Sunday 26^th October – A Full Round-up Of All My Latest Fishing Disasters In One Single Blog. It’s Riveting Stuff!

If you think you’ve been having a bad time with your fishing lately, then I highly recommend you read this blog. Chances are, it will make you feel so much better about yourself. Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve had a string of poor results on both the river and the lakes that has left me wondering whether it’s time I packed it all in and took up crazy golf instead.

So Let’s Start With Thursday 9^th October… It’s Windmill Time Again!

Yes, another session at Windmill Fisheries for me, but I wasn’t feeling great. I had a sore throat on Monday night and by Tuesday morning, I was aching all over. Was it a cold or was it the flu? Either way, I had to cancel my flu jab appointment, which was scheduled for Friday morning. By Wednesday, I was feeling slightly better, but my nose began streaming and I had a nasty cough. So now I’m wondering whether I should go fishing on Thursday or not. Well, I talked myself into it. I thought the fresh air would do me good and the weather forecast was for mild dry weather, so what the heck… off I went. Being the tough, resilient and robust kinda guy that I am, I tried in vain to hide my debilitating ailment, but the deep barking cough gave away my obvious disability.

My health condition aside, in the morning, I was really slow in getting all my gear loaded onto my barrow and by the time I had, the draw had come and gone and I was left with the last peg in the draw bag… peg 11. I wasn’t too displeased with that, although I was hoping for a peg in deeper water, as I had decided to go for slivers. The big skimbos much prefer the deeper water and just 2 or 3 skimbos are generally all that is needed to walk away with the spoils. I like peg 11 in the summer months and even qualified for the Costcutter final from it 2 seasons ago, but on this day the water level was low and it’s the shallow end of the lake. However, I still set about a silvers strategy with a No. 4 elastic, a 0.3 pencil float, a size 20 hook to 0.08 hooklength and 0.12 main line. This was for targeting the roach and perch at 6 metres.

I also set up for a 10-metre line with a no.6 elastic, a 0.5 Chanti float, a size 18 hook to 0.10 hooklength and 0.15 main line. This was to target any possible skimbos with worm. On the all-in, I dropped a small golfball-sized Swim Stim Silverfish groundbait into both swims. It was the first time I had tried this particular groundbait, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I started on the short line with a single red and within 5 minutes, I had a small roach in the net, which was followed by a tiny perch. I topped up with more groundbait and this time included a few dead reds. I had to wait about 15 minutes before the next fish, which was another tiny perch. Then I had a short spell of roach before I noticed a swirl from a carp right over my baited area. With that, I went out onto the longer line.

I put a small piece of worm on the hook and waited, and waited until finally another micro perch turned up. I had 2 more before boredom set in. My cough was getting worse too, which was a bit of a distraction, not only for myself, but a few others around me. Anyway, I went back on the short line with a single red and there was nothing happening, so I cupped out some more groundbait and a few live maggles. A few minutes later, my no. 4 elastic is at maximum stretch and then the hooklength gives out as a carp makes a desperate bid for freedom. FFS! So, back onto my worm line and another carp is hooked. 15 minutes later, I managed to slip the landing net under a 6-pounder. How I managed to land it on such light gear was simply down to having no choice but to hang on until the fish tired and gave itself up.

Well, with carp running riot in both swims, it was pretty obvious by now that I wasn’t gaining any ground on the silvers, so I set up a proper carp rig. I stepped up the hook size to an 18 and a 0.12 hooklength so I could fish with single and double maggle. Well, over the next 2 hours, I hooked and lost 7 carp… and not one of them was hooked in the mouth. With an hour to go, I had had enough and so began packing up. It was time to go home, take some paracetamol and have a lie down. Game over! 

Sunday 12^th October – Kingswood RBL Club Match – Bristol Avon, Keynsham – Knock-Out First Round

Well, I still wasn’t fully recovered from my viral infection, but I decided I couldn’t miss this match as it was the first round of the knock-out. To go through to the next round, you only have to catch and weigh in. Simple right? My cough had eased by now, but my sinuses were blocked and painful. Before I set off, I had a really good blow on my nose and yuck! Looking down at the tissue, I could see what could only be described as ‘mushy peas’… and a lot of it too. However, that certainly cleared my airwaves, for a while at least. Much more was to come out via my throat later, and so I had to flob out a couple of grollies during the course of the match. Sorry if I’m being a little too graphic with the details… LOL.

Anyway, the last time I fished on the Crane section was back in June, when I came second in the match with 8lb of roach, mostly caught in the last 2 hours on the whip. So, today, the whip was to be my number one weapon of choice. I also set up a feeder rod, just in case any bream were up for it and a waggler rod for any chub up in the water and right over. All I needed now was a good draw, but I didn’t fancy a long walk as I just didn’t have the energy. As it happened, I drew peg 5, which was just past the gantry. That’ll do nicely! When I got to my peg, I was a little unsure about whether the whip would be a good choice today, as there were no signs of fish moving anywhere. The water was also crystal clear and still low despite a few heavy showers over the past couple of days.

