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BACK TO
THE FUTURE WINTER
BLUES TEAM SECOND DOUBLE
FRAME HAMPTON
FERRY EAST DOCK
SWEEP TAFF
WINNING WAYS NOW
AVAILABLE RIVER TUITION WITH CLIVE BRANSON This weekend saw me fish Newbridge on Bristol Avon (Bath) Having not fished this venue for over two years I expected more of the same as last time I fished with the first two hours of action and the last three hours of sctratching. With 4lb of perch in the net I did not see the local anglers above me go all out for bream in the later part of the match. Relagating me to 4th in the section. (A lesson to learn for the next match this coming weekend) GREAT WEEKEND A good weekend fishing at the Shakespeare Bank holiday extravaganza despite not winning a cockle. Saturday saw me draw a bad peg on the town (peg 10) in the deeps. Weighing in with only 1lb 7oz of waggler caught roach. However beating Dave Harrell one of the organizers was the highlight. See report http://www.matchfishingmagazine.com/news-full.php?ID=82) Monday I drew peg 19 on the town a better peg. This was the Team event. With the bottom two teams being relegated for next year we were lucky to survive the drop, just beating the Shakespeare super team by one point. I held my place with a fifth section place catching 4lb 20z of perch on bloodworm. (See results http://www.matchfishingmagazine.com/news-full.php?ID=84) QUALIFIED This weekend I travelled to the Warwickshire Avon at Evesham Fishing a Shakespeare qualifier match for next weekend Bank Holiday. On my only attempt I secured 2nd position with the help of a Barbel and a couple of pound of small roach for a weight of 8lb 2oz. Using stick float on a rising river feeding hemp and bronze maggot. (I am in 2 matches now over the Bank Holiday Sat & Mon If you are there don't forget to say hello) ![]() Our Team of misfits (Left to right- George Avery-Clive Roberts-Richard Candy-Alan Stevens-Me) BACK TO NATURAL FISHING This Sunday saw me travel to the Warwickshire Avon at Evesham. After the floods the river has fined down and was looking good. This was a team Shakespear Qualifing match and with my old team mates Clive Roberts and Richard Candy we teamed up with two local anglers Goerge Avery and Alan Stevens. We all secured good section places and won the match with over 10 points to spare over favourite's Shakespear Team. I had a 3rd place section on the top of the town water with 4lb 11oz all small roach and dace on the waggler. (A great match and now looking forward to the Finals on Bank Holiday) IN THE MONEY AGAIN What a difference a change of tatics can make. Coming 4th on the weekend with 40lb of mirror and f1 carp was due to the hard work over the last few months (see last report) Been in the money now in my last three matches lets see next week TIDE IS TURNING As mentioned in my last report (Now a few matches away) I have I hope just starting to crack the carp fishing match scene. With over a dozen matches fished without a sniff of any prize money except for a few near misses, I finally got into the money with a 2nd place of 81lb6oz small mirror carp bag All caught on a banded hair rig using 8mm hard floating pellet as bait, within the swimfeeder I used fine halibut soft pellet mixed with a few 4mm soft floaters to break up the mix. A sliding hook length of only 3" with a knotless eyed hook facing inwards. (What a difference this type of fishing is! much more technical than I am used too) However trial and error has prevailed. Thursday eve match at Cef Mably S Wales also saw me in the prizes with 36lb 6oz using the same method. (Watch this space) CLOSE SEASON BLUES For those who remember the close season will know that the transition from winter to summer is the time to reflect. Getting to grips with the commercial fisheries for me is a problem. Over the last few weeks all that I have achieved is a couple of small wins and placing. This week saw me win at Morgan pond Newport with 11lb 14oz of silver fish. Wednesday eve saw me win at Lamby pond Cardiff with 3lb of roach. SUMMER EVENING WIN The first of the Summer evening matches started this week a a small weight of 8lb 4oz won me the match. Catching 2 carp, 1 hybrid, 1 tench and a few small roach all on my special paste bait. GETTING CLOSE Well it is back to Summer Carp fishing and I am just getting back into the swing of things. This week saw me coming 6th in the Cefn Mably Open (South Wales) Catching 30lb 4oz of F1 Carp and a few chub on the Feeder with hair rigged corn. CARP CRAP Well after being spiolt with silver fish fishing this winter it was back to Summer Carp fishing. And as usual you have to draw well to do any good in these matches. This bank Holiday weekend saw me fish at the popular Cefn Mably fishery ST Mellons Cardiff. The Saturday match was on the Bridge pond and was