December starts in chilly fashion with me arriving at Bowood with heavy frost and the air temperature at -2C at 9am. Peg 12 looked okay and with the heavy frost causing a mist to rise from the water but I wondered whether the sudden drop may make it more difficult than it looked. Starting cautiously with one ball of light groundbait laced with just a smattering of micros and about 20 casters I began on the pole with a size 18 to 0.10 Shogun, having put a sardine out as usual on the pike rod. I began catching small roach on double maggot before being interrupted by the elastic coming out on the strike and a slow ponderous fish moving off. My initial thought was pike as it was a typical scenario at Bowood, the tench seem to move off faster and even the bream are faster. I’ll never know if I was correct as the hook pulled half way in.

Back to catching small roach when 10 minutes later the same happened only this time after the slow ponderous start it realised it was hooked and went a run that saw the hook being pulled out again. Back out and a slower wait for the roach, 30 minutes pass and the elastic comes out again, only this time I manage to steer a jack of 4-2 to the net. The roach are now coming a lot slower and it is apparent that there are pike in residence as another two are lost on the pole before a jack of 4-8 is netted on the pole. I then manage to miss my one and only run on the pike rod! DOH! Another two pike are lost, one with a snap, I am guessing that the other pike may have been foul hooked possibly. I packed up with 30 roach, 3 rudd and a perch in the net at 1pm and on returning to the car found the temperature had risen to 5C.

Two days later back at 12 with a very heavy fog, began slowly with odd better (relative to the others I had been catching) roach until 11am when the fog lifted and bright sunshine hit Bowood – from this point until I packed up at 1pm I only had a solitary bite. The seven roach remained my only fish, no sign of any pike!

Sunday sees a change and me fishing the annual Pike match at Peatmoor, you can select your peg and move as the mood takes you so I headed for Peg 1-

the first time I had managed to fish it in the match. Two rods are allowed so I opted for a sprat on one and sardine on the other, both fished on my usual float(pellet waggler) and single barbless hooks. Before I had even sorted one rod out a pike was taken opposite on spinner 5-2. Two hours later I was still biteless when the sardine float went, a strike met with a solid resistance and the pike managed to get around my other line before being netted. Sorting out the tangle of line wrapped around the pike I finally had the fish weighed at 7-10, which put me in the lead. Usually if you get one pike on peg 1 you will get other runs so I ignored the temptation to move and stuck it out until the end of the match – no further runs! My one fish put me second as the spinner had worked it’s magic with 3 fish falling for the lure to give a winning 15lb total. I think I have been second or third 5 times in this match now and never won it!

Back to Bowood on the Wednesday, peg 12 started at 9:15 had 6roach and 4rudd by 10:30 when there was a very sudden drop in temperature- almost as if you had stepped into a freezer suddenly. There were no more bites from 10:30 to 11:30, the rain started and I went home!!

The rain continued and continued but more of that later, Sunday sees me meeting Darren for the second round of the Port Talbot Docks Winter League.

The day didn’t start well apart from the 30mph winds and rain the motorway junction outside Chippenham was closed which meant a diversion to come on at the Bath junction. The rain was causing all kinds of problems with 3 accidents seen on the way to the Docks, fortunately by the time we got to Bros, where the draw was held, we had driven past the torrential rain and were greeted with a heavy drizzle. The day didn’t get any better with the draw being totally cocked up – we should have been in rotating sections but the organisers gave up and changed it to a random draw for all matches after the first attempt prompted a call for a redraw. Result was instead of being in the preferred high numbers where the original plan would have placed us we ended up in the same section as the first match with me on 7 and Darren on 6. First bit of luck was the rain had stopped and the wind dropped by the time we got to the pegs.

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I set up the feeder with a 30g open end on a link swivel tied directly to the braid (no shock leader- never found I needed one particularly with short casts) and a 15 inch hooklength of 0.12mm to a 16 looped around the braid above the knot to form a sliding paternoster. The margin pole came out at 8m with red hydro to a 14g giant to a 16 on 0.12mm. Two whips set up at 4m and 5m, 3g at 4m and 5g at 5m. The match started and 10 balls went in on the pole line in about 14-15ft of water. A small nugget went on the 4m whip line and I started on the pole while watching Darren as he was fishing the whip exclusively and if he started to catch I would swap over. A bite first put in saw a two ounce roach swing merrily towards my hand before dropping into the water at my feet!(It was going to be one of those days). After ten minutes the weather changed- the wind that had dropped came back with a vengeance with 35mph gusts.

The first hour proved to be a warning of what was in store with very few bites and no-one catching much. I had 9 roach in first hour, Darren 7, whereas we were expecting to hit between 30-40 an hour from past experience (more of that later!) By the end of the second hour I had added 2 more roach, Darren was up to 20, I had broken up some cheese into pellets that had gone into the groundbait I was feeding but resisted the temptation at this point to try it, instead put half a medium dendra on the hook and swung it out into the wind that was coming straight at us. After 5 minutes the float buried and a 12oz skimmer was safely in the net, soon to be followed over the next hour by several more some small but including one of about 2lb, then the wind went from 30mph to a reasonable 20mph and the bites dried up! I now reached for the cheese  to no effect, then tried mussel ( match record several years ago of 80lb+of bream was taken on mussel!) still nowt.
I rang the changes to no effect, the whip lines had only given me three roach, so I thought sod it and went out on the feeder managing a few more roach and a couple of skimmers by the end. The five of us in this part of the dock weighed in as follows peg3 7-8, peg 4 8-1, peg 6 8-1, peg 7 8-1, peg 8 DNW, the rest of the section was the other side of a small headland and went Peg 10 17-0, peg 11 DNW, peg 12 15-01. The lower section was far more consistent with mainly double figure weights headed by one of the organisers on peg 20 with 30-7.
Talking to Scott Williams on peg 3 at the end we asked why he fished most of the match on a feeder as he is known as the whip king at the docks taking many 30lb+ nets of whip caught roach. He explained that the heavy rain we had been having usually spells the end of the big shoals of roach that he had plundered and the shoals break up and seem to disappear meaning that skimmers come to the fore. Armed with this we will take stock and think about what we do for round 3 – next Sunday.

