A bit late with this as Gareth and family have moved out of their flat and back in with us prior to returning to China mid August. Anyway on to the fishing- Monday 17th sees me at Bowood peg 5 for a morning session. I tackled up in my usual way with 0.16mm rig to a 14 and corn under a homemade slim rugby ball float taking approx 0.5g all bulked at 6inches from the hook. Groundbait with a bit of added ground expander was introduced at 10m along with some wheat and a few kernals of corn. A small skimmer was first to be attracted followed by a few rudd and then a lull in proceedings, indicating either a pike was present or larger fish had moved in, the answer came as the float wobbled and lifted – a strike led to a bream of 4-02 gracing the net. The session past quickly with the final total of 15-12 comprising of further bream of 1-12, 2-06, 2-08 and 2-12 plus two roach, five rudd, 3 skimmers and a blade.

Wednesday sees me back at peg 5 fishing 9:20 to 12:05. Fishing a similar way to the Monday I found the weed had sprouted rapidly and it was difficult to get the bait down to the bottom without lifting it of the fronds of weed holding the weights up – another reason why fishing a bulk shot makes sense in weed!I started slowly and managed two bream of 3-00 and 3-10 by 11:55 interspersed with 9 roach, 3 rudd and a blade. As the clock struck 12 the float lifted and a bream of 3-12 came to the net, I had another put in, just in case, but then packed away with the total ending on 12-08. It seems to be a feature of Bowood that at 12 noon you are likely to get a bite from a decent fish whether in the summer or winter, although it is more likely to be a pike in the colder months! Why this should be? (answers on a postcard please …)

Friday morning I returned to the main lake and raked pegs 1-7 although I left out 2. Knackered I returned to the car and got the whip out and fished peg 1 on the Pondtail for 40 minutes for 278roach and a perch for 2-05. That evening I returned to the main lake (Peg 6)with Gareth hopeful of some action from the newly raked swims. How wrong could I be, in the two hours from 6-8pm I had 10 rudd for 1-08 while Gareth on peg 5 had snuck in a spinning rod and managed a jack second cast of 2-08 along with some rudd.

Due to visits to Yorkshire and other constraints such as helping Gareth to vacant the flat I had only two further outings. The first was to the Pondtail fishing 3:30 to 4:50 on peg1 saw 20 roach and 2 perch be netted for 2-04 on the 4.5m Chinese whip which in itself is a fun way of fishing and de-stressing!The second was a session 3:10 to 5:00 on the main lake at peg 5. Once again no bream just 20 rudd for 2-05 all on corn while Gareth had 12 better rudd for 2-00 and yet again managed to sneak out a jack of 2-08 on the spinning rod!

August sees a three day visit to the Glebe with a MFS Pairs followed by a Maggotdrowners event.

Well the sneaky last visit of June was 6:20 to 8:30pm fishing peg 3 at Bowood with Gareth on 4. It was hard!Fishing corn and feeding groundbait with wheat and corn at the start, thereafter loose feeding wheat I managed a solitary bream of 2-12, a skimmer and a roach for 3-04, Gareth managed to get a tench of 3-04 plus some rudd as well as losing a second tench.

The first proper July visit was on the Wednesday to the Glebe outside Hinckley for a Maggotdrowners match. I was draw on peg 24 and set up a feeder, a pole rig for 11m, one for 5m and one for the margins.I spent too long on the feeder for two carp of around 2-3lb a piece and a couple of skimmers. The day fished oddly with a real lack of activity for long periods in the first half before some more spasmodic action in the second half of the match. The 5m line and the margins did not produce a single fish bar a foul hooked roach which was very odd. All my fish came at 11m to corn with 6mm pellet fired out and the action was a bit like carp, carp, nothing, bream, carp… I ended up with a level 64lb with 17-04 of that made up with silvers. This put me 4th in the 7 peg section beaten by the pegs at the ends but they were paying 4 places so I had a small windfall. Looking at the results after it became apparent that I had drawn down the wrong end of the lake as the bottom 5 weights in the match were from our section!

Friday sees me dragged off to Bowood in the evening by Gareth, this time I took the weed rake as peg 4 was pretty much solid with weed so raked it first while Gareth went on peg 5. Fishing 6:25 to 8:10 there was little sign of activity anywhere on the lake, no pike striking, no fish topping or bubbling anywhere! To say it was hard was an understatement and I finished with 4 rudd on wheat or corn for 0-06while Gareth had a few more on maggot for just over a pound.

