Sunday 9^th February – Kingswood RBL Club Match – Barton Farm, Bradford-on-Avon

First of all, I went to Windmill Fisheries on Thursday and sat on the bank of the Match Lake for more than 5 hours in the icy, northeast wind. It was lovely looking at all the wildlife on peg one and being mesmerised by all the little waves, which were glittering in the weak winter sun. I noticed other people were also doing the same thing and so I watched them for a while too… and then I went home.

Kingswood RBL Club Match

The club was back out on the Barton Farm stretch of the Bristol Avon on Sunday, for the penultimate club match of the season. We were here only 2 weeks ago when the river was out of sorts due to heavy rain. It was definitely one of those days to forget, although I did somehow manage to scrape a second-place pickup, which went a little way toward the purchase of a new brolly. Well, today the river and the weather conditions were very different and I was feeling quite confident right from the start. This was an individual aggregate points match and I desperately needed a few more as it was getting a bit squeaky bum at the top of the table.

Going into this match I was lying in 5^th place and so I had it all to do. We were unfortunately down on numbers again with 2 bookings calling in sick just before the match. So 10 became 8 and on a good day, it could have been as many as 14. Our points system is based on the number of anglers fishing, so as there were only 8 today, there would be a maximum of 8 possible points on offer for the winner. We also run a Pairs Challenge, which runs parallel to the points aggregate. My Pairs partner is Jason Pitman and we are top of the table on that one, which looks pretty safe… at the minute.

I fancied the same peg I had last time, which was peg 5, being the first peg in the field after the sewage works. However, I drew peg 8, which was still in the right area and it was an end peg too, so what’s not to like? It was a bit of a slog pushing my barrow through the sticky mud but I guess it’s worth the sweat and grunt for the end peg advantage. When I got to my peg I wasn’t exactly overjoyed with the view. Apart from a battered old tree directly opposite, there was no other far bank cover as such. On the inside, there was a small tree to my left and an overhanging bush to my right, which could make loose feeding difficult. The river had a greenish tinge to it and it was also quite clear. So, I ruled out any pole work plus the pace was just a little too much for my liking and besides, I hadn’t brought any flat-float rigs with me today.

Instead, I opted for a Crowquill Avon float setup and a maggle/groundbait feeder. My bait offerings were maggles, pinkles, bread, corn and worm. It was quite a wide stretch of river and so my plan was to start on the groundbait feeder halfway across and then gradually move out until I located the fish. I wasn’t sure whether I had made the right decision for my float rod setup and in hindsight, a waggler might have been a better choice. My groundbait consisted of 50/50 brown crumb and Sonubait Black River. I had already mixed this up before the match but on reflection, I should have gone with Black River only due to how clear the water was.

On the all-in, I was tempted to lob out half a dozen balls of groundbait but then thought it might be better to try a more cautious approach. Let’s suck it and see… if they were really having it then I would get some feed in, otherwise gently does it. So, I chucked out a large open-end feeder full of groundbait laced with maggles, pinkles and corn at about halfway across. Corn is an important bait on this stretch due to the local carp anglers pre-baiting swims with it, all through the summer months. Initially, I opted for one red and one white maggle on a size 16 hook, to a 0.15 hooklength. Well, I gave it an hour and didn’t get a bite so I picked up the float rod.

It was 11 feet deep at 2 rod lengths out and the pace here was very much slower than the main flow. I had been loose-feeding maggles as far upstream as I possibly could during the first hour, although the bush on my right was hindering and limiting how far upstream I could reach. I reckoned it would take about 35 seconds for the bait to reach the bottom, which translates to around 30 metres of water before I could expect a bite. Well, so much for all my careful calculations. At around 15 metres, I hit a snag and lost a hooklength. I tried going out another metre but this was obviously one serious snag and I lost another hooklength before deciding it might be best to forget about trotting a float on the inside line.