The rain did not abate and I decided that going to Bowood would be a waste as previously the water was chocolate and flowing like a river at times so with the local river up and a muddy torrent instead of its clear steady flow (even after the previous rains) I had an enforced break until the following Sunday’s return to Port Talbot.

With it being the Sunday before Christmas the cafe we normally use for the draw was shut so we had to meet at the docks at 8:15, that meant Darren and I had an extra half hour in bed before setting off at 6:30. The trip down was uneventful and we made good time, arriving at the dock entrance before anyone else.The draw this time put Darren on 13 and me on 11 – one day we may get to draw down the bottom end! Bearing in mind what we had learnt last time I did not put up any whips , just a feeder and the margin pole with the usual 14g Giant.

The weather, for once was kind to us with winds of only 20mph and the occasional short shower. The fishing however was a different matter! We learnt that the day before that the anglers plundered the bream on 12 and 13 with one angler having 4 keepnets out as there had been an influx of warm water from the steel works but there had been very heavy overnight rain that had cooled the water. At the start I began with 10 balls laced with dead reds, corn, casters and wheat and went straight over it looking for an immediate response, which came in the shape of a 2oz roach.

Unfortunately it was a case of diminishing returns as by the time 50 minutes had gone the bites had dried up and I had put 15 roach in the net. Picking up the feeder I began with a half dendra and chopped worm, dead reds and caster in the 40g feeder. Casting every couple of minutes I began to get a few bites but it was slow, switching to double maggot speeded it up slightly but it was a case of waiting and putting the odd small skimmer in the net. The guy on 12 was also struggling and the angler on peg 10 (the fancied one in this top half) had put a glut of roach in the net fishing the waggler shallow (4-6feet) but was now on the feeder and catching skimmers.

I could see Darren had decided to fish the 4m line and was catching but despite further attempts on the margin pole line it was not worth sticking with. The guy on 12 had tried the short line with no success so I decided to stick it out on the feeder , ending the match with my lowest weight of the series so far – 10-6, the guy on 12 had 8-2, peg 10 had 19-8. Darren had managed 175 fish for 15-12 while Scott on peg 14 won the match with a top 2 catch of roach plus one bream of 26-12.
Annoyingly the area we had drawn last match had fished well with a string of double figure weights with the exception of peg 7 (my peg last week!).

The trip home was the best we had in terms of traffic but I came to the conclusion that my decision making is crap! Next time I am going to do it differently!

Christmas then intervenes with a trip to Yorkshire but on the return I get a last chance at Bowood. Peg 12 was calling me  and on arrival I find a reasonable colour but still flowing. The sardine is put out and three balls of groundbait with some caster, wheat and dead reds are put in on 10m, maggots on the hook and the pike rod goes! A strike is met with a solid thump and after a short but feisty fight a pike of exactly 10lb is in the net – a welcome start!

Bites were aplenty but the fish were painfully small and 61 roach, 2 rudd and a small skimmer at the end of the session went 2-12 with a further two pike missed, to conclude 2019. The New Year will see more action on peg 12 (hopefully) and the last 3 matches at Port Talbot. Have a good one !

As predicted last month, Halloween saw me sneak a last visit to peg 12 before November drew in.  As befits that day things were a bit weird, we had what the wife calls “wet rain” – a very fine drizzle that seems to permeate every nook and cranny, leaving you wet without you realising what is going on; fishing was okay with 21 roach, all small for 1-2 and a pike of 11-8 on the sardine but I lost 2 further pike with them not being hooked properly and also I had changed to a 5 elastic on the pole so hit two large fish which I suspect were tench and lost both with the hook pulling for no real reason!

November arrives and it is not until the middle of the next week I can get out again to peg 12. The rain that had been causing chaos elsewhere had abated slightly so I had a relatively dry day, but the water was heavily coloured with a lot of dead weed that had been dislodged by the strong influx of water that was flowing like a slow river through the lake.I had a run first 10minutes on the sardine that turned out to be a fish of 8-2, which I considered a bonus given the state of the water and this was accompanied by 16 small roach and 3 equally small rudd for 13oz, not brilliant but better than a blank. No sign of any better fish -typical as I had reverted to a heavier hollow set loose just in case!

It was almost a week before I ventured out again and was back almost as soon I had left as the road down to the lake was shut as they were doing repairs. I phone call to the estate office produced an apology and the permission to drive through the now closed public entrance and through the estate to the lodge where I could park.  Still miffed I waited until the next day to go, my usual 3 minute journey now taking 15mins. Water was still very coloured and I kept hoping that the bream would show, as in the past these have been the ideal conditions for them. Peg 12 was not the place for the bream though as after 3 roach in the first 3 put ins I had to scratch hard to end up with 15 roach a rudd and a perch for a pound. I did however get a pike  of 8-9 and lost 3 others which may explain the reticence of the other fish to feed. That week-end saw me back to 12 on the Sunday following very heavy rain over night and a bitterly cold day. I was not too hopeful but after 5 roach on the pole I hit a good fish which I suspected was a pike and after a tense fight I was proved right with an 8-4 fish coming to the net. The pole produced 30 roach, 4 rudd and a perch for 1-6 but the sardine produced a very lively fish of 12-2 and an hour later produced another fish which was a good double which threw the hook just out of netting range (Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr).

Two days later back at peg 12 the small fish fed better which explained my getting one solitary run on the sardine which I subsequently missed (on the phone to Herbie, our MFS Leader, at the time). The session ended with me netting 50 roach 3 rudd and a perch for 2-12.

I took some time off then to prepare for round one of the Winter League at Port Talbot Docks. Meeting up with traveling partner Darren Edgell we made good time and arrived at the cafe for the draw a little after 7:30. We were hoping for a draw in the areas we had previously fished but I ended up on peg 4 (rarely fished from what we could see) and Darren drew better on peg 11 where I had fished in our first open venture.