won by Local angler Lee Petichio on the open peg number 20 Using pellet and worm he secured a weight of 42lb of mix carp, barbel and chub. I drew in the corner next to the island and caught 20lb of mainly F1carp and chub. The Next day saw me draw on the Match lake again in the corner peg 6. With only a few pounds I did not bother to weigh in. The match was won on the same peg as saturday this time by Shaun Wilson with 52lb of F1 carp BACK TO THE FUTURE After a twenty year return to Woodstock Pond Newport I did not reconise the venue. With the Island full of trees and over growth it looked a picture postcard. However the fishing has completly changed. Instead of roach, skimmers and tench the venue now has F1 carp, pasties and big bream. Instead of maggots and caster's or bloodworm the prefered bait is pellet and corn. And it was this bait that produced a joint 2nd position for me with 23lb 4oz of small carp (Pasties) Twizel (Newport) was joint with F1 carp and bream. After a long lay off and 1st on the day was Nick Belcher (Newport) KING AGAIN Mike Towler (Glamorgan Rebels) came good on the last match of the winter series on Port Talbot Dock with 35lb of quality skimmers. Mike has the knack of catching those bigger fish. By waiting a bit longer for thoe bites I beleive the bigger fish can be caught. However I will have to wait until next season to find out. 2nd was Doug Hornblow who has also just come into form with a 29lb catch 3rd was Clive Roberts who caught 28lb on the pole. The same method I used on the pole with 24lb. As promised I shall reveal my methods of how I achieved coming in the frame 9 out of 10 matches click this line BLOWN OUT This weekend match at Port Talbot Dock was more than a blow out, in fact the weather was a gale force wind. The Anglers who used braid line became the winners and as usual Mal Entwistle(The new king of the dock) won the match with 29lb (Next to me) Rob Wiltshire (Caerphilly) 2nd with 21lb and 3d was Doug Hornblow 20lb Rob Wiltshire also won the winter KO series BLOW OUT Its a funny old game matchfishing! After a good run on Port Talbot Dock my luck ran out. Drawing peg 1 a fancy peg that was second last week. I came down to earth with a 5th place having caught only 26lb 14oz. With the dock having a light wind the conditions where ideal for the pole and Doug Hornblow took advantage of this with an easy 39lb win. Mal Entwistle was second with 34lb and old stalwart Mike Towler 3rd with 29lb ANOTHER WIN BUT ONLY JUST With the rivers in flood this weeks match at Port Talbot attracted a few more anglers from the Cardiff Nomads match club. Drawing the same peg as last week I was very confident in another victory. However with strong winds and rain It took a while to get into my rythem. With Clive Roberts, Doug Hornblow either side and Jim palmer only 1 peg away I started to pull away from them in the second half of the match. Winning with 36lb 10oz and Richard Candy 2nd with 36lb 6oz Alun Davies 3rd with 29lb 10oz King of the Dock (Who me!) Having been drawn next to Mike Towler who has the best record on Port Talbot Dock it was the head to head that I wanted. With Doug Hornblow on the other side was cream on the cake. Now was my chance to show if my method that I have developed was going to work. In the the first hour Mike was 10 fish ahead of me. However I kept to my method (Which I shall reveal in 4 weeks time when the series ends) At the weigh in Mike ended with 91 skimmers for 37lb and with over 120 skimmers I won the match with 46lb (Winning the silver peg also) Doug on the other side of me caught 38lb for second. After the match Mike said "We now have a new King of the Dock." " Who me I said!" REVENGE BUT ONLY THIRD After a two week break I fished the popular Port Talbot docks open again last Sunday. Drawing next to Mal Entwistle was the revenge I wanted with me coming on top with 39lb 14oz to Mals 33lb However it was The king of the dock Mike Towler scoring a first place again with 46lb and Rob Wilshire (Caerphilly) with pole method for second 42lb BEAT AT THE POST Mal Entwistle (Glamorgan Rebel match team) Had his revenge this week just beating me with a weight of 12lb2oz to my 11lb 12oz of skimmer bream and roach. The low weights were due to a container ship that arrived after just an hour into the 5 hour competition. WIN AT LAST Sun 21 Jan. Strange how one week from another can change, drawing peg 20 on Port Talbot Dock only 2 pegs away from last week saw me win the competition with 23lb 12oz fishing next to one of the anglers that perhaps is one of the finest angler on the venue Mal Entwistle (Glamorgan Rebel) A close run match with me coming out on top. Mal came third with 17lb OUT OF LUCK This week end Sun 14th Jan saw me draw peg 18 on the Port Talbot dock. Not a good draw catching 18lb saw me finish