Tuesday sees me make the trip to peg 1 at Bowood, fishing 9:30 to 12:30. First put in to the stalk sticking up at 11m to the left of the swim sees the float glide under and a bream of 2-06 come to the net. I was using a light chianti style homemade float with the 0.3g bulked about six inches from the 14 hook. Five minutes later another bite on the corn sees me lose a bream in the swim – this slowed it a bit until I had another of 2-10. That was it from the left had swim, the bites dried up, possibly due to me losing and catching fish but also due to pike strikes that were taking place in the area. Moving to my other previously fed swim directly in front it was about ten minutes before the float shimmied and lifted , a strike saw a bream of 4-08 come meekly to the net – how often does that happen, the larger bream put up less fight than their smaller brethren! Three further bream came to the net at 3-02, 3-04 and 3-00, there was a large gap between the last two bream as I had a pike take a 3oz roach and played it for about five minutes before it let go of the roach! A second pike strike later bit me off, so apart from the bream I had 1 small skimmer, 2 roach and 5 rudd for a combined total of 20-02.

Next evening Gareth and I went for a session on the Pondtail, he wanted to put a pellet out for the bream/carp while fishing the 4m whip so he went on peg 2 and I settled on peg1 just fishing the Chinese whip Chinese style! I put in three handfuls of soft groundbait with a small handful of wheat over the top, thereafter loose fed 5-6 grains of wheat every put in. It took a few minutes but soon I was getting bites from the roach and after having the fifth 3oz+ roach drop of while swinging in I changed by hook from the barbless 16 to what is best described as a micro – micro barbed hook that is not available in this country but I have a stock of them left over from previous dalliances!I use the term micro-micro barbed as you cannot see any barb but the hook retains maggots and fish but unhooks fish as easy as a barbless hook! There are no rules regarding hooks at Bowood so tend to use them here. Anyway we fished from 7-8:30pm and in that time I had 51 roach for 6-07 Gareth fished caster and had 15 roach of a better stamp for over 3lb.

No matches this month so more Bowood trips to come.

This last 17 days since the last part of the blog was published has been a busy one!. Starting not at Bowood but a session at Blacklands on peg 3 at Heron from 9:15 to 12:30.

Priming the swim at 10 with worm and 2 o’clock with micros I started on the worm with a 1g Paster in the 7ft of water.The roach were obliging as were the better skimmers and by swapping between the lines I ended up with 22 roach, 10 bream/larger skimmers, a rudd, a small skimmer, a perch and a tench for about 20-23lb.

June 16th arrives and I head to Bowood with a hop and a skip (I wish!) fishing 9-12 in very hot conditions on peg 1 I had a frustrating time with the weed in the 20 inches of water with bream of 1-06 and 2-08, 4 skimmers and 5 rudd for 5-03 despite seeing better fish moving through the area .

That evening I was joined by younger son Gareth and we headed back to Bowood as he had decided it would just about be worth joining for his remaining time in the UK and a prospective visit in February. Anyway we settled on peg 3 for me and he went on peg 4 fishing 6:45 to 9pm. Feeding two balls of groundbait and loose feeding wheat in the 3-4ft of water I decided to do the opposite of my usual heavy float approach for weed and set up a homemade float taking just 2 number 8 shot that were bulked 5 inches from the size 14 hook. It seemed to work as after 20 minutes the float wobbled and lifted which resulted in a tench of 4-08, this was the start of a better session with two further tench of 4-08 and 3-08 plus bream of 2-08, 2-08 and 5-00 for a 22-08 total. Gareth had 2 bream and 3 tench including one of 6lb.

Saturday was a non-fishing day with my wife’s birthday taking precedent. Sunday evening saw us back on the same pegs fishing this time from 6pm to 8:50. Fishing exactly the same way except this time we had to endure heavy rain for about an hour saw me accumulate bream of 2-15, 1-06 and 1-02 plus tench of 4-08 and 4-08 plus 2 rudd for a 14-12 total Gareth had a more torrid time losing several tench in the thick weed but did manage to sneak one out plus rudd.