The view from peg 4 – note the calm conditions- very unusual!-, my home for the day. I had not fished this area before and set up a feeder (hoping I would not need it), 4m and 5m whips just tripping the boulders in 11ft+, plus an 8m margin pole to hand in the 15 feet of water. On the all in I put 10 balls of heavy groundbait on my 8m line and a small ball on the 5m whip line and started there on double maggot. I had expected a bite within a couple of minutes and when I still had nothing after 20 minutes realised I was in trouble! I did not want to go over the 8m line but did so for 5 minutes just to check and again nothing, so out went the feeder to 20m. Slow was an understatement and I finished the first hour on 5 roach, having lost a skimmer on the way in and no real interest in the worm or maggot baits I had tried. My hand reached for the five metre whip and in the next hour I managed to put 30 fish in the net which by the Dock standards is slow going! On the two hour mark I gave the 8m line a try and had a couple of roach but again it was slow so back to the whip and the third hour finished with 29 fish including a skimmer of about 12oz that was taken by a pike on the way in and subsequently released. The fourth hour was sheer frustration as I hooked a further three skimmers, each taken and released by pike between the roach, which had the effect of killing the swim for 10 minutes after each attack, the hour ended with 18 fish. The final hour was a carbon copy of the fourth and despite trying the 8m line it was not as productive as the whip line, 2 further pike attacked skimmers in the net and a total of 20 fish in the last hour saw me with a total of 102 fish and a weight of 13-2. Not a good start to the league but fortunately only the best 4 placings count and for the next match I will be in the more productive lower section of the dock.
The results
Peg 3 18 01
Peg 4 13 02
Peg6 22 06
Peg7 18 07
Peg 8 24 06
Peg10 13 04
Peg11 18 03 (Darren)
Peg12 6 05
Peg13 26 11
Peg14 32 12
Peg15 13 11
Peg16 22 10
Peg18 10 09
Peg19 7 12
Peg20 22 01
Peg21 28 07

Tuesday saw me head out to Bowood, light drizzle when I arrived and putting on my bib and brace and boots I suddenly realised I had left the pike rod at home! I couldn’t be bothered to undress and drive back so I decided on a change and fished Pondtail peg 1.

A small ball of groundbait was introduced at 10m in 8ft of water with me loose feeding casters, left over from the weekend, over the top. After a slow start my no 5 elastic started to get some action and I ended the 3 hour session with 76 roach (biggest 13oz), 2 gudgeon, 4 perch and two hybrids of 1-8 and 1-10 for a 10-8 total. Pleasing in the sense it kept me busy and stopped me moping about forgetting the pike rod!

The last Friday of the month saw me at Bowood 12 rather than at the Black Friday sales. This time I had remembered the pike rod! A slow but steady approach was called for as the weather had got cold and there was still a lot of water emptying into the lake. A single ball of heavy groundbait was introduced with the remnants of the casters being fed over the top. I find I can keep caster for over a week in fairly good nick if I save them in a blue freezer bag rather than a clear one. A steady start saw roach and rudd come steadily to the net before I hit a better fish, which given its heavy head thumping suggested a tench and true to form a tinca of 2-10 turned up in the net.

More fish followed before I had a run on the sardine that I managed to hit but half way in there was a large clunking sound and the reel suddenly had the spool rotating while I was trying to wind! I eventually managed to coax the fish in to the waiting net, a pike of 8-12. The reel was knackered- a cheap Shakespeare Omni that had been abused for a good few years- on subsequent dismantling of the reel at home, various bits of metal fell out after having sheared off!

I continued with the pole and after a while hit another good fish, this time a tench of 4-8. Why do some people think tench won’t feed once autumn arrives? The session ended with 43 roach and 17rudd which went 2-15. A nice session to end the month.

December brings the Peatmoor Pike Cup and rounds 2 and 3 of the Docks winter series.

October arrives and the trek to peg 12 at Bowood starts- I tend to stick with the same peg/area as so few people fish in the winter that I feel sticking to one peg gets the fish accustomed to finding food in the area, plus it is deeper than others in the area. Anyway the month started very positively with me having a pike of 5-6 on a sardine before I had even finished putting the pole up. I have found that the size of bait is more important at Bowood than the type, a bait too big or too small will often be ignored for some reason so now I head to the nearest Tesco and buy up their stock of sardines- usually about 12-14 fish at a cost of about £2.60, far cheaper than the packaged “pike” baits- and then freeze them in pairs for later use.

Anyway back to the fishing, the pole was eventually in use and 4 balls of groundbait laced with a few kernels of corn, some wheat and a good dollop of micros was deposited at 10m as there was a bit of colour in the water for a change, if the water had been clearer I would have gone out to 11.5m. Roach were soon interested and the day progressed as follows- plenty of roach, quiet spell, pike run, lost pike, plenty of roach, quiet spell, pike run, lost pike, plenty of roach, quiet spell, bream 1-6, bumped bream, quiet spell, pike run, lost pike, plenty of roach, quiet spell, pike run,  pike 10-8, plenty of roach, quiet spell, pike run, lost pike. The last pike was a big double that threw the single hook close to the net. All in all not a bad start to the month.

I was unable to visit Bowood for the rest of the week and on Sunday I returned to Port Talbot Docks with Darren for an open. We were due to meet at the cafe at 8am for an 8:30 draw but suspicions grew and then realisation dawned – we were sitting in the wrong cafe! A quick check and move we finally got to the correct cafe, paid our money and had a bite to eat. I drew one of the Golden Pegs – peg 11, on the boards and set my stall out like our previous visit with 8m margin pole to hand and a feeder set up. The big difference was that I had mixed up 5kg of groundbait the day before. I began with 10 balls laced with corn and dead red maggot on the pole line and was into small roach immediately. My set up of 14g float and red hydro may seem extreme but it works fine and 165 roach, 1 perch of a pound and a two pound bream later I was happy with the set up. I did try the feeder (for too long) and only had 6 fish on it. I also lost a large pike that had the red hydro right out for several minutes before it’s teeth finally cut the line! At the weigh in  I had 16-8 which was okay for the first match attempt there, Darren had drawn 14 and had 16-12. The strangest part of the day was the shift in water level- first rising by about 6 inches then dropping at least 3 feet, if you look at the photo below, the water at the start would have been well up my leg!