On the all-in, I chucked out the groundbait feeder about two-thirds the way across and began loose feeding my whip line. I gave the feeder 30 minutes, but not a sign of fish on that, so it was onto the whip line. Well, I gave it a full hour without so much as a nibbled maggle or a stretcher. I was now getting a little concerned. A quick walkabout confirmed that those around me were also finding it difficult to get bites, although Alan Maggs in the next peg had made contact with a couple of small roach. So, I went back and tried again on the whip. Half an hour later and still nothing, so I went on the wag and mag. I varied the depth and tried running the rig way downstream, but there were just no signs of life anywhere… and then…

I suddenly saw what I thought was a dog in the middle of the river over to my right. It then disappeared under the water and resurfaced on the opposite side of some moored boats. It was an otter! This was the first time in 50 years of fishing the Bristol Avon that I have ever seen an otter in the river. I was stunned. Was this the reason for my peg being devoid of fish? I don’t know, but devoid it certainly was. The otter came up several times over the far side before disappearing completely after about 10 minutes. (See photos. Not very clear but defo an otter) With an hour or so still to go, I chucked out the maggle feeder but never had a bite on that either. So, 5 hours without a single bite… fooking unbelievable! And, because I didn’t weigh in, I was knocked out of the knock-out on the very first round. Another first for me. WTF is going on? And I just can’t get used to my new nickname… BillyNoBites!

Thursday 16^th October – More Déjà Vu At Windmill… Spooky!

I was still feeling a little groggy, but definitely much better than the previous week. I was much more alert and ready for the draw on time, this time. After my last hopeless silvers session, I decided that wherever I would draw, I would be going all out for carp. Well, I only drew peg 14 again. That’s the same peg I drew 2 weeks ago and the fish were not down the lower end of the lake in any numbers then. And no reason to believe they would be there today. They’re in the deeper water and I’m sure that’s where they intend to stay now.

Ideally, I would have liked to draw either peg 1, 2, 25, or 23, but you get what you’re given and you just have to get on with it. Last time, I fished worm at 11 metres and had 3 micro perch, after putting in a half kilo of chopped worm. I ended up with a couple of carp on meat from the right-hand margin. Today was no different from last time, with exactly the same result. It was predictable. It was like Groundhog Day, plus I lost another 6 hours of my precious life that I will never get back. FFS! Let’s quickly move on… There’s no drama here, just the same old, same old.

Thursday 23^rd October – Windmill Fisheries – A Good Draw But 2-3 Fish Short Of A Result

So it was back to Windmill yet again and this time, a rendezvous with storm Benjamin. The reports were telling us to expect Armageddon-like weather, in which we could expect to get trashed by 70-mile-an-hour winds and persistent heavy rain. As it turned out, the storm was little more than a piss and a fart in a billycan. We had 13 hardy souls show up for this one, with Paul ‘Barney’ Barnfield still dining out from his previous win the week before and now ready to romp home once again after drawing favoured peg 8, just left of the famous gap. I drew peg 23 and man-o-man, was I relieved to not be down the bottom end of the lake for a change. With both carp and big skimbos to go for, at least I now had half a chance… or at least I thought.

Well, I had lots of options, but with carp rolling all over the place, I wondered whether this session might turn out to be a bit of a tantalising teaser of a day. You know, when you can see them everywhere, but you can’t catch ‘em kind of day. I was right on that score. Anyway, I decided to keep my pole lines close, just in case the wind did play havoc later. So I set up a worm line at 9 metres out in front, in just over 7 feet of water. Then a maggle line at 6 metres over to my left. My edge lines were a nice depth of just over 3 feet, but the right-hand edge was a little tricky with the way the reeds had folded over, so I would focus more on the left-hand edge with meat and put some corn in the right-hand edge. To kick off the show, I had a maggle feeder set up, which could quickly be converted to a straight lead/bomb.

By the time I had finished a cuppa, the all-in shout went out, and out went the maggle feeder to the corner of the island. Carp were rolling around there in the shallows, but for some reason, they point-blank refused to feed. I tried maggles, corn, worm, and meat on that line and only had a couple of liners. So, in went a ball of chopped worm to my 9-metre line and in went a ball of Thatchers Original to the short line with a few dead reds added. I began catching a couple of tiny perch on the short line, but got fed up with that after 30 minutes. A look over the worm line only produced a couple more small perch, so in went more choppie. By this time, I had abandoned the 6-metre line and went searching with a bomb and maggle all over the lake.

Carp were still rolling here and there, but they just would not take a bait. Another look over the now fully primed worm line produced another tiny perch. FFS! I thought… is this the only species of fish that is going to feed today? It certainly looked like it. So, 2 hours in now and only a half a dozen perch in the net. What was I doing? Well, as it happens, Andy Greenham on peg 25 had only just caught his first carp, but Pete Greenslade on peg 1 was still trying to track one down. I persevered on the worm line for another hour before calling it a day on that. My focus now was on the edge lines. I first dropped in a couple of grains of corn to my right-hand margin and gave that 20 minutes… nothing. So a few 8mm lumps of meat went into my left-hand margin and bingo! My first carp of the day. A nice 7-pounder!