Tuesday sees me back at peg 3 fishing 9:30 to 12:30.Fishing as before with a dozen grains of wheat being loose fed every couple of minutes I was kept busy with five bream of 3-00,3-00,3-02,2-12 and 2-08 plus I lost 5 through hook pulls in the weed. These were joined by a tench of 5-06 and another of 3-08 that was foul hooked in the tail and stirred up the swim to such an extent that I only had 3 rudd and a roach after it for a 24-02 total.

Friday sees me travel up to Makins Fishery near Nuneaton for the Pellet Guys Pairs. I had been drawn with a regular at Makins Ian Ward and on the first day I was drawn on peg 23 on the Snake. The name is a bit deceptive as it is not a snake lake but does have an island that peg 23 is right by, in fact I could touch the island with 6m of pole!

I was faced with trying tight to the island, the “track” at 3m or the margins. In the end the margins were the only productive areas but after 3 hours I had a roach and a small skimmer.The margins were showing lots of activity, firstly on the right where there were two major snags- the tree roots and a shrub that was growing unseen below the water. The left hand margin was towards the end full of fish but drop a bait in and they vanished. A very frustrating match saw me lose 9 carp, five were foul hooked and two of the others snagged me in the right margin, I did manage to get a few carp out for 19-11 and last place in the section. My partner fared no better either so it was on to the last day with only pride to fish for.

Day 2 sees me on Lizard peg 36.

Open water today but a lovely looking right margin and a left margin with a ;large swathe of tree roots visible under the water. I set up a rig for 11m, 5m and the margins plus a mugging rig.I began at 5m but soon went out to 11m over the two balls of groundbait and pot of pellets and corn I had deposited at the start. It was not a brilliant start but a couple of skimmers and a carp that I managed to mug with my normal rig helped. I plodded away and although the right hand margin looked great it produced one roach! I managed to put together another mugged carp on my margin rig and three further ones from the left margin but lost 2 in the snags and one hook pull. Three small carp came to the meat at 5m and I ended up with 37-11, not last but definitely down the wrong end of the lake!

Monday sees me back on peg 3 at Bowood – I know it sounds boring fishing the same peg but I prefer to make hay while the sun shines so to speak!Fishing 9:40 to 12:40 I managed bream of 3-04,3-00, 3-00 and 1-06 plus tench of 3-00 and 3-13 plus a small skimmer for a 17-00 total.

Another member had come down and asked me about peg 1, I told him that if there was any colour in the water it was worth fishing but was very shallow. On leaving I saw him fishing on the peg and he had been getting a few bream which set me thinking as usually the bream would have moved further up by now.

Friday I am back and on peg 1, not as coloured as I would like but enough colour to show there were still fish about and if that was not proof enough the black shadows confirmed their presence. I fished 9:40 to 1:10 setting up the usual way and feeding wheat in two areas- one to the left and one directly in front both the same distance out and apart from 2 roach and 2 rudd had a brilliant session with 17 bream up to 4-06 for 51lb all taken on corn. Peg one is a long way off the main bank and rather than carry the fish for a photo took a quick snap and got them back in.

I am off for one last evening session shortly with Gareth to finish off June.

A short part one for June as only two short visits made and Bowood looms on the 16th! The first visit was to Clivey Fishery down at Dilton Marsh as I needed to see Chris Haines who runs the lake and associated tackle shop. Anyway I went light with just the whips and some maggot plus a few expanders. I picked a peg at the far left hand corner from the entrance, away from all the other anglers.

I kept it simple with a 4.5m Chinese whip and a 1g “orange” float with 0.10mm hook length to a 16 and double maggot. I introduced two small golf balls of groundbait and loose fed after that with the maggots. Things were slow to start and it was clear that the carp were getting into the spawning mood with various “thrashings” taking place around the margins.First bite was a skimmer of about 4oz after about half an hour, I then managed to miss the next three bites before several more skimmers , a solitary roach and a carp of about 2lb were landed in the following hour and a bit, I also pulled out of a good fish that did not steam off but merely plodded around, probably not realising it was hooked! I packed up on the two hour mark as I needed to make my way home, satisfied with the 4-5lb of fish after the slow start.

My only other excursion was another short session between 10 and 12 at Burbrook lake- an old Victorian bathing pool run now by Chippenham AC which I was able to access on an exchange ticket. Again I set up with a 4.5m whip in the 7+ft of water but this time with a 1.5g Paster float to 0.10mm hook length and a new style 16 hook I was trying – the eye was set towards the gape of the hook rather than straight or off set. The day was very hot and there was a huge “ball” of roach around the 1-2oz size, numbering several hundred moving around slowly just below the surface, I was amazed also by the number of chub swimming about on top- not big at probably 12oz to 1.5lb size but more than I could count!

