Match Fished at Landsend Fishery on April 24th 2021.

That group of social misfits, social pariahs and social outcasts who every 2 weeks congregate together and gel into the Watchet angling match group held a competition at Landsend Fisheries on the Match lake on Saturday April 24th 2021.

In top position at number one spot was one of the doyens of the local match scene Mr Paul Smith. This gentleman pulled corner peg number 13 out of the envelope. Fishing down the edge to his left and out in front at 11 meters, Paul put on the scales 60 lb 15 oz. He fished mostly with soft or banded pellet.

Ian Townsend made 2nd place from peg 12 which was directly opposite Mr Smith. Ian’s plan of attack was meat and corn down the edge. 45 lb was his weight of fish.

**The red arrow points to Ian 30 seconds after the start whistle unhooking a Carp. In the fore ground is Alan Jenkins having a fag.**

Fishing champ Rob Dodd who normally finishes in the top two found himself relegated to 3rd. Rob on peg 3 produced a weight of 38 lb 09oz. This was obtained by fishing to the island with corn over pellet.

**Fishing champ Rob Dodd who was placed 3rd.**

Finishing 4th was Nigel Coram on peg 5. Nigel employed mostly the pole and fishing caster shallow. He managed to get a nice lump of a Carp on paste. Total weight for Nigel was 29 lb 09 oz.

In at 5th was last time out winner NHS hero Dave Colley. From peg 15. Dave alternating with feeder and pole with baits of sweetcorn and maggot obtained a total catch of 27 lb 06 oz.

Octogenarian Bob Pascoe was 6th with a haul of 23 lb 12 oz, Red maggot on the pole was his method from peg 21. Bob bagged one Carp but lost another. Still not a bad weight.

**This is Mr Pascoe, now who would believe this guy is in his eighties.** **This gentleman had the top silvers weight.**

Brummie Dave Gartenfeld occupied 7th from peg 17. Tip and pole with maggot got him a weight of 18 lb 05 oz.

Eric Searle on peg 1 was 8th with a catch of 16 lb 05 oz swapping between pellet on the feeder and pole got him his weight.

Phil Dodd took things in to his stride by just using the waggler. Fishing on golden peg number 10. Phil had one Carp and 7 lb of silvers which came to 12 lb 05 oz. Maggot was his bait. He came 9th.

Slivers bagger Dave Nash came in at number 10 from peg 24, with an overall catch of 10lb 2oz. Dave fished at 8 meters on the pole alternating between single and double red maggot.

Match secretary Alan Bland came 11th with a weight of 7 lb 7 oz from peg 22. Poor Alan struggled and being Carp oriented was disappointed to only land one from the edge on meat. Also apparently throughout the match because of Alan’s predicament of shall we say lack of fish activity got untold abuse from the angler to his right not mentioning any names but it was Mr Nash.

Yours truly ended the match in my normal default setting, that of finishing in the bottom 3 at position 12. Whose cares I just take it on the chin and come up with the old adage ” there’s always next time” I had just 5lb 9oz of silvers from peg 7 but did enjoy myself which is the main thing. Landsend fisheries have under gone a restocking, and this was apparent in the make up of my catch. I had a lot of small Crucians and Tench around the 4 to 6oz mark which was different to the catches I normally experience from this venue. I fished at 8 meters and the bait was red maggot. I did hook one Carp which took me straight to the island where it decided to take up residence. So I found my self holding my number 2 section with the elastic stretching all the way to the island. (how many have found yourselves in that situation eh). But with some good advice from Nigel who was next to me on my left managed to retrieve the situation and in the end only lost my hook. Thanks Nigel.

Alan Jenkins on peg 9 found himself in last place with just 1 lb 14 oz of slivers. Alan did hook a decent size Carp on meat from the margins to his right. But it wasn’t Alan’s day after about 3 minute of doing battle the fish decided to slip the hook. Alan mostly fished the pole at 7 meters and now and then swapped to the feeder. It’s only fair to say that Alan does suffer from bad health and this is some times a handicap when it’s comes to fishing. But good on yer mate for showing a fighting spirit.

Readers of this blog will know that I have been keeping an eye on events at Dunwear ponds in recent months. Talking to some of the people in the know about the goings on at these lakes, it is hoped that the Railway pond which now is going to be the match lake will be ready for June 16th. The proposed idea to let the swims that are on the public foot path in railway pond to return to nature will now not happen. These swims will now have pallets, the reason being is simply to increase capacity in terms of pegs. The planned car park at the Sedgemoor road entrance now seems more likely than not. All the swims in South pond have now been totally gated off so now South Pond is only accessible by the members and not the public. And on top of that large notice boards have been place at both entrances for the benefit of the members and public alike.

