Sunday 5^th October – A Not So Very Exciting Roundup of Events

So, let’s start with Sunday, 28^th September. This was a Kingswood RBL club match held on the Bristol Avon at Staverton. I’m always singing the praises of Staverton because you can park behind your peg, there are no boats or paddle boarders to contend with, and no dog walkers, no cyclists and no ramblers. It’s just a slow, moody river with the occasional leisurely swan and a good head of busy kingfishers. If only the fish would come out and join in the fun once in a while, it would be perfect. So, we only had 9 anglers turn out for this one and we were all well-spaced out. I don’t mean ‘spaced-out-man’, I mean we had plenty of room with 2 or 3 empty pegs between every angler.

I drew peg 2 on the day, which is permanent peg 19. Most pegs on this stretch of water scream ‘chub’ but this one didn’t. There were no overhanging trees as such, just a tight wall of bushes. That doesn’t mean there were definitely no chub in residence, it just means there are far better features for chub to sit in and skulk. So, my plan of attack was to target the perch both down the middle and to my right-hand edge, which had a few reeds for cover. On the all-in, I cupped out a medium size ball of chopped worm, maggles and a little groundbait to help bind it all together. On my right-hand edge, I cupped in some loosely chopped worm only. While I waited for all that to settle, I lobbed out a bomb toward the far side with a 50-pence piece-sized lump of bread flake, pinched onto a size 12 hook.

Well, within 10 minutes the tip of my rod shot right round and then back again, but I didn’t connect. However, that was enough to convince me to keep going with bread for the next 40 minutes, but I never had another bite on that. So, out went a half dendra at 11 metres, in 11 feet of water. A small gudgeon picked up the bait and I had a couple more soon after. Then a perch turned up. It was only about 6 ounces, but that’s a valuable fish on this venue. About halfway through the match, I had a couple of small roach and then another perch of the same stamp. Well, I must have been pushing a pound at this time, but I could hear Don Searle’s maggle feeder going in and out on peg 1 (17) almost continuously, and so I assumed he was having it off.

A look down my right-hand edge produced nothing except for a couple of minnows, which just hung onto the end of the worm. So back out onto the 11-metre line for a couple more tiny roach and another 6-ounce perch and that was it. I finished up with a total of 1-09-0 and 5^th on the day. That was another quid I had to hand over to Jason, who beat me good and proper with 1-13-0… LOL! Top spot went to Don Searle on his first visit to the venue. Don weighed in a total of 4-10-0, which included a few small chub up to a pound. His travelling companion, Jon Amato, was a close second with 4-07-0. We’re back at this venue again on October 26^th, when we’ll be joined by half a dozen rods from Golden Valley AC.

Thursday 2^nd October – Woeful Windmill Fisheries

There was a big turnout for this one, with 20 anglers fishing. I was just hoping for a draw anywhere down the right-hand bank and I couldn’t believe my luck when I drew peg 14. This peg has thrown up some good weights in recent matches and so I was pretty confident of catching a few today. When I arrived at my peg, there were carp swirling on the inside to my left, out in front against the island and a lot of carp in the shallow water beyond the edge of the island. That’s no-go territory for me as I’m only permitted to reach out to the corner of the island on this peg. The remaining part is the jurisdiction of pegs 12 and 11. Anyway, I had a lovely reed fringed margin to my right and that’s where I would focus most of my attention, fishing meat as near to the reeds as I dare.

On the all-in, I had to go straight after the carp that was willowing in the mud on my left-hand side. I’m sure these carp must have heard the all-in shout because they immediately disappeared the moment I dropped my rig in, never to be seen again. Undeterred, I went out to the corner of the island at 16 metres with a pellet on the hook. A few minutes later, I hooked into one that shot down the long edge of the island and we parted company. After that, I couldn’t get another bite there, but they were rolling continuously in the area that is forbidden territory. FFS! So frustrating to see them just out of reach. I did chuck out a straight lead with meat to try and tempt one back, but they weren’t having it.

So, that left the swim straight out in front at 9 metres, which I attacked with worm, and my right-hand edge, to which I would offer meat a bit later. Now, over the next couple of hours, I must have dropped in half a kilo of worm on my 9-metre line and all I got for my troubles was 3 micro perch. WTF was going on here today? This is a match-winning peg, but I was being given a right run-around. I wasn’t the only one, though. John Smith on peg 12, another match-winning peg, was also having problems tempting bites. Meanwhile, on peg 11, Shay Gillman, who was targeting silvers with maggles was having a whale of a time catching carp. Well, with 2 hours to go, I went down my right-hand edge with meat and I had 3 carp, losing 2 in the reeds plus a complete rig. It was just another day to forget… I ended up with 19lbs for a slap around the head and a kick up the bum. FFS! Liam Reynolds took the spoils with 100lbs.

Sunday 5^th October – Georges Lake, Whitehouse Farm for a No-Pressure Pleasure Session

With no local matches on, clubmate Jason Pitman and I decided to venture out and fish Georges Lake for silvers only. When you’re going through a bad patch in your fishing, I highly recommend you go out and have a pleasure session on one of your favourite venues. It’s perfect for restoring self-confidence and puts you in the right frame of mind for your next match. We had a quid each riding on this too, so it was all to go for… LOL!

The water level on this lake was almost back to normal, although Margaret’s Lake, which depends almost entirely on the overflow from Georges, still remains quite low. We chose to fish the 2 deepest pegs on the dam wall, being pegs 18 and 19, with me opting for peg 18. It was just over 6 feet deep here and I was sure we would latch into some of the bigger skimbos today. I started off by cupping out chopped worm on a 10-metre line to my left. I also cupped out some micros, corn and 6mm expanders to my right at 10 metres. Then I picked up my 4.5-metre whip and fishing with a single maggle, I started fishing at 3 feet deep about 2 metres from my right-hand bank. I started catching within minutes.

First I had some roach and then rudd before a shoal of perch seemed to take over and for about an hour it was a perch a chuck. They varied in size from an ounce to 6 ounces, with one going about 12 ounces. I must have had at least 4lbs in the net after an hour, but I got bored and so went out over the chopped worm. I didn’t have to wait too long before my first skimbo of around a pound turned up. It was a while before I got the next one, which went about 12 ounces, but all the time the bait was being knocked about. Then the perch turned up, so it was time to try a 6mm expander over to my right. This resulted in a nice fish of around a pound, quickly followed by another of the same stamp. Then I couldn’t get a bite on pellets, corn, or maggle from this line, so I went back on the worm line. I did get a couple of smaller skimbos before I latched onto a carp, which eventually broke me.

Well, it just wasn’t happening for me with the skimbos, although Jason had a couple of near 2-pounders on corn. However, corn didn’t seem to work at all for me. I didn’t want to waste any more time chasing the reluctant skimbos, so I went back on the whip and carried on from where I had left off. Then the carp moved in. Over the next hour, I would hook and lose 5 of them, but I still managed to catch more perch and the occasional roach in between. Meanwhile, Jason had caught a bonus F1 and he had more skimbos than me and they were bigger too. He also hooked into a big goldfish but lost that one… shame. Well, it was a pleasant session and I ended up with 14lbs odd to Jason’s 20lbs. If I had stayed on the whip all day, I could have given him real run for his money, but as it happens, I lost another quid.

Well, that’s what I’ve been up to recently. Next up is Windmill again on Thursday, when I might just target the silvers this time… depends on where I end up. Next Sunday 12^th, I’ll be back on the Bristol Avon at Keynsham with the Kingswood RBL for a club match. The whip will prevail. Keep you posted!

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