Darren has since talked me into fishing the six match Winter Series at the Docks!

Back to Bowood, peg 123 (of course), wind and rain, good looking colour made me hopeful of the bream showing up but 31 roach and 19 rudd later I packed up before the latest set of rain clouds hit (just managed to get back to the car in time!). No pike interest but was not expecting much with the colour and strong tow on the water.

Couple of days later I returned for a short session (9-30 to 12) and again nice colour but the tow had eased but there was a lot of loose weed in the water following the heavy rain, which made it awkward with the pike rod as it was constantly picking up floating clumps. I nevertheless had a solitary run from a pike of 8-12, 13 roach and 24 rudd on double maggot.

Another couple of days of rain sees the water like chocolate and more rain making things unpleasant but started with a roach and two small skimmers in first 5 minutes, then nothing for an hour and a half, so I decided to pack up, just managed to pack the pole up and I get a run resulting in a pike of 12-0 – I then packed up and went home!

Three days later I was back for another short session (9:15-12:15), fishing in the usual manner I ended up with 5 roach, 2 hybrids, a perch, a gudgeon and a pike plus a pike of 9-4.

Two days later, Sunday, I was back and once again like all the other sessions had the lake to myself! Fishing 10-1 this time, it was busy with a pike of 8-12, a missed run plus two other pike attacks as I retrieved the sardine, 29 roach and 3 rudd, including one of 14oz.

Interestingly I could not get the pike to take the bait when I deliberately tried sink and draw or “spinning” with the sardine!

Monday was cold so on Tuesday I broke out the winter gear for my visit to peg 12 and yes it was warm and sunny and it felt as if I was melting! 46 roach and 4 rudd kept me happy,no pike but two of the roach were 1-3 and 0-13 which was a bonus in the sunlight!

I had a couple of days away from Bowood to get myself sorted for another open at the Docks- our last opportunity before the winter league series started due to other commitments. The hour and a quarter drive passed quickly and arriving at the correct cafe this time we found we were far too early. Eventually we were allowed in  and once again I drew a Golden peg, this time peg 19, not really a peg with any form as such. This time I had mixed up a concoction made from the Caperlan range of groundbaits, with vanilla biscuit and Riviere the main bulk. I had also decided to set up a  5.4 Chinese whip- this is not 5.4m it is more like 4.75m, coupled with a 1.5g Paster float with olivette and three droppers. I set up the 8m margin kit along with the feeder but I wanted to see how the whip would work. It was a bit shallower than I expected but was still 10-11 feet where I would be fishing. At the whistle 10 balls laced with corn, wheat and dead reds went in at 8m while I decided to feed more sparingly than previous and put a small ball in every 3 put ins. I had a break of an hour where I tried the 8m line (11 fish, 2 perch 2 small skimmers and 7 roach) and the feeder (nothing). I had been hoping for some bream but it was not to be on those lines.

The whip worked well and I ended up with a total of 222(including the 11) and had at least 40 each hour I fished it. I had some distractions- a 4.5lb pike that succumbed to the whip but didn’t count!, a 2lb bream plus a further 2lb bream lost on the way to the net. My weight of 19-2 was good enough for 4th on the day, beaten by a bream weight of 19-4 (ouch!) from form peg 20, and two weights of 36lb and 29lb off the boards. Darren fished the full 6 hours on feeder just to see and crashed out with 9lb as the skimmers were not really feeding with a lot of cold flood water entering the dock and unusually calm conditions- at least it was dry! We had lots to think about on the way home which took a lot longer than it had in the morning! Now I think I have a plan for the series, but it is going to be hard with twenty taking part, you score your position, ie 1st gets one point, 2nd two,etc but can drop your worst two results. I will be happy to finish in the top half but that is going to be tough!

Last fling at Bowood this month sees 12 a bit clearer but with a tinge in the water so 10m was still my line of attack. I was about to cup out my groundbait when I had a run that resulted in a jack of 4-12. Eventually got the pole started and ended up with 21 roach and 2 rudd but only after I scaled down after half a dozen as the going was slow. This is normal for Bowood- you can fish heavy up until this time and then with no warning you need to scale down from 0.16mm to 0.10mm in order to get bites. Retrieving the sardine I had a pike snatch at it and take it, I resisted the urge to strike and waited for it to settle and move off, a firm strike was met with solid resistance and then nothing, the head of the sardine came back like you see on cartoons when a shark has bitten through a fish! An hour later, just before going I had another run which resulted in a pike of 9-8. A nice ending to the month (although I suspect I may be able to grab a couple of hours at Halloween!).

After the excesses of August, the next month was going to be broken up by a visit “up North” and a three day MFS event at the Glebe. Before we get to that August was rounded off by a short evening session on the Pondtail on the feeder  which gave me one perch and three missed bites!

Returning to peg 12 the next day, I managed not to blank and managed 2 skimmers of 1-9 and 15oz, 6 rudd, 5 roach and a perch for 4-2. My next opportunity was on the first of the month and being a Sunday there was a crowd there – one other angler! He just happened to be fishing on peg 12 so I gave him plenty of room and settled on 10.  Usual tactics saw 23 rudd, 6 roach and a hybrid hit the net for 3-8. Bowood was in one of it’s moody spells with the water clearing again.

I then had a break with the MFS  Monkees v Shandies event at the Glebe, it is fished like the Ryder Cup with  the first day being 4somes, the second pairs and final day singles.. Fishing for the Shandies (the South) day 1 (the 4s) I drew pool 6 peg 87.