Despite the temptation to fish up in the water I set up to fish a n inch or so over depth with the bulk set about two and a half feet away from the hook and 3 no8 droppers below it. I introduce a single ball of soft groundbait and then loose fed over the top with maggot. It took about fifteen minutes to get a bite that was a skimmer (the only one of the day), that was followed by a solitary roach and 16 perch by 11:55. I was just thinking of starting to pack up when there was a slight dip of the float, a lift and I was into something better – a bream of around the 3lb mark. Naturally I gave it an extra five minutes – just in case! It was not to be, so another 2hours on the whip had produced another 5lb weight!

My attention now turns to the 16th and Bowood – my intention is to fish the shallows for the first week or so but the lack of rain may make me rethink!

Maddening because I did not get out in May until the 23rd due to family commitments in Yorkshire. However I did manage one trip in at the end of April before departing for northern climes. I visited Horton on the K&A canal for a short 2.5hr session just fishing a 4.5m Chinese whip to a 1.5g Paster float. The time passed quickly and following an initial golf ball of groundbait with a few micros in it and loose feeding a pinch of maggot every few minutes I managed to accumulate a bag of 5-06 made up of 4 skimmers, 6 roach,3 gudgeon, 1 rudd, 5 perch and 3 larger skimmers/bream the best weighing 1-15. Good fun on the whip.

Moving swiftly on to the 23rd, I was due to fish a two dayer at Witherington Farm, just outside Salisbury, on the Saturday and Sunday so headed down there for a bit of a practice as I had not been there since the same match last year.Selwood and Barnmoor were closed due to the carp spawning so I ended up on Cottage peg 13, with the lake busy with several anglers fishing 2 rods for carp. I set up a rig for the margins on 0.20mm line to a 12 and a homemade BGT1 style float, and a 10m line with 0.16mm line to a homemade Chianti style float to a 16. Micros were introduced on the 10m line along with 2 balls of fishmeal groundbait and a few grains of sweetcorn, while the margins were given 4mm pellets and some corn. The day started okay with a carp of 4-04 coming to the 10m line within 10minutes but there after it slowed and I found that only micros being introduced would inducer any activity. A carp of 8-12 foul-hooked in the tail provided some heart-pounding action but 4 bream of about 2 to 2.5lb were the only other takers on the 10m line. The margins produced carp of 1-04 and 4-08 plus a further bream, 2 roach/bream hybrids and a golden rudd for a total of about 29-30lb. All the while there had been large crashes and splashes coming from Cottage just behind me.

The top pictures you can see my margin swim, and Cottage.

So to Saturday, Gareth was joining me on the match and on arrival we found the fish on Selwood in full spawning mood while Cottage was calm with signs of feeding fish everywhere (bubbling). I drew peg 2 which is the first picture in the middle row (the rest being of the Inner Snake peg, but more of that later), while Gareth drew peg 13which was near the top left corner of the lake. To cut a long frustrating day short I weighed 12-08, two carp of 1.5lb and 9lb plus 3 skimmers for 2lb, I lost 1 bream and 4 carp, two of which were definitely foul-hooked but I was plagued by liners all day. The fish were in front of me but I could not get them feeding, the rigs were similar to the Tuesday but I did not get anything in the margins. Gareth faired better beating the anglers either side with 25-08.

Back on Sunday and we were on the Inner Snake as Cottage was still in spawning mode. I drew peg 11 which was permanent peg 57. Gareth was just around the bend from me (his peg can be seen above). Again a very frustrating day with a bad cross wind and having to fish 14.5m of pole to the island. I had set up four lines- the 14.5m to the island, one at 10m down the track and the two margins. Rigs were similar to previous as was the feeding although I did start a fifth line directly in front of me at 2+1 range with meat. To cut yet another story short, I lost the first two carp hooked across before getting 3 carp across and a micro rudd, a carp on the meat line, 3 skimmers and two roach on the 10m and nothing from the right margin. I had been getting indications from the left margin that had been loose fed with corn and 4mm pellet and with an hour to go (or so I thought!) put in 5 balls of groundbait with some micros. I left it for 10 minutes before going over it at which point I was told that the match was going to be cut short by 30 minutes! In the remaining 20 minutes I hooked 5 carp and landed 3 of them to end up with 30-08 of carp and 2-00 of silvers for 32-08. Gareth beat me again with 40-08 all at 14.5m with nothing down the margin.