out of the frame for the first time in 5 matches SECTION WIN Port Talbot dock is perhaps one of the fairest venues that I know for skimmer fishing. The anglers on form will always frame and the same names will always feature in the prize list. However I could only manage a section win with 20lb 6oz this Sunday IN THE MONEY AGAIN Not quite winning yet! As my new method of fishing for the Port Talbot Skimmers are proving. With a net of 21lb coming third in the weekend open. I shall reveal my methods closer to the end of the season, just so I can win a few more shillings. Section Win Drawing the poor end of the Port Tabot Dock this weekend saw me in the prizes again with over 11lb of skimmers. Using the same tatics as last week. (Im just getting used to this venue) NEAR After a few matches just missing out on the prizes at Port Talbot Docks South Wales, I came close to winning the week before Xmas. With a bag of skimmers of 34lb just behind winner Mal Entwistle. Coming second on my 4th visit this season was I feel a good achievement considering some anglers have been fishing their all year. Catching mainly skimmers with a few roach on swimfeeder tatics and using floating maggots as bait. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Fishing The River Wye at Belmont for my Local Team Cardiff Nomads saw me draw a peg in front of the Scout Hut at Belmont. A nice draw on the day due to the water coming up after a downpour. Scratching for bleak saw me amass 0ver 500 bleak for a weight of 15lb. Come the weigh-in my main competition was Dave Harrell (Mids) the ex International angler with a good reputation on rivers. The weigh in was close with the needle bouncing on the 15lb mark. As I was weighing first I settled on 15lb. Dave Harrell also had the same with the needle bouncing on the 15lb mark. Except he insisted vocally and put pressure on the scalesman to give him 15lb 2oz. Dave is a keen win at all cost angler! What chances have we! The humble angler got. After a lay off from fishing
due to
work commitments
I started back this winter with a couple of matches at my local Port
Talbot
Docks. A great venue with loads of skimmers to be caught. Mostly
caught on the
feeder although a pole can work well when the wind is calm. My first
couple of
matches produced 23lb and 20lb respectably. Its becoming a habit coming second (But I cant complain) This time at Port Talbot Dock South Wales Perhaps one of the best winter venues in the UK. With warm water fed from the steel works Mike Towler the venue specialist won with 40lb 8oz of skimmer bream, fishing the feeder. While I came second with 33lb of roach and skimmers caught on the pole. 3rd was Doug Hornblow with feeder caught skimmers with 30lb 4oz _____________________________________________________________________________________ 2nd this time. Things are getting better for me at Evesham after coming 3rd on the weekend on the Avon I used the same bread punch method and caught over 250 small roach to weigh in 14lb for second place only 9oz behind the winner in the Wednesday Shakespear League _____________________________________________________________________________________ Back at Evesham on the Avon fishing the Fisheasy League Saturday, I had a good days fishing allthough the weather was freezing conditions I caught 10lb 14oz of Roach and chub on Punch Bread. And a couple of maggot caught Chub and perch. Winning my section and coming 3rd overall. ![]() (Photo supplied by Terry Commerford http://midlandanglingnews.com) ____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Saturday saw me finishing second on the Taff feeder with four big chub and a bream for 16lb 9oz. The winner for the second time running was Giles Cochrain with 18lb 4oz _____________________________________________________________________________________ The Warwickshire Avon at Evesham was 12" on and still rising on the Wednesday Shakespear League and with a second in the section the match before I was hoping to go one better. However the bleak did not feed so after switching to Lob worm with an hour to go I hooked and got snapped by two big fish which would have won me the match. (Thats fishing!) _____________________________________________________________________________________ With the river Wye still holding extra water the Wye Championships saw a tumble in weights. Drawing peg 37 on belmont was not the best of draws. However I set my stall out for bleak and won my section with 25lb 4oz _____________________________________________________________________________________ The Weather is affecting results laterly with wind and plenty of rain making rivers and some venues producing low weights. However Our team Sensas Cardiff Nomads secured 3rd place on the second round of the Evesham Fisheasy League with Robin Darker and Giles