I set up a feeder, a rig for 13m, another for 5m and a margin rig. Starting on the feeder after cupping in 4 balls of groundbait laced with 6mm pellets and corn on 13m and a cup of 6mm pellet at 5m, I had a carp first cast that came off at the net and that was it! After 40min the feeder went up the bank and swapping between the 13m and 5m line plus a couple of late margin fish saw me eke out 41-7. Not enough to stop the Monkees taking our fours.

Day 2 and remarkably I was back on Pool 6, this time 95, which I was not to pleased about as Pete Mercer (a far better angler than I ) had struggled on the day before for 25lb. Starting the same way, I had a similar experience to day one, except this time I landed the first cast carp, but that was it again! Swapping didn’t help as I could only catch on the 13m line, but managed a couple of late carp in the margin for 42-8. Annoyingly the camera didn’t work for some reason so no footage.  Monkees won yet again!

Final day and I was back on Pool 6 AGAIN, this time peg 90, this time 31lb had come off it the previous day. I was on a hiding to nothing as I was fishing against one of the venue regulars. This time the feeder lasted 20min before going up the bank with no indications. Fishing at 13m seemed best and I also managed a few fish from the margins recording my best weight of the three days at 51-4 but battered by 100lb by my opponent. I did learn a bit about what he was doing and especially the bait in preparation for next year!

Returning home I was off two days later to Yorkshire! First day back I headed off to Bowood, peg 12  and starting on the maggot I had some small roach and rudd before changing to corn and securing a tench of 5-12 and skimmer of 1-12 plus some better roach. Ending with 16 roach,14 rudd, 3 skimmers plus the two fish mentioned for a level 11lb. Again annoyingly the camera seemed to go over the earlier part of the session so not footage of the actual capture, but I did get a shot at the end.

Back a few days later to 12 which had a nice tinge to it. I had seen a lot of pike action on my last visit so I put the pike rod in and frustratingly missed a run in the first 20minutes and that was it! That is one of the downsides of fishing a single hook, I miss more runs but in terms of fish welfare I am happy with that. Baiting with double maggot, it was a slow start with no immediate action from the smaller roach and rudd, this usually signifies one of two things at Bowood – either there are bigger fish in the swim or a pike is about. The former was the case as bream of 1-6, 2-0 and 1-8 came to the net before I bumped a fish with the maggot doubling over the hook and that was it- 20 roach, 10 rudd and 4 skimmers followed to complete the session.

Couple of days later back at 12 with a tinge in the water but clearer than before. No runs on the pike rod 34 rudd, 26 roach and a solitary skimmer, all on the maggot as I had forgotten the corn! Moody still!

Two days later with heavy rain forecast I had a short 2hour session on Pondtail peg 1 on the waggler15roach and 10 gudgeon made up a 2-4 catch before the rain started. That was the most gudgeon I have caught in a session at Bowood, indeed it is probably more than all the rest of the time at Bowood!

Two days of rain led me to hope that the third day would see the bream feed, so peg 12 was my target and once again, no runs (but not unexpected given the water colour) but disappointingly it was a great struggle with another angler on 11 also struggling (blanked I think) and 11roach and 4 rudd saw the scales break the pound barrier at 1-2.

Saturday was going to be different as I had agreed to go to Port Talbot docks with Darren Edgell. Darren picked me up and eventually we drove down the track to the docks , paying our money to Dai the owner who was tidying some things up. The Docks are known affectionately by the locals as “Beirut” and Darren, despite my warning was clearly gobsmacked and likened it to Mars! We settled into the two pegs down wind of the buttress, with me being the furthest away. The docks is deep – not your namby-pamby deep of 8-9 ft but 18-20 ft at 6m.

The weather was not kind with strong winds showers occasionally with a severe weather system forecast for 3 or4pm so we had decided to pack up and be gone before then. I had got the camera working but forgot to alter the date! The wind was whipping the water up into waves that were bigger and rougher than I had seen a couple of weeks earlier at Bridlington on my visit up north! In the end I built a mini breakwater from the rubble to try and stop the splashing!

This type of water calls for a special approach and I was using a very old margin pole with red hydro, using a 14g Giant to 0.18mm and 0.10mm hook length to a 16. The float was cocked with a 12g olivette held in place by 2xAA shot about 18inches from the hook with a no6 dropper 8inches from the hook. Groundbait also needs to be heavy unless you are after the rudd which abound, I had mixed up the day before 3.5kg of dry mix, mainly Sensas Magic and River with some of my other cheaper makes to bulk it out. All this was mixed with a third of a bag of PV1 and just a little extra water was added at the venue to get the mix right. I had a separate feeder mix made up of fishmeal based groundbaits I had left over in the freezer.

After introducing 10 balls laced with dead reds and a bit of corn at 8m I fished 2 and a half hours on the margin pole (8m to hand), putting in a ball of groundbait every cast. After the first 5minutes it was a bite a cast as small roach attacked the bait, the weather however made spotting bites difficult with the waves crashing in, it was also incredibly dark at times. However I did manage a bream of about 2-3lb on the pole despite the wind making it impossible at times to control the pole and net, and several small skimmers other than a load of small roach before the bucket of groundbait ran out. Packing the pole away it was out on the feeder and although slower the roach were a better stamp and after an hour and a half I had another bream of 2-3lb plus 3 skimmers and some roach on the feeder with double maggot. Meanwhile after a slow start Darren had bagged on the small roach once he got to grips with the depth of water. Weights were not brilliant I had 10-4 and Darren 6-12 but given the weather conditions we were more than happy. Ironically when we packed up it was the calmest period of the day – the lull before the weather front hit!”

Spot my “rod-rest”.

As I write this it is the Saturday of Bank Holiday weekend and I am still trying to get to grips with the results from Viaduct this week –

August 10

I have caught bigger fish on commercials but there was something special about catching a truly wild fish of that size. Next time I fish peg 12 I will probably blank, but that is why I like Bowood!