So only three outings in May, June should be better with Bowood starting again on the 16th then a two days Pairs match at Makins outside Nuneaton towards the end of the month.

A glutton for punishment should be the title for this episode but more of that later. Buoyed by the results that Gareth had been getting at Rowde, a section I had never fished, I decided to make my way to bridge 114 which is a very nondescript name for the first lock pound that is beyond the famous Caen flight of locks described by the Canal and River Trust as thus:

“Caen Hill (pronounced ‘cane’ by the way), is one of the longest continuous flight of locks in the country – a total of 29 locks with a rise of 237 feet over 2 miles with a 1 in 44 gradient for anyone who’s counting!”

Anyway on the Wednesday I parked up and fished 10m from the far end of the pound lock moorings for 2 and a half hours using a 5m whip and a float that many would deem ridiculous for a normal shallow canal at 1.5g (a paster), but as always there is method in my madness! My thinking was that I needed to control the float as there was a heavy tow with boats coming and going through the locks, plus I don’t subscribe to the theory of fishing as light a float as possible!

Now this may be unlike normal canal fishing but Gareth and I have been finding that double maggot has been producing plenty of bites and from a better stamp of fish. Starting off with a little nugget of groundbait and a pinch of maggots I had a busy session with loose feeding keeping the bites coming, ending up with 23 skimmers/blades, 6 rudd, 7 gudgeon, 15 roach and a perch for 4-15.

The next few days were taken up with shopping, collecting Wendy and Zachary from Heathrow and getting the tackle ready for Woodlands View. Traveling up on the morning I almost had a bump when a deer ran straight across me but fortunately managed to avoid it. Once there I got into the swing of getting the monies in and sorting the pegs for the three days with Adrian who runs the fishery. With 21 taking part I had opted to have 3 sections of 5 and one of 6 so as to avoid split sections across lakes. On the first day we were on Hay and Barley and as usual I let everyone draw and had the peg that was left – Hay 12, in the middle of the lake and the start of a 5 peg section.

My preparations had not been thorough enough as when I opened my net bag I found two of my nets and provided a meal for a rodent. With 4 nets required I managed to crumple up the grey net that had huge holes near the top half and put the other net in but planned not to use it for anything other than big carp!

I had targeted 4 swims, one at 11m, a 2+2 line and the margins to left and right. I cupped in some micros and corn at 11m and started on the 2+2 line loose feeding 4mm pellets with 6mm expander on the 16 hook to 0.14mm hook-length. I began well with F1s coming immediately but they backed off and I then went on the 11m line which brought more F1s, basically I could not get the margins working properly and ended up with 4 carp (all around 2lb), 39 F1s, 3 roach, a skimmer, a perch and 2 gudgeon for 52-04 and last in section!

Day 2 sees me on peg 42 on Back Deans, again in the middle of the lake, both my margins were restricted due to the overhanging tree stumps, so at best I had a top kit and half a section to play with.

I had drawn the 6 peg section and to top it all it rained all day. Starting on the short line gave me a couple of F1s then nothing, so out to 11m for a few before trying the margins late on. I had 24F1s, 2 roach and 4 bream plus 4 carp, a 2lber on the 11m line but 3 good fish in the margin on corn. I ended up with 61-12 for 5th in section but one more carp of 6lb would have seen me up to third. I had pulled out of a couple which I don’t think were hooked but got the line caught on a fin.

Final day and we always rotate so those on Back deans would be on Front Deans and vice versa. This time it was fine with sunshine but we had a heavy frost and the temperature was 1C at the draw! I was left with peg 8, another 6 peg section.

Expecting a hard time I planned on the same approach but with chopped worm and casters at 11m, 4mm pellet fed on the 2+2 line and one margin fed with worm the other with micros and corn. Beginning on the short line it was slow as predicted and after a small skimmer and small F1 I went out to the 11m line that I had been feeding a pinch of micros over the worm every couple of minutes. Basically it was a hard and frustrating day ending with 16 F1s and two carp (2lb and 4lb) plus 6 skimmers and 2 roach that went 4lb for a 35-8 total. I was left feeling frustrated as all the fish came from the long line, not a sign of any fish in the margins but others had managed to have a good last hour or so with large carp coming from the margins, this left me last in section, 4lb adrift of the next place. That ended my festival with a rock bottom 21st place, the match finished at 3:30, I was driving off the fishery at 5:05 having done the weigh-in, worked out the results and done all the paying out.