Cochrain coming second in there sections. Wednesday saw me pick up a section win on the Warwickshire Avon Evesham with nearly 4lb of bleak on the Shakeapear Individual League. _____________________________________________________________________________________ A couple of lean weekends without picking any prizes up. The start of the Hereford River Wye Matches saw me finish in 3rd place in section with 11lb 10oz of bleak. While finishing 5th in my section on the Warwickshire Avon Evesham with 2lb 8oz of waggler caught gudgeon and roach. Sunday saw me well beaten by Howard green at Whitesprings who weighed 78lb to my 9lb _____________________________________________________________________________________ Just missing out on the Welsh National Championships Switching to the pole after two hours on the feeder saw me catch 40lb 6oz of skimmers and roach (Should have changed quicker Thats match fishing) My team loosing out to rebels by one point Welsh National Championships Results, Port Talbot Docks. Sun. 54. Mal Entwhistle (Sensas Rebels) 45-12-0, skimmers, crumb feeder, red maggots; John Munkley (Sensas Nomads B) 41-3-0; Clive Branson 40-6-0; John Taylor (Glamorgan AC) 39-7-0. _____________________________________________________________________________________ This weekend saw me fishing Port Talbot Dock. Practice matches for the for coming Welsh National next week. Saturday I fished the wrong method using Pole to hand to catch 22lb of roach and skimmers while all the winning method was feeder for skimmers, Sunday I switched to the feeder catching 45lb of skimmers for second place, while Venue specialist Mike Towler notched up another win with 60lb. Thankfully Mike won't be fishing next week . Lets hope the team (Sensas Nomads) can secure a National victory which has eluded them for a few years. Let you know next week. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Almost a disaster for our team Sensas Cardiff on Sunday at the Drennen Super league King sedgemoore drain I caught 6lb 10oz for third in my section. However the team slumped to last but two with 47 points just holding on for second to qualify the KO round. (See Results) Saturday saw A good match at Hendre Lake Cardiff. Fishing my favourite method "Waggler" 21lb of roach just behind match winner Richy Candy with 23lb ____________________________________________________________________________________ The practice match for the next Drennan Super League to be held on the King Sedgemoore Drain was a bit disappointing with expectations of large weights disappearing. I drew peg 46 midway along. Catching small skimmers and roach on 9meter pole soon dry up, the last ¾ of an hour I switched to the waggler and started to catch again leaving feeding fish in the peg is a nightmare. Ending up with 3kilo 100 gram just missing out on section and not far behind the main frame. Lets see what happens next weekend! ____________________________________________________________________________________ A reversal of fortune again (funny thing match fishing) After coming 2nd on the tuesday warm up-match on the Bristol Avon at Newbridge for the Super League 5th round I caught 22lb of roach to hand thinking I got it worked out come the Sunday match proper I drew peg 48 and caught 2lb 10oz coming last in my section. The good thing though is our team Sensas Cardiff Nomads still hung on to 2nd place and with one match to go on the King Sedgemoore drain we are 17 points clear of the next team ____________________________________________________________________________________ Another section win for the Shakespear qualifier peg 38 ferry 3lb 10 oz of gudeon on the bread punch. Two section wins on a trot on the Wednesday Evesham Wychavon Qualifier fishing the waggler I drew on peg 5 in the town finishing with 5lb 4oz on the first week then drawing peg 27 town I caught 4lb 6oz ____________________________________________________________________________________ Funny how things change after winning the match the week before on the Gloucester Canal I could only manage one perch in the next warm up match. The match proper I drew a just off the noted bend area of Hemstead, so after a blank one and a half hours I decided to go for a few bleak, ending up with 4lb of the little things, coming 4th in my section. Our Team Sensas nomads coming 5th overall but managing to hold on to second place 22 points behind Thatchers and 6 in front of Nobbys. Back with a win on the warm up practice match for the next round of the South West Super League. The Gloucester canal at Hempstead. Fishing an open ended groundbait feeder to the far ledge I caught 3 Slabs and a few skimmers for a winning total of 11lb 1oz _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Disappointed with a last but one in my section (weighing 8oz) in the