Due to family commitments it wasn’t until the end of the first week in July that I managed to get to Bowood for an evening session. Peg 7, although very weeded was my home for the session and starting my usual way with 3 balls of groundbait and maggot on the hook for the first few put ins . I was using a home made float taking 0.5g to 0.16 Shogun and a 16 hook. A plethora of rudd and small blades plus two roach came to the maggot before pike arrived and subsequently lost one. On to the corn and first put in a tench that immediately dived in to the thick weed on my right and kindly left the hook there for me to drag in a bunch of weed! Next put in I had a skimmer of 1-4 followed in the next half hour by two more of 1-4 and 1-2. A quiet spell saw me go back on the maggot and lose two more pike before returning to the corn and losing 3 more tench. FRUSTRATING or what!

Back two days later for a morning session saw me return to 7 and fishing the same way saw me lose two further tench and 2 more pike before I managed to net tench of 3-0 (incidentally this is the smallest tench so far this season as I write this!) and 4-8 before a lull signaled a return to the maggot and being bitten of by double figure pike three put-ins ion a row. This marked the final straw and I packed up.

Next day and back for an evening session, avoiding the blisteringly hot day-time sun, peg 9 was the chosen spot and usual tactics employed I had a jack of 1-11 first put in followed by a pike free time with 24 rudd. 4 blades 14 skimmers and a solitary tench of 3-10 for 18-3 and no lost fish for a change!

I had one further opportunity that week and I returned to 7 for an evening session in the hope that the pike had moved on, 6 roach, 7 rudd and a skimmer on the maggot before a pike snaffled a 10oz skimmer and signaled the move to corn. The recurring theme of catch 1 lose 2 followed me again as a tench of 4-4 went in the net while two others went in the weed!

Bowood then takes a back seat as I had a two day MFS event at the Glebe. Day 1 sees me draw 102 on lake 7 which in theory is a good draw – however a 1oz perch, 2 bream and 24-14 carp sees me last in section with 31-15 and my fellow middle peg also struggled and had 36lb.

Day 2 sees me on peg 1 on lake 1.  The method on this peg is to fish long to the left corner. I had a pleasant if not spectacular day with 3-15 of silvers and 57-9 of carp for 61-8 and 2points- at least not last!

Back to Bowood, 4 days later, and peg 8 hoping to break the catch one lose 2 jinx. A solitary blade, 9 rudd a tench of 4-3, NO PIKE hurrah!, but two tench lost and also a big bream.

Two days later back to peg 12, but I had taken the rake and was dragging swims 7,8,9 and 12. Fishing the maggot I had 21 rudd, 6 blades and 4 roach before the heavens opener and we had a downpour, the like of which I have only experienced in China. I discovered even Goretex cannot cope in such conditions- I packed up wet, frustrated and totally soaked as if I was not wearing a coat!

Two days of drying out and I am back for a morning session on peg 9 32 rudd and 6 roach but no tench landed- 3 lost, including one that snapped the hook! I am getting worse I decided!

It was five days before I had the opportunity to return, this time to peg 10.5 rudd and two blades in the net, corn on , float lifts, skimmer on, coming in lovely and then off! Two tench of 4-13 and 5-0 followed separated by three further losses.

With the imminent arrival of Gareth from China I took myself on to the opposite bank and raked two swims but both were very shallow and dense weed all around. A quick session saw 16 small rudd- not very hopeful!

I am leaving the last few days of July for the August installment as Gareth and I will have 15 solid days at Bowood so I will keep it all together.

June kicked off with my regular venture to Peatmoor for the Peatmoor v Three Counties match. I had been warned that it was fishing very hard and judging by the poor attendance word had spread. I drew the old peg 27 (can’t remember what the peg number is now!), a peg I had won the match from before with 40lb+ of bream but although it is the conduit between the narrow backwater and the main lake it can be iffy at times. My plan, such as it was, consisted of an hour on the groundbait feeder towards the tree at 25m then on to the pole line that was going to be fed for the first hour with a mix of micros and casters.It was HARD – I had seven roach and a crayfish  all on the feeder the pole line appeared devoid of life! My 8oz placed me 3rd! I said it was hard!

Three days later I headed out to Isis No 1 lake with just a waggler rod, my intended swim was taken so I dropped in to the first swim on the left bank. Plumbing up I found 14feet a rod and a half out! I fed two swims with hemp and casters, one directly in front and the other off to my right close to a tree in the water. A pleasant couple of hours saw me with 19 rudd, 14 perch and a roach, plus 4 small tench.

The Sunday saw me head back to Pondwood for another MFS match, Darren Egell was guesting on this and a text just before the draw said he was running late but on way so could I draw for him. At the draw I said “this one is for Daz” and drew out 45!!!! the peg I had last time, I drew 33 in a different pound, a lot wider and some nice lilies across. Darren turned up ,and I gave him the gen about the peg, pointing out where I had caught. There was not much variation in depth in my peg- the usual 3feet but I decided on a line at 6m to my right against a small patch of lilies (2 in fact), one at 10m directly in front and a final line to the left of the big bank of lilies at 14m. Rotating between, meat, maggot and corn I had a pleasant day made up of 10 small tench, 1 small carp, 4 roach, 1 skimmer and 4 ide in my silvers net for 6lb and 7 carp in the other for 17-8 giving me a total of 23-8 and 2nd in section. I lost 5 carp in the lilies but that was always going to be the case!. Daz came second in the match despite missing the keepnet with  a 2lb carp !

The Wednesday saw me head off to Patneys and fish just to the left of the island on the right bank. My usual gambit of toss-potting meat and pellets gave me another frustrating session with 3 carp, 3 skimmers and 2 perch being landed but I missed 20+ bites for no apparent reason.

With the Glorious 16th on the horizon at the weekend I had a short session on Isis No1, this time on the front path to the left of the big overhanging tree. Again I was fishing just waggler but this was a great deal harder with just 1 bite from a 2oz perch all I could muster in the 14 feet of water.