Learning points – check your nets before leaving home!

April has been a very disruptive month so far, on return from Yorkshire we have been hit by a cold bug that has been going around (not Covid) that has been very similar to the sinusitis I get when my hay fever kicks in and has proven difficult to shake off. That together with boiler servicing and radiator replacement has meant that it was not until Tuesday 11th that I was able to get out. Due to the vagaries of the UK visa system Gareth’s wife,Wendy, had to leave the country for her visa to remain valid! So she set off to the US to visit friends along with Zachary, leaving Gareth behind as he would be starting work again before her return. So it was the day after her departure that Gareth, who was on holiday for the week, and I left early and set off for Woodland View near Droitwich as I was due to run a three day festival for MFSReborn at the end of April on the venue.

Arriving shortly after 8am we bought our tickets and pellets (lots as I wanted to have them ready for the first day of the festival so I was not scrambling around) and headed for Back Deans on the advice of Adrian the manager, settling on two adjacent pegs (35 and 36). We both set up a margin rig, one for 2+2 distance and one for the 11m line. I tried different approaches and shotting patterns but ended up with 19 F1s, 7 bream and 1 small carp of 2lb for 33lb-ish. Gareth fished a similar way but managed to find more carp and got his margin working to end up with approx 65lb. We were the only ones there all day, possibly as the projected rain that did arrive put people off!

Thursday saw us set off mid morning to Viaduct in Somerset with the intention of fishing from midday to the late afternoon. Arriving at about 11:30 we were faced with an almost full car park and anglers everywhere. The quietest pool was Lodge with just 4 people on it (2 left after an hour!) so we parked ourselves on 58 and 59. We set up just two rigs – a close in/margin rig and one for 11m. It was slow by any standard and I struggled to get 19 skimmers and two roach for about 7lb whereas Gareth found some carp later on close in and ended up with about 23lb, the biggest carp going 8lb.

Friday sees us at Horton on the K&A canal for a short session using 4m whips. Unfortunately the canal has not yet recovered from the canoe races that take place during April and we struggled despite the area usually being prolific.Gareth managed only two fish, a gudgeon and a perch but missed several bites. I began on a pellet (for the hell of it and I knew there were skimmers there) and had one skimmer of about 6oz and a perch of 12oz on the maggot!

Sunday sees us back on the K&A at the Top Lock at Seend, a short pound that I had not fished before but was hoping for more action as it was not where the canoes had been.Gareth fished the 4m whip and I decided to use a 3m whip, fishing from 10 – 12:30 when the boats started to become more frequent and the canal was like a tidal river on the ebb.

Once again it was a slow start but we began to get a few bites and I ended up with 4 skimmers, 2 gudgeon, a roach and a perch of about 12oz for around 2lb. Gareth had more fish but they were smaller for a similar weight.

Next up is the three day festival at Woodland View that I am charged with running, hopefully I will be able to report some decent sport next time!

The last day of January started with an early morning call that resulted in a six hour journey (thanks to road works and accidents) up to Yorkshire due to a family emergency that led to me staying in Yorkshire for three weeks sorting out various issues with a further visit still to come in March. So when I finally got the opportunity to get on the bank on the 24th of the month I headed to peg 10 at Bowood and fished 9:45 to 12:15. The session started with me getting a sardine out to about 15m on my standard float tackle and starting on the pole at 10m over a single ball of groundbait laced with a little wheat and a pinch of maggots. Bites were not forthcoming until twenty minutes in the sardine attracted a jack of 2-14 which totally mangled the bait to such an extent that I had to pick the pieces out of the mouth before I could see the hook to retrieve it from just inside the bottom jaw!

A little while later the float went again, this time another jack of 3-08 which had not damaged the sardine thankfully as I was beginning to run low of decent ones. The pike line then went quiet and I began to pick up roach and rudd of half ounce size, then that went quiet before the float slid under and a strike met with a familiar unyielding weight – another pike which came leaping out of the water before succumbing to the net at 3-01. One further pike on the sardine of 4-00 between more small roach and rudd left me with 24 roach and 8 rudd for 1-03 and thus a 13-10 total.