I dropped in some more meat and then went back for another try on the corn to my right. Another 15 minutes went by and still nothing there. So, another look over the meat and off we go again. Another big bruiser came to the net, albeit very reluctantly. With only 2 hours left on the clock, I had to just concentrate on the left-hand edge with meat and hope for the best. Well, the next fish was a huge double. A big common of at least 12 lbs, I reckon. It surfaced and I almost had it in the landing net, but it had other ideas and gave one last almighty lunge for freedom and was gone. The hook pulled clean out. So, I carried on and had another 6-pounder about 10 minutes later, only to lose another big double soon after. It was another hook-puller! FFS! I really couldn’t afford to lose any more of these fooking animals and so I changed to a softer elastic. I had been using a 24 bungee to a short top kit, so I changed to an 18 on a long top kit.

It was probably the right decision, as I didn’t lose any more and finished up with 6 carp in total. However, the last 3 were a bit on the small side and I knew that saying goodbye to over 20lbs of solid muscle would cost me dearly. I was on the scales today and Geoff Francis on peg 20 was assisting. The first peg we had to weigh in was peg 12, which hosted Liam Reynolds, but everyone in between pegs 20 and 12 had packed up and gone home already. Liam had 52-13-0, which was more than I had. Geoff managed to find a couple of carp near the end and finished up with over 20lbs. My 6 fish went 32-14-0. Barney won yet again (only just) with 53-03-0. Wow! Can that man dangle a worm! Well done to him and all the framers for sticking it out on what was a tough day yet again.

Sunday 26^th – Kingswood RBL & Golden Valley AC – Bristol Avon, Staverton

There was a total of 20 anglers on this one, which is a nice-sized match to be involved with. I’ve got to say a big well done to our RBL match secretary, Ian Brice, for all his work in pegging out today. Everyone was well spread out over the full length of the stretch. I drew peg 6, which was permanent peg 15, situated just before the railway bridge. I had Jason Pitman to my left on peg 5 and Shay Gillman to my right on peg 7. When I arrived at my peg and had a good look at the river, I wasn’t exactly filled with enthusiasm. There were no fish moving anywhere, which is never a good sign. It was just like it was on the Crane at Keynsham 2 weeks ago. I had an uneasy feeling about today.

Anyway, the plan was to fish down the middle at 13 metres, in the flow with maggles on the hook and little groundbait and dead reds as feed. I had a depth of around 14 feet of water out in front, so I set up a 2-gram Chianti float, bulked at about 2 feet from the hook, with 4 no.10 droppers down to a size 20 hook and a 0.11 hooklength. My top kit elastic choice was a No. 4 original Preston Slip. I also set up a short 6 metre line at 8 feet deep for perch with worm. However, the flagship method today would be the bomb and bread and bomb and corn, right over. On the all-in, I cupped out a large ball of groundbait laced with a few dead reds and then chucked out the bomb and bread. Then I made a cup of tea while I waited for a bite. It didn’t come. So after a couple of chucks and some 30 minutes later, I tried the same tactic with corn. Nothing on that either. So, I changed to a maggle feeder and then bomb and maggle, and then bomb and worm… nothing, nothing, nothing… not a sign of fish anywhere.

It was about this time that Shay came over to see how I was getting on. Neither of us had had a bite. Jason was admitting to one missed bit, which might have been a leaf. It was dire. I just couldn’t believe that we were in for yet another tough session, but that’s exactly how it turned out. I went out on the long line with a single live red and finally got a bite. Seconds later, a small treasured gudgeon of about an ounce was carefully netted. Around 10 minutes later, I had another one, only a bit smaller. Shay came round again and said he had caught a couple of small roach down the edge. Jason had one gudgeon but was trying for a chub with corn. I did give corn another go, but nothing, so back onto the main pole line. I had a tiny roach on a small section of worm, so I slogged away with worm for the next 30 minutes.

Finally, I tried the inside edges with a half a dendra, hoping for a bonus perch, but it wasn’t to be. Jason did manage to find a chub just before the end, which boosted his weight to 2-2-0. My 3 little fish weighed just 2 ounces, but I was a long way from being last, as there were many lower weights… unbelievable! Best on the day was Tony Welsby, who managed to find 2 good chub on corn and a few bits to finish up with 7lb straight. Andy C, of Golden Valle, was second with 2-9-0 and our very own Jason was third with his 2-2-0. Plus, he got another quid from me. He’ll be able to retire soon on all the money he’s taken off me these last couple of months! Well, that was a major disappointment and probably the worst result from me on this section of the river. Surely it can only get better… right?

I hope so because my next match is the Alcove Poppy Open at Whitehouse Farm next Sunday. Followed by the main Poppy Appeal match on the river… a 100-pegger!… a week later. I’m desperate to find some form going into these matches and also the Christmas matches that soon follow on. Please send all your prayers (and any financial donations) as soon as possible to Billy’s Blog. Every little helps… LOL. Well, that’s it. Now you’re fully up to speed. Keep you posted!

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