Latest South West Super league on the Kennet and Avon canal. However my team Cardiff Sensas Nomads came 4th and still holding 2nd place behind Thatchers _____________________________________________________________________________________ Just finished our domestic summer league on Hendre Lake with a third place of 10lb 7oz of roach on the waggler and finishing 3rd overall. Winner was Mike Ares. 2nd was Stan Crowley _____________________________________________________________________________________ Great days fishing the waggler on Porth Res in Devon 4th in the South West super league with 23lb 6oz of skimmers fishing up in the water and using my favourite method, "the waggler" ____________________________________________________________________________________ A good win using Paste up in the water White Springs, Pontarddulais, Match Lake. Wed.15. Clive Branson (Sensas Nomads) 61-4-0 small carp and bream on pole and maggots over pellets fished to the island from peg 16. Jeff Walker (Llandeilo) 45-12-0; Chris Murphy (Bargoed) 25-0-0. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Two on a trott as I won the latest Tuesday evening series with a hard fought 7lb 2oz of skimmers and roach. Battling against a heavey wind I caught most of the fish on a 3.5 meter whip 2nd was Stan Crowley with 6lb8oz and 3rd was Clive Roberts with 5lb 9oz Saturday saw me finishing with a 3rd place at Duffryn Springs with a small bag of roach and perch with 6lb 8oz 2nd on the day was Richard Candy and first was Clive Roberts with 8lb 14oz ____________________________________________________________________________________ Tuesday last
week 20/05/05 was my start back to
my match fishing season and started with a win at Duffryn springs
fishery South
Wales in the Tuesday evening league series. Drawing
the end peg (still drawing well) I set out my stall for
small skimmers on the long pole using fish pellets and red maggots on
the hook.
I kept a steady stream of small fish coming to the net for a total
weight of
10lb 8oz winning from Richard Candy (Cardiff) who had 9lb Been busy fishing lately so Im a bit behind in my reports! However I shall keep this brief. After completing the Tues eve series with the last four matches on Hendre Lake St Mellons Cardiff, I was overall winner with 32 penalty points, 2nd with a late drive was Clive Roberts with 34 points and third just beating Stan Crowley was Mike Ayres with 36 points. The last four matches saw me finishing 2nd on first match with 12lb 8oz of small roach, second match I was 3rd with 10lb 4oz of perch and roach. Third match I was fourth with 7lb of roach and the final match I was third with 8lb. The last two Wednesday evening matches on Lamby way Newport has seen me win both matches. Last week I won with 8lb 10oz of chub on the top of the water, and this week saw me catch more chub with a bonus carp for 17Lb 2oz second was Richard Candy with 12lb 12oz A good run for me at the moment with a 2nd place on White Springs fishery near Swansea in South Wales. A win at east Dock Cardiff in the Nomads evening series followed by another second place the following week. I am now leading the evening series with four matches to go all at Hendre Lake Cardiff. Keep in touch I will let you know how Im getting on.SECOND again!! This time I was fishing the Viaduct fishery in Somerton West of England, this was a saturday marm up match for the South West Super league. Having a great days fishing catching 64lb 10oz of carp useing the waggler float method and caster as baitMy fishing this last couple of weeks have been good yet so frustrating, I have been second in the last four competitions. 2nd on East dock with 12lb 4oz of small skimmers having the Golden peg which was worth over £100 losing out to Clive Roberts who weighed 12lb 14oz. I was Second again on Lamby way with a low weight of 4lb 10oz of small roach. Second again at East dock Cardiff with 12lb and beaten this time by Doug Hornblow with 13lb 2oz. In the mid-week evening Cardiff Nomads series I was second with 18lb 6oz of carp caught in the margins useing Luncheon meat as bait, !st wasAllen Davies with 22lb.This Week-end 4/05/03 Saw me back in the Winners Place with a good net of small roach and skimmers from East Dock Cardiff 11lb 7oz Second was Richy Candy with 10lb 8ozLast week saw me miss out on the main prize list with a 3rd on East Dock Cardiff with 6lb 12oz of small skimmers and a second place at Lamby Way Cardiff mid-week matches with 9lb of small carp and roach.This
weekend 19/04/03 saw me winning the first of the season matches on East
Dock in Cardiff S Wales. A brilliant small fish fishery, with 10lb 13oz
of small skimmers on the pole I managed to keep Shaun Williams
(Caerphilly Anglers) in Second place with 9lb 12oz
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