On the Sunday Gareth was going to watch the Rugby League match at ours so we arranged to have a morning session at Blacklands. I ended up on peg 17 and Gareth on 16 – either side of the tumbledown jetty/overflow. The session lasted about 2 and a half hours for me (9:45-12:15) by the time I had got all the bait sorted and bits and bobs.Gareth was soon off the mark with roach, skimmers and hybrids up to just over a pound fishing maggot over worm. We had both set up a pellet line directly in front of us at about 8-9m with a worm line towards the end of the jetty, I had a much slower start, in fact it was about half an hour before I managed a bite. A few roach came from the worm line but after an hour I swapped to my pellet line with 4mm expander and found immediate success with roach taken a few inches off bottom. After about 2 hours I switched back to the worm line and had a perch of 1-02 on worm and a hybrid of 1-08 on 6mm expander. So an enjoyable if frustrating session ended with 16 roach for about a pound to pound and a quarter plus the two aforementioned fish.

My third and final session of the month was on the last day, the Tuesday and once again peg 10 at Bowood was to be the venue. I set up as normal and introduced one ball of groundbait laced with a few grains of wheat, some micros and a pinch of maggot at 10m in what was now gin clear water. The pike rod had a sardine on, although it was the last of the “decent” baits as the rest already had deteriorating stomach areas. No bites on the pole but after only ten minutes the sardine was taken but I missed the run. Fortunately the sardine was still okay and was dispatched out again only to be taken again after a further 10 minutes and for me to miss the run again! Twenty further minutes elapsed and it was third time lucky as a jack of 4-09 came to the net. Still no bites on the pole but a further run on the sardine provided a better fish of 7-04. I was now using the less appealing sardines but it seemed to make no odds to the pike as after a wait when I had a bite on the pole which produced a half ounce roach, a further two jacks of 4-05 and 4-04 came to the net. I literally had cast out the sardine and shipped out the pole when I realised the sardine had been taken! A strike met with a solid resistance and after gingerly playing the fish in it rested in my net -17-07. At this point I packed the pike rod up, had a couple of flick ins close with the top two that produced a half ounce rudd and packed up, happy to end the session with the prospect of rain looming.(left is the 7-04, right the 17-07.

Following the match at Pewsey the weather takes a turn as the temperature falls at the start of the week to sub-zero, particularly over night but then becomes ever so slightly milder for the next two days. Friday sees me head for Bowood, my intention on Thursday had been to go on the main lake but I decided on the morning to go to the Pondtail instead and fish the whip. Getting to the bridge area I was met by two shocks- firstly the bridge was closed and a large part of it was missing, secondly there was a swan standing on the ice on the Pondtail – both lakes were frozen!

There was a small area clear but no where near the platform, so it was ice breaker time! I was shocked at how thick the ice was and was only able to clear an area out to 2m after 20minutes.

Using the 3m whip with a couple of sections retracted I was able to fish the five feet of water but without much hope. Loose feeding a couple of pinkies every few minutes saw no action on the usual double maggot approach, nor on single maggot. A change to a 22 hook and double pinkie saw an immediate “skating” bite which resulted in a roach that was duly netted.

Ten minutes later I missed a similar bite then it went quiet, a change to single pinkie produced a bumped fish and another missed bite, so after two hours and my flask being empty I packed up relieved that I had been able to fish and had some action!

No match on the Sunday but Gareth wanted to go to Christian Malford with Zachary for pike , so off we went only to find a string of cars parked up. Investigating we found there was the rearranged Xmas match taking place (which obviously was not listed), so back in the car we decided to go to the Isis water at Sutton Benger and for me to fish with Gareth watching/acting as ghillie! Parking at the far downstream border by the bridge we settled on the bridge peg as the slack there gave the chance of a few fish plus there had been pike action there previously. Casting out a sardine it was within 15 minutes and the float bobbed and started traveling against the flow, a strike was met by a firm resistance and a pike about 8lb flashed clearly a foot or so down before releasing the bait! That was it for the pike and even a try with a leger and maggot produced only one sucked maggot so we went home disappointed!

Next day we were back at Christian Malford fishing 2-4pm trying peg 8 and 11 with no success apart from a one ounce roach on the maggot to prevent a blank. Similarly on Thursday we fished 1:30 to 3:20 with no pike action with Gareth getting a roach and a minnow for me to save the blanks! Friday I went to the Pondtail to find it still frozen but starting to thaw which resulted in a drop in the water temperature and although I could now fish a 3m whip without retracting any sections my sole bite resulted in a tiny perch!