Sunday arrives and I trundle off down the hill to Bowood and after a quick look plump for peg 7 – not to shallow with thick weed beds scattered around. I raked the swim first so I had a relatively clear bottom and proceeded to set up. Home made float on a 0.16mm to a 16. Elastic was a doubled 6 through the top two on a puller. Cupping in 4 balls of groundbait with a sprinkling of wheat, micros, hemp and corn I started on double maggot and after 9 rudd, 2 blades and 8 roach, I was ready to slip the corn on. First put in the float dips, the strike meets with a solid resistance that doesn’t move at first and I think-pike. True to form a jack of 4lb had taken a grab at my corn and after a short but enjoyable scrap was returned.

Finally the float lifts and I am into the first tench of the season, easing it through the weed I eventually net a lovely 5lb tinca. Two more follow of 4-10 and 3-6 before I need to go, so ,a 19-10 start to the season.

It wasn’t until the following Friday that I could get out again. This time peg 8, fishing the same way I found this time the tench were conspicuous by their absence but instead I had 2 rudd/bream hybrids, 7 roach, 24 small rudd, 1 perch and 20 skimmers, 9 of which were slightly better going from 10oz to 1-10. A smaller total of 10-12 but enjoyable.

I had noticed over my two visits that there had been a lot of crashing in the shallows and when two walkers on the far bank had asked why there were so many big fish on top in that area it made my mind up to have a go. So peg 2 was my port of call on the Sunday. Very shallow and weedy but a decent colour, so I potted in 3 balls of groundbait with the usual accompaniments except I had forgotten the corn! I managed three put ins on the maggot with a small blade, roach and rudd before I hit a bream of 3-12, then another  smaller one of 1-12, I then lost 7 fish on the trot with the hook pulling out. Cursing my stupidity/laziness I changed the top kit from a doubled 6 which was obviously too harsh to a soft 12 hollow elastic. Problem solved  and 4 more of 3-2, 1-10, 3-10 and 2-11 came to the net and a 16-12 total, leaving me to reflect on what might have been.

Tuesday sees me back at peg 2 with corn! However the colour had gone and I knew I should have kept on walking but I tried and failed! A jack of a pound, 4 roach, 2 rudd and 2 blades for 2-0 and a tench lost at the net brought me make to reality – find the colour in the water! Walking up before I left I could see bream swimming in peg 8, tench rolling in 7 …

Friday sees me at peg 7, 8 rudd to start before three put-ins give a tench of 6-12, a PB for me, followed by another of 6-0 and another of 5-11. The day just got better as another tench appeared of 4-1 after losing 4 in the weed, a carp of 8-8 and bream of 1-4, 3-0 and 2-13. I also lost another carp and a bream. A nice day to say the least and a 39-9 total.

Sunday, the last day of June sees me going on to the opposite bank, peg 25. I had seen so many fish cruise and swirl in the area I thought I had to give it a go, so armed with the usual tackle plus carp rod and pod I set forth. It was very weedy and had to be dragged, also shallow compared to the other bank. It was hard- nothing on the carp rod, and I save a blank after 3 hours with 6 fish for 5oz – 2 x blades, 2 x roach a rudd and a perch. But that is the nature of Bowood- find the fish and you will have a good day!

With various family commitments May saw  a little bit of activity (not as much as I would like!), starting first at Patneys (Woodside Lakes) fishing down into the bay on the right. Usual set up with 0.16mm Shogun line to a 16 Kamasan X611 and a homemade rugby ball type float taking 0.8g, set with a bulk two feet from the hook and two nos 8 droppers in the 8 feet of water at 13m. Kick started the swim with a ball of groundbait and a pot of micros with about 10 cubes of 4mm meat. The day was a bit on the grey side and I was glad to be wearing my fleece and coat! Anyway it was the usual slow start with no bites on meat for over an hour despite the regular plug of groundbait with 5 4mm pellets and 4 cubes of meat each put in via a toss-pot,, so I put on two maggots just to get a bit of action. Immediately I had two skimmers and two roach, then a small carp of 1.5lb. I then managed to lose a lump having got it back to 5m when the hook pulled for no obvious reason.

The wind now picked up stronger than previously and I lost sightb of the hills in the distance so I knew rain was on the way, as the rain started I had a carp of 6lb before the rain turned to sleet and then hail which was being driven into me with ever increasing force by the wind. I managed to hook and lose another lump to a hook pull before the wind made it impossible to fish and I packed up during a brief lull before heading back to the car with the hail bouncing off me!

My next outing was more than a week later again to Patneys but this time at the left hand side of the island on the right bank – the swim where I had missed the bites on a previous visit. I set up the same way as previously on the peg but stuck with meat, I wanted to see if I could solve the problem of the missed bites. I ended up with a partial answer to the problem- I had 3 carp of 4-4, 1-4 and 1-4, 3 bars of soap tench, a golden rudd and a roach and at least 20 bites that were missed. I believe the problem may have been the bar of soap tench that were holding the meat in their lips as all three tench were lightly lipped hooked and gave the exact same bite as I had been missing!

My next visit to Patneys saw me two swims below the far end of the island on the right bank.  A really frustrating session saw 6 skimmers and a perch plus 20+ missed bites on a variety of baits, despite trying smaller and larger hooks. Grrr!

Three days later I was at Pondwood Fisheries between Reading and Maidenhead for an MFS match organised by Rick Baxter. Arriving early I parked up and had a look at the water- a narrow snake lake with lillies in some swims. I drew peg 45 which was in a small section on the left of the entry road, separated from the specimen lake by a bank of rushes. My far bank was only 9m at most away but I had a good amount of space on my left towards the rushes plus some lillies directly opposite. I decided to feed 4 swims, one next to the lillies opposite where I had seen fish basking, a swim right in the far corner of the swim with a muddy bank and overhanging grasses, a swim half way at 10 o’clock and a margin swim against the rushes where there was a channel through the rushes to the other lake.

All the swims were very shallow- the far bank and rushes about 18inches and the middle swim no more than 2.5ft. The far bank swims were tackled by short homemade “BGT1” style floats while the middle swim had a homemade chianti style and the rushes a beefed up BGT1 style homemade float.

