back out to see if any Barbel had moved in over the feed while I had been fishing the wagg? The pellet had only been in the water for around 30 seconds before the tip pulled around with a fish on, it turned out to be another Chub of around 2lb which I gave no chance of finding the roots where I had lost his mate earlier. I sat on the pellet for the rest of the last hour but I had no more bites even having a couple of chucks with the pellet at the end of the wagg line incase a Barbel had come to upset the small fish I was catching on the wagg, the section above me had fished rubbish with only 1lb 7oz winning the section??? John Babb above me had 4lb of small Chub & bits my 3 Barbel & small Chub gave me 21lb 14oz, the two pegs below me had 1lb & 2lb then Brian on the last peg on Bidford had 3lb of bits and a 9lb Pike giving him 12lb. The best from Marcliff was Ade two pegs below the weir with 28lb of all Chub on the feeder with the caster and hemp, there were another 2 single Barbel caught around 5lb each with both anglers loosing another Barbel each. That was it the end of my winning unbeaten run with the club having to put up with second??? Seven matches on the bounce was an unbeliveable run one which I doubt I will ever beat, we had a good laugh on the car park at the pay out when I said there had been a mistake when they gave me an envelope marked 2nd "this is not mine" I said "mine should have 1st on it" then I began a pretend cry saying " the kids will have to go without tea as Dad hasn't got enough money this week"

River Severn Arley Sunday 19/8/12

This weekend saw me on the river Severn at Arley for my first river session of the season with the Cradley lads, some of the lads had already fished the river a couple of times this season with the usual mixed reports of 3-4 guys catching and the rest struggling. I was looking forward to having a go on the river as I do each year as it is something different I know the weights are not what they used to be on the Severn or most rivers for that matter but I think it does you good to have a change now and then, don't get me wrong I love catching big weights of Carp from the pools but now and then its good to dust the cobwebs off the rods and do something different. After fishing the river for many years this match was booked on a stretch I had never fished before the Harbour water on the right bank of the river below the footbridge, this stretch used to be run by the pub of the same name until a couple of years ago when they gave it up and the B.A.A took it over. The river was carrying around 1ft of extra water with a nice tinge of colour so we were all looking forward to catching a few fish as I didn't know the water the draw didn't matter to me I was just going to go to my peg and fish it, when I drew peg 5 I was told I was just off the fliers 6&7 either side of the fence but I was going to give it a good go. My peg was just below a ford which looked to be moving a bit fast with the extra water on the apparent fliers below were a little steadier and with Baz Robson around 15yards below me it looked a out and out feeder job, I set up just two feeder rods as with Baz so close and the extra water the float would have been infront of him before it had settled. I set a pellet feeder and a caster & hemp job on the other both set ups were the same apart from the hooks one with a lasso for the pellet and the other a standard hook for the caster, both had 8lb maxima reel line to a 0.22 silstar hooklength the pellet hook was a Drennan size 14 Super Specalist Barbel the caster hook was a 14 standard Super Specalist. I started the match on the pellet cast to the middle of the river which I had to use 2oz of lead to hold with a mix of 3&4mm halibut pellets in the feeder with a 8mm on the hook, I cast out 6-7 times in the first 10mins to put a bit of a bed down then sat back and waited. It was after around 50mins into the match before I had my first bite a nice dropback before the tip pulled forward and I was hooked into my first Barbel of the season, it gave a good account of itself before I netted it and at around 4lb it was a nice start. It was around15mins later when I had bite no2 which turned out to be another Barbel of around the same size, it looked like being a good day with 2 barbel in the sack and Baz below not hooking one yet. Barbel no3 was hooked and landed after 1 1/2 hours which was maybe closer to 5lb it was looking good as the word along the bank was that no one else was catching yet, another hour went by without a bite so I switched to the caster to see if it would spur another barbel or Chub into feeding but after around 45mins and only 2 small 2oz Dace to show I went back to the pellet. There were a couple of the lads walking around saying that no one was catching it was fishing very hard, after that early run of fish I failed to get another bite for the rest of the match despite castig around, rolling the feeder & trying different size hook pellets my match was over in the first 1 1/2 hours! My 3 Barbel & 2 Dace gave me 13lb 4oz, Baz below me had 4lb odd of bits but no Barbel and Mick on the other flier failed to weigh. Steve Robson had 1 Barbel for 5lb odd and JB had one small Barbel below Steve. There had been only 5 Barbel caught in the whole match luckily I had 3 of them which gave me my 7th Cradley Heath Club match win on the bounce, I don't know what I am doing latley but I which I could bottle it!!!! The match had been realy hard for most and over a pint outside the Harbour Inn there was talk of not booking the middle Severn again as it seems to get harder each year.

Hawford Bridge Sunday 12/8/12

This was a Halesowen club match at Hawford Bridge on the new lake called Reddings pool this would be a new one for me and 95% of the lads, this pool was dug out around 3 years ago but had been closed by the owners Trev & Sue when the fishing was below par and had only recently been reopened when they were sure the fish were in tip top condition. I had asked around a bit and found out that most of the fish were small from a few ounces to around 4lb there were a few bigger fish taken from the other pools by not many, the key to winning seemed to be trying to sort out the bigger fish which I was told responded to corn over pellet as pellet on the hook gets attacked by the smaller fish.
I caught fish from the off at 13m feeding 4mm pellets with a hard banded 6mm on the hook small Carp at first with a few better fish thrown in while feeding quite heavy with pellet & corn at 6m, I had a lot of the better stamp of fish on the corn when I switched to the 6m line. Later on the fish came up shallow on the 6m line where in one spell I had a run of 9 Carp in 9 puts all the better fish 2-4lb without having time to feed before the elastic was being pulled from my pole. I had a fantastic day catching fish of all sizes all day until the last half hour when the peg went quite on me but as far as I could see around the pool I had done well, I ended the day with 121lb which was enough to give me the match win and continue my unbelievable run of form. There were 4 weights between 70-78lb and most of the lads in the club agreed that they would book it again as there were plenty of fish caught with a lot weighing in 40-70lb, thanks to Trev & Sue for a great day with a few fish thrown in.

Woodlands View Open Saturday 4/8/12

In an attempt to catch up with my blog I am going to run through the next few matches in brief.
This was the last day of Stav and I's fishing week and we were going to fish separate matches as he had a club match on Barley pool which is a Saturday club I am not in because I normally work Saturdays so I was going to fish the open, the open was to be fished on back Dean's and after winning the open on Tuesday I was looking forward to catching a few fish. I drew peg 44 which is 4 pegs out of the corner on the left hand side of the pool and not a bad area I planned to fish the worm and caster on a long pole line and pellet & corn short, to cut a long story short I failed to catch on anything much on everything I tried all I could catch was odd fish until the last hour when I had around 6 good Carp on the pellet shallow at 6m. I finished up with 61lb 4oz and while I beat the guys either side of me and the two guys opposite the top end of the pool fished a little better with peg 56 winning the match with 101lb there was a 90lb+ and 2 80lb+ weights at the top end of my bank which took my section.
Stav won his club match with 78lb on the pellet wagg & margin fish late on but as we were fishing separate matches he decided to end our fishing week at 4-0 at Curborough and brought the breakfasts as payment shame that as he finally beat me but had to fish another pool to do it! Lol, cheers mate for a great week of fishing