Well, that meant I could now focus entirely on fishing the groundbait feeder or maggle feeder only. Sometimes fewer options work best as it forces you to adjust and tweak your presentation and baits. Well, 75 minutes into the match and I finally got a bite. A small 2-ounce roach was safely netted and I was off the mark. Further casts to the same area resulted in more lightning-fast bites before I latched onto another roach of around 3 ounces. After that, I was missing bite after bite as the little twitches on the tip were virtually impossible to hit. Then I had a call from Jason, who was on peg 1. He said everyone in the lower numbers hadn’t had a bite and so I was probably leading the pack with my 2 little roach at that stage. However, I was just getting more and more frustrated with missing so many bites and so it was time for a change.

It was now 12 o’clock and time for a cuppa and a bite to eat but not before I put a grain of corn on the hook and lobbed it out over the feed area. As I was making a brew, Clive from the next peg wandered over to see how I was getting on. He hadn’t had a bite either. So, I was now chatting to Clive while eating my pasty (brunch) with my left hand and sipping a cup of hot tea with my right hand when the tip went right round. FFS! Panic stations! I somehow managed to put my cup down safely on my side tray and quickly picked up the rod. A fish was on and I thought it might be a bream. When I finally put down my half-eaten pasty I was able to wind into the fish and get it under control. It turned out to be a chunky chub of around 3 pounds… lubbley chubbly!

I told Clive I had it caught it on corn and so off he went to try his luck. Meanwhile, and after that initial shock… I’m right back out there with corn on a size 14 hook now and with a 0.17 hooklength. If I latch onto another chub I don’t want any breakages, so I wasn’t taking any chances. Well, 20 minutes later and the rod is almost pulled off the rest! Fook me! This was a BIG fish. It stayed deep and I was certain it was another chub. Well, I couldn’t do anything with it. It was having it all its own way as it kited toward the tree on my left, which as I had already found out to my cost, was full of snags. And… that’s where we parted company… but not before it left me well and truly attached to a solid snag. I had to pull for a break and tackle up again.

Well, the chub seemed like they were up for it today so I put a large maggle feeder on and put 3 red maggles on the hook. About 10 minutes later, the tip shot round again and I’m in. This time it’s a much smaller chub of about a pound but still very welcome. After that, it went a bit quiet with no bites for the next 20 minutes. I went back onto the groundbait feeder and this time I baited the hook with a grain of corn and a single red maggle. I didn’t have to wait long before I got a positive response. My rod tip arched over and I was into a bream. It fought really hard against the flow of the river but I managed to slowly coax it to the surface. It was a lovely 5lb plus fish. I couldn’t believe my luck at this point.

Another bream followed about 10 minutes later, which looked about the same size. So far, it was all looking pretty good! So, out I go again and within minutes the tip went round and yes… in again… but as I was holding on and bringing the fish toward me, it came off. FFS! I hate it when that happens, especially when it’s a bream. That usually signals the end of the show, and so it was. The single maggle had folded over the point of the hook and I didn’t get any more bream from that area. I did, however, get another small roach before I decided to try a little further out. With about an hour left on the clock, I decided to try a bomb and bread approach at about two-thirds across. On the second cast, I had a positive response and netted another smaller bream/skimbo of around 2lb. That concluded the action for the day.

I knew I had done well today but there was always the chance that someone else might have had some bream and chub too so all I could do was wait patiently for Match Secretary, Ian Brice, to come along and weigh my catch. It was confirmed that Alan Maggs on peg 4 had caught a big bream of 6-4-0 and also a chub for a 9-8-0 total. Ian Swanborough on peg 6 had two big chub for 7-6-0, caught on the waggler. My catch weighed a total of 18-12-0 with the best bream going 5-14-0. The only other angler to catch today was Jon Amato, who had 9 ounces. So it was definitely a day of mixed fortunes… and a bit of a lottery. Well, that’s cash in the bank, 8 precious points in the bag and now up to second place with just 3 points behind Alan on the leaderboard.

Providing at least 10 anglers turn up for the next match, there will be 6 names still in contention for the title. And the venue? Christian Malford! Anything could happen… keep you posted!

NOTE: If reading this blog on a PC, you can enlarge the images by right-clicking on them and select  “Open link in new window”

If you enjoyed reading this blog then be sure to join the Fish Wag Facebook group HERE for blog updates. Please Like and Share… it’s appreciated! Check out my older blog posts below…