The pictures below show the gated swims on South pond back of big pit.

Below are photos of the swims in railway pit on the public foot path side that were going to be given back to nature but will now have pallets.

The next match for the Watchet club will be at Avalon on Saturday 8th of May. According to my calendar this day is down as Victory Day. Victory for who though? The next match after that will be on May 22nd at the Sedges on Brick lake.

So that all folks

Pete C

April 12, 2021April 12, 2021

Match Fished at Trinity Fisheries on 09/04/2021

Way way back in the 1960’s when I was 6 years old, yours truly was invited to a friends birthday party, that day after school had finished mum picked me up and of we went to the house of concern. Mum knocked on the door which was soon opened. We were met by the smiling face of Marlene the mother of Mark whose birthday it was, she ushered us in to the hallway. Mum reached into her hand bag and gave me Marks present. “go on give Mark his present then” I went into the front room which was where the birthday bash for the under 7’s was going to be. Marlene and mum had a good old chinwag and after a few minutes mum left. It was the first time I had been to Marks’s house and the configuration was completely different to my abode. The scene before me was about 6 kids sat around a large table playing with spinning tops, Lego and plastic Meccano etc. I went up to Mark who was pleased to see me. I handed him a box that was gift wrapped. He opened it up and stared at a toy die cast racing car made by Matchbox. His eyes lit up and with an enthusiastic grin the table for the next 5 minutes to him was Brands Hatch.

**The exact same model I gave Mark . We didn’t have play stations and X boxes in my day we had good old Matchbox cars.**

I sat at the table and started to look around at the room. At first, I looked out of the window at the front lawn then at the side wall which had a fireplace with a mirror above. I turned around to look at the back wall and there on the wall was something I had never seen before. Now bear in mind I was 6 at the time and most kids at that age are still taking in life, certain concepts such as the legal requirement to go to school and father Christmas. Oh, and Janet and John books (look it up if you’re under a certain age).

This discovery of mine had me fixated, I was so obsessed by the item on the wall all the noise of the kids around me just faded away. What on earth was this thing on the wall I was absolutely mesmerised. With the limited knowledge of 6-year-old I had eliminated the thought that this was a picture, a photo, a clock and it definitely was not a mirror. My scant description of this mysterious object was that it was rectangular shaped and had yellow edging. I was dragged out of my reverie by the arrival of Tressa who was Mark’s Auntie. Tressa was like her sister cheerful, friendly and smiling. “Right put all the toys away and let’s put the tablecloth on shall we” she said. The toys found their way back in their boxes and as a result the tablecloth was laid. Tressa, who was still in the room, spoke once more with a slightly raised voice “Ok Mar all set” I once again I had my eyes set on the strange object on the wall. Shooosh I was taken back and slightly startled, the centre of the object moved side wards, in an instant the centre had been replaced by the jovial face of Marlene, “ok here we go” spoke Marlene. At the tender age of 6 I had my first encounter with a serving hatch. Moments later plates of jelly, trifle and biscuits were carried through from the kitchen to the front room via the hatch. Amazing!

Halfway through the party I turned around again and looked at the serving hatch and had a bizarre thought. You could open the serving hatch get someone you don’t like tie their hands behind their back put their head through the hatch slide the door back until their head was jammed, the person would be stuck, and if you really didn’t like the person you could use something heavy like a baseball bat or lead piping and whack their head. ( Okay I’m still only 6 and I still have to learn right from wrong).

Now put the clock forward 50 years or so and I am getting ready to fish a match at Trinity Waters, so to get some info on how it’s been fishing I decided to look at their Facebook page. Well scrolling down I came to this post.

And the past week the BBC put on their website this picture.

Well it’s when I see things like this my mind drifts back to Mark’s birthday party back in the 1960’s, the serving hatch and that bizarre thought.

The Match itself.

**As you can see there was a mad rush at the draw.**

At number one spot was NHS hero Dave Colley. Dave fished on peg 14, his tactics for his winning haul of 45 lb 05 oz was pole at 10 meters and later in the the margins his main bait was sweetcorn. Well done mate.

**The eventual winner in the car park before the start, showing of his sweet peas. Like match anglers normally do.**

2nd spot went to maestro Rob Dodd who on peg 24 just used double red maggot to tempt his fish. The main weight of his fish came in the last hour in the margins. For his efforts Rob’s total weight was 34 lb 10 oz.