Groundbait was crushed expander that had been soaked and left overnight then pushed through a riddle that morning. Feeding a ball of the crushed expander and some micros near the lillies and into the corner swim, I put a ball of groundbait and some 4mm pellets down the middle finishing with a ball plus 20 cubes of 4mm meat and some 4mm pellets by the rushes. Double maggot on the size 18 hook I started by the lillies and immediately had 2 ide and a perch before I hooked a carp that ploughed through the lillies and snapped the elastic! Quickly setting up another rig and top kit, I had more ide and some small carp from the lillies, feeding micros via a pepper-pot. Rotating between the lillies and the corner, it was obvious that there were better fish around but the ide were getting to the bait first and if they didn’t get there the small palm sized carp did. I made the decision that as I knew I could not compete with Andy Greggory on peg 42 on small fish I needed to focus on trying to get the better fish- so meat came into play and alternating between ll 4 areas for the rest of the match saw me accumulate 21 carp, 11 ide,3 perch, 5 barbel and 3 tench in my silvers net for 19lb and 7 carp over 1lb in my other net for 14-8 giving me a total of 33-8. The guy on 44 had 32-8, Andy on 42 had 32lb+ of silvers plus carp for a 57-8 total, validating my decision to concentrate on  the larger fish. Overall a close match

Peg 29 Bob DNW
Peg 30 Rick Baxter 36-1
Peg 32 Vic 48-3
Peg 34 Plummers 44-4
Peg 36 J Brownlie DNW
Peg 38 Herbie DNW
Peg 40 Malc Fowler 40-12

Peg41 Jaap Stamm 27-8
Peg 42 Andy G 57-8
Peg44 John Brady 32-8
Peg 45 BGT 33-8
Peg 46 Matt Nutt 27-8
Peg 50 Pikey 41-4

The last visits of the month came the following Thursday and Friday when the MFS HillBilly Pairs took place at the Glebe fishery near Hinckley in Leicestershire. I was running the match for the site so had laptop and numerous folders in tow with the paperwork for the two day event. This year we had seeded the anglers so a “good” angler was teamed with a “noddie”, although there were some very good “noddies”!

The A group would fish Pool 1 on day one then the strip lakes (lakes 4,5 and7) on day two, the B group the reverse. I drew peg 82 on Lake 5 and endured what can only be described as a torrid time, living up to my noddie status. The six hours saw me have 10 bites , resulting in 6 lost fish, 3 carp for 15-1 and a missed bite. No need to go into any details!

Day 2 saw me on peg 23, a peg where 147lb had been caught the previous day, albeit with a blank peg either side, which today was not the case. Stating on the feeder, second cast saw a 6lber in the net, followed a couple of casts later by a bream of about 2lb- that was it! On to the pole lines where despite advice from my partner on where to fish in the peg, the fish had not been told the same! I ended up with 3 carp for 21-12 and 3 bream and a skimmer for 6-4 and a 28-0 total, rock bottom again! I lost 3 carp and two bream, although one of the carp i did land was a double- but so was one that I lost!

I managed to pack up, weigh in, get the kit packed in the car, work out the results, and pay out 50 brown envelopes all within 2hours, so at least that side went okay! I have another two day event at the Glebe in July- I need to rethink how I approach it!

June 16 sees the start of not only the river season but Bowood’s season also. Hopefully tales of tench and bream next month!

A bit of a slow time on return from China, a short session at the end of March on Isis No 1a lake resulted in one bite and a small perch, best not say any more! Family matters then took a hand so it was the second week of April before I could get out again, a visit to Patneys and a swim on the right hand side the car park end of the island. Plumbing up saw a slope from the island down to a flat area at 13m and to my left. I began on the 4mm meat, feeding a few cubes along with micros plugged into a kinder pot with a thumbnail of groundbait. The result was a frustrating session with 3 small 2lb carp landed and some skimmers(on maggot) but I missed 15 very good bites with no idea why. They were definitely not liners but I managed to miss them if I hit them early, waited …you get the picture!

It was almost two weeks before I could get out again (decorating, boo hiss). I intended to fish the same peg but on arrival found another angler on the next peg fishing a feeder and judging by how he had set up he was fishing off at an angle towards my intended swim. I decided to let him have his space and moved down to “the Peg” in the bay. This did not work out as expected either as meat produced not a single bite, but a change to three maggots produced a run of 20 skimmers from the swim that appeared dead!

Couple of days later I headed back to Isis lakes to pass on some documents that had been sent to me as there was a match on the little lake. I had already decided to fish the big lake and setting up on the left hand bank with a Shakespeare MK1 Specialist 12′ and my folding seat haversack. A couple of hours saw 14 nice rudd and a tench of 2lb fall to my waggler tactics on the maggot.

My focus for the next week was preparing for the Matchfishing-scene Woodland View 3 day Festival near Droitwich. I had been given the job of organising the event so I went duly armed with paperwork and laptop. Day 1 saw me draw peg 3 on Biog Als, unfortunately this was upwind with a glass like surface compared to the rest of the lake which resulted in me having 6 bites five F1s and a tiny perch for 3-8 and last in section. Both Big and Little Als did not fish well (neither did anywhere in the country on that day we subsequently found out later) but the highlight was Herbie (Our Leader) winning his section and having top weight of the day, as one member said, “I’ve never seen Herbie catch so any fish!”.

Day 2 arrives and peg 10 on Front Deans at least gives me some sport with 40-12 comprising of about 20lb of skimmers and F1s and 3 carp and a barbel for the rest. The three carp came in the last 40 minutes plus I pulled out of another.

Day 3 sees me on Barley 2 for 37-8, 4 carp for about 20lb and the rest F1s and skimmers caught short. My mistake was continuing going for the carp in the corner that I could reach with 13 or 14.5m when I should have continued fishing short and put fish in the net- still we live and learn!

Pete Bailey won the Festival for the second year running with18 points out of 21, another quality performance. A day 2 carp for Pete below!

I managed to get into the top 20 just! 19th out of the 21, still there is always next year to look forward to! May sees more MFS action at the Glebe with the Hillbilly Pairs.

(https://matchfishing-scene.co.uk/  if you want to know more!)