Sunday sees me back at Pewsey for the third leg of the teams of 4. I draw C11 which puts me on the boats section first peg after the wires which is a good draw normally but as with my luck I draw a good peg when conditions are wrong! The peg along with the two pegs to my left are covered in thick ice at least an inch thick while the rest of the section is mainly cat ice or very thin ice that has disappeared before the end of the match whereas our pegs stay iced all the time! It took about 30-40 minutes to break a path for top2 plus 4 to be clear by which time I was knackered!

I only set up two rigs – a Blood with 0.06 to a 24 and a Peatmoor to a 0.06 and 22- intending to fish the edges of the ice and seeing what I could scratch out. To cut a long story short I ended up with 18 roach, 17 perch and a blade for 1-11 with the majority of the perch being similar in size to the Pondtail one, the exception being one of about an ounce that was taken by a pike and after an interesting struggle under the ice the pike let go and I had my perch! I ended up beating 3 others in the section (next weights were 1-12, 1-13 and 2-00) but suffered from blank periods when I am sure the pike was in residence. Hopefully next week for the final match the ice will have gone, although the section at Milkhouse had ice approaching 2 inches thick!

Happy New Year, albeit a bit late! The weather has had a huge impact on my ability to get out but Sunday 8th saw me at Pewsey for the Teams of 4 series fishing for Bankers (Darren Edgell, Nigel Russell and Paul Rice). The weather was predicted to rain all day and it did! I was drawn at Bowdens, peg E2 (no photo due to the rain) and started on the top 2+1 line on punch over liquidised, missing my first bite and not getting any others on the punch, so put a red pinkie on and bites immediately. In fact it was going really well until an idiot in a moored boat tried to set off and managed to stop just before hitting my net and then proceeded to back up and plough straight over my bread line killing it dead! So groundbait down the track and pinkie over the top allowed me to scratch out some more fish including a 6oz perch, no bites on the worm but I did get a couple of small roach on double maggot down the track. The far bank was not productive due to a pike and I finished with 19 roach, 8 perch, 2 gudgeon and a blade for 1-12 and 10th out of 13 in the section. My first choice bread float – the Blood

So on to Tuesday and I had arranged another session with Tim to look at posture when pole fishing but for me to also fish. The session was due to be 10-2 but on the morning Tim messaged to say he was having a bad day health wise and would come along and watch but was not up to fishing. I got to Blacklands by 9:30 and set up on the same peg that Tim had fished in November. The weather was not great with drizzle for much of the day, Tim arrived and set up under a brolly and I talked through what I had set up and then revisited plumbing the swim. Starting with chopped worm next to the overflow having potted in micros directly in front at about 9m I found it hard going with bites few and far between on both lines, by the time Tim decided he need to go at about 12:30 I had only caught 12 roach and a better hybrid but had also lost a good fish to a hook pull. When Tim had gone I fished on until 1:30 and the micro line woke up with a further 20 roach and another hybrid resulting in probably a 3lb+ weight. I did have quite a few missed bites on expander.

So the Sunday saw the second round of the Teams of 4 with me drawing A3 at Milkhouse. The peg was in a gap between two boats but there had been a lot of tree clearing with logs on the bank and debris in the water that I needed to clear.

Starting the same way with a bread line at 2+1 which was surprisingly deep, again only one fish on the bread but immediate response when a pinkie was put on. The fish were very small and after a dozen or so fish it began to slow down and a move into the track with pinkie over groundbait brought a run of similar small fish. I just got my head down and scratched the best I could and seemed to be doing okay until a double canoe literally went right over where I was fishing with 2 hours to go and killed it. The far bank produced only 4 fish in the last 2 hours and despite starting a separate worm line further down the track no bites on the worm again! I weighed in 1-11 with the Matrix angler on my right weighing in 2-03 so that lost 2 hours cost me big time as I finished 12/13 in the section.

What was more galling was on the Friday Gareth had spent an hour on the canal at Devizes fishing the 4m whip while his wife did some shopping and had a 5lb bag of mainly roach!

I think I will be trying to get to Bowood for a session soon as the water levels seem to be dropping after the rains, fingers crossed!