3rd was Ian Townsend on peg 10. Now get this he had a little moan about lack of bites but managed to put on the scales a very creditable catch of 29 lb 06 oz. Ian used meat which appears to be his favourite bait at the moment. He fished mostly down the edges.

**Ian in kick ass mode before the start.**

In 4th place on peg 29 and everyone was pleased for this guy was Tony Richards. This veteran angler who has been very poorly indeed and owing to his illness haven’t fished with the club for 14 months. Regardless Tony put in an excellent performance with 19lb 14 oz this consisted of a Carp of 10 lb 04 oz. Tony fished close in on maggot all day. Welcome back.

**The man himself Tony Richards as old as the Catholic church and who has the metabolism of an ox. This guy got 4th. Welcome back mate from all of us.**

The match secretary Alan Bland ended up in 5th from peg 26. He had a single Carp of 12 lb and 7 lb 01 oz of silvers, Alan fished maggot at vaying distances.

Paul Smith had the top silvers weight of 12 lb 06 oz from peg 9. He employed pole and waggler with worm and maggot. His was an all silvers catch. Paul also had a nice eel to boost his haul. Paul finished in 6th.

**A nice eel that was caught by Mr smith.**

On peg 22 and sitting comfy on his chair was Phil Dodd who fished the feeder with dead maggot all day. For 7th he had a all silvers catch of 11 lb 01oz.

In at number 8 was Silvers angler Dave Nash. Dave fished the pole and whip with single maggot on peg 7 which happened to be golden peg. His all silvers catch came to 9 lb 10 oz.

9th was angling veteran Alan Jenkins from peg 21. Alan just had 2 fish a Carp of 7 lb 11 oz and a handy size Perch which weighed a creditable 1 lb 10 oz. His tactics was pole with maggot or meat. Catch total was 9 lb 05 oz.

Shaun Dyke found himself at 10th spot with a catch consisting of 2 Carp which came to 9 lb 03 oz. Peg 10 was his abode, his method was pole and expander pellet.

On peg 6 was Brummie Dave Gartenfeld. The corner swim did not produce for poor Dave whose fish tipped the scales at 5 lb 02 oz. Double red maggots fished on the pole was employed by Mr G who finished 11th.

**This is Mr G after his weigh in, after I’d told him that his Birmingham City were beating my beloved Stoke one nil.**

Yours truly Pete Curnow could only muster 4 Skimmers and some bits for 12th. Fishing the pole mostly at 13 meters with single and double red could only buy me 5 bites and 4 skimmers Fishing both margins only resulted in bits. I was on peg 12. My total was a measly 4 lb 02 oz. I did miss a Carp at the net though “honest”.

Having a torrid time on peg 11 was Carp king Eric Searle, unfortunately the Carp in his swim went on hunger strike so poor Eric could only put together a weight of bits of 3 lb 03 oz. Maggot and pole was his effort.

On peg 13 was Nigel Coram. Nigel stuck it out to the bitter end but decided not to weigh in.

**By the way Phil Dodd wanted to show of his new coat.**

The next match is on the April 24th at Landsend Fisheries on the match lake.

Until then take care and tight lines.

Pete C.

April 5, 2021April 5, 2021

Match Fished at Summerhayes on 3rd April 2021

On January 4th 2021 another lock down was announced. So where match fishing was concerned, the bugle was sounded, the last post was played, the flag lowered, the draw bridge was pulled up and our beloved sport once again went in to stasis. For 3 months it was pleasure fishing only which is definitely better than the first lock down. But us band of brothers who have been embedded with the love of angling and a competitive spirit had just had to grin and bear it. Come April 3rd and the superlatives struggles to get the measure of the of the moment, the atmosphere of banter and expectation that flowed through the car park at Summerhayes fisheries. For this was Watchet Angling’s first match after lockdown, the gang was back. We were momentary united in the knowledge that once again for the foreseeable future that match fishing was back and that we can once again indulge and cherish. So at 10 o’clock the whistle was blown and a mixture of the pious and the ungodly, the haves and the have nots and the gifted and not so gifted took up the challenge once more. A new chapter has now started and the stage has been set, the gauntlet have been thrown down once more, let the rivalry begin.

**Just look at this lot, if you were to grab each one by their ankles turn them up side down, and give them a good shaking not even a total of £5 would roll out.**

**Dave Gartenfeld and Alan Jenkins. The smiles says it all, It’s great to be back.**

**Alan the match secretary on the left and newbie Nigel Coram on the right.**

**NHS hero, Dave Colley who came 3rd. He** **looks like me after I’ve read my bank statement.**

**This is Shaun Dyke, another new kid on the block, Welcome mate.**

First on the day, was Rob Dodd who was on peg 15, Rob caught the bulk of his weight of fish at 16 meters to the island using maggot. This was a bit of an effort owing to the fact that the wind which strong at times was in his face. But undeterred he persevered throughout to bag the winning catch of 61 lb 08 oz.

**With fag in gob, is the eventual winner Rob Dodd, to his left is newbie Shaun.**

2nd place was Ian Townsend who on peg 23 fished the pole to his left margin for an all Carp haul of 46 lb 15 oz The bait employed was meat and corn.

**Ian on the right who got 2nd place discussing tactics with Paul Smith who came 7th.**

With a weight of 44 lb 13 oz was 3rd place Dave Colley our NHS hero. Dave used a pellet feeder to the island and his main bait was sweetcorn. Peg 8 which was golden peg was his home for the match.

Mr Eric Searle who was on peg 11 kept things simple by fishing to his left at a meters length to tempt 35 lb 05 oz all on maggot. He achieved 4 th spot.

In 5th place was Dave Nash who was on unfancied peg number 2. He did really well to eek out 15 lb 04 oz of silvers and 19 lb lb 12 oz of Carp, Fishing 4 meters out on the pole with single and double red maggot got him a total weight of 35 lb. Dave achieved the top slivers bag.

Top silvers bagger Mr Nash having a nice cuppa before the start.

6th place was taken by match secretary the one and only Alan Bland. Alan’s tactic was to fish down the edge to his left, and to employ meat as his bait. Alan drew peg 19. He put 29 lb 09 oz on the scales.

Paul Smith who in in 7th place fished on peg 22 employed maggot and pellet to the far side both on the deck and later on shallow. Also caught one on bomb and bread. His total for the match was 25 lb 14 oz.

On peg 13 unlucky for some, was Alan Jenkins, Alan fished mostly cage feeder with micros in the feeder and no ground bait and on the hook he used banded pellet. Alan bagged a reasonable catch of 25 lb 06 oz. Alan finished in 8th place.

Occupying 9th place was Phil Dodd, Phil made himself comfy on his chair and just used the method feeder with dead maggot as bait. His weight for the day was 22 lb 15 oz. This was achieved from peg 3.

In 10th place was new kid on the block Shaun Dyke who fished from peg 14. Shaun mostly fished to the island and as a consequence tempted a total weight of 20 lb. His main bait was meat.

Another new kid on the block is Nigel Coram. Nigel who happens to be a bailiff for Pawlett ponds took up 11 th spot with a total of 18 lb 07 oz. Nigel used both pole and feeder rod. His main bait on the day was maggot. Just a word of thanks mate for helping me with my number 4 and 5 sections of my pole when the bloody things got jammed.

Your truly was in 12th place from peg 16 with 16 lb 03oz with an all Carp catch, 5 in all. I did not have my first bite until 3 hours in. All my fish came from both margins on worm. 2 from my left side and 3 from my right.

Using the method feeder with banded 4 mill pellet right across to the island from peg 5 was the brummie Dave Gartenfeld. Dave ended up with a weight of 14 lb 13 oz and 13th place.

At number 14 spot was Bob Pascoe, owing to the fact that Bob has got a few personnel issues he didn’t turn up until 10 o’clock, so he was at a disadvantange right from the start. But Bob being Bob put a brave face on things and caught 2 Carp for 5lb 5 oz and 1 lb 10 oz of silvers for a total weight of 6 lb 15 oz. Bob’s peg was number 6.

**Railway pond Dunwear looking towards the bank on the railway side.**

I was talking to one of the bailiffs at Dunwear ponds today Monday 5th and there appears to be interesting developments happening at the venue. The Railway pond has had extensive work done to it in terms of the banks. The plan is to let the swims on the public foot path side to over grow and give them back to nature. The main area for fishing in railway pond will be the far bank ie the railway bank and up the sides. Later this week apparently people will be coming to visit Railway pond to measure it up for pallets. There is also rumours afoot as well and I stress rumours in the strongest possible terms that there is a possibility of spaces being made just inside the gate at the Sedgemoor road end for car parking. Now like I said it is only rumours.

The next match for the Watchet club will be this coming Saturday April 10th at Trinity Woodlands.

So until then take care.

Pete C.