The first weekend of my Easter holidays saw me down in Newquay for the annual Drennan Team England junior festival. It had been run for the previous three years and this was my fourth and final year to fish it. In the three previous years I’d never been outside of the top ten; coming seventh twice and fifth once. As one of the oldest and most experienced anglers their this year I saw it as my chance...
‘Better to be lucky than good’ is the slogan used by fellow blogger Mark Wragg, but at the moment I seem to have the wrong end of the stick- I’m being unlucky at the draw bag and fishing like a tosser! To be fair, I can’t really bemoan the draw I had on Saturday, when me and Mr Godfrey decided on a trip to Barlborough’s Woodlands Fishery. This is a venue that has been really kind to me this...
I had a load of casters left over from the Milo festival and was keen not to waste them. I drove to Gwinear on Sunday morning hoping for an open water peg where I could fish up in the water for carp. It was a reasonable turn out, when the draw started I ended up near to the back of the queue. I had a perfect view of all the flyers coming out! Clint drew first for Andy Dare as he was helping organise...
Ay up folks! a bit of an up and down weekend this week im afraid!!! On Saturday I had the pleasure of fishing the Drennan All Winners Final at Moorlands Farm Fishery nr Kidderminster, infact I use the term ‘pleasure’ loosely as the fishing can at best be described as ‘patchy’! A few of our lads had stopped down on Friday too fish the evening match, overall it fished reasonably well except one...
Sorry about the delay folks, it’s just that the matches have been coming thick and fast just of late, with the big one, the Sheffield Star Green ‘Un semi final being the main event and requiring quite a lot of preparation. This has seen me dividing my time between the waterside and the garage, as well as keeping the missus happy! Anyway, I’m back in the fold now, so over my next couple of blogs...
I was chatting in the draw queue and completely forgot about the positive mental attitude bit, I put my hand in the bag and pulled out 45! I don’t believe it, and promptly turned into Victor Meldrew. As I was walking out of the club I bumped into Gwinear venue expert Andy Dare. He asked me what I had drawn, I told him 45 and looked at him as he did a goldfish impression. The mouth was moving but...
Two years ago I finished 40th (out of 180 anglers) in this Whiteacres festival. Last year I finished 39th. So this year I expected to finish 38th. Unfortunately, the fishing gods made a typo in their plans, and I finished……… 83rd! It was a week of real highs and lows. I got some stuff right, and some stuff wrong, and had the usual mixed fortunes that characterise match-fishing. Monday, Twin...
Well as you have probably worked out if you have been following the results, I haven’t done very well down Cornwall. In fact, that is probably the understatement of the century, fishing wise it has been a complete disaster! That’s not to say I haven’t enjoyed the week because I have, its been fantastic, it always is at White Acres. Plenty of beer and a good craic guarantee a good week regardless...
29th April 1978 is the day I married the long suffering Vivien! 30 years of married life quite an achievement, I have a great wife and four smashing kids. I cannot believe where time goes. I am on the receiving end of a bit of ear bashing though! Quite right as well, I should have taken her on holiday, I will have to get my thinking cap on to make up for fishing this week! Enough of that sentimentality,...
You’ll probably know that the teachers were on strike last Thursday which meant one thing…FISHING!!! I decided to go down to my local BW Kiveton Waters. I don’t get chance to fish it much, although I did go down to watch them re-stock it in the winter, they put plenty in! There weren’t many there on a Thursday, but we got together and decided to have a knock up, winner takes all. It’s a good...
With still everything to fish for everyone is still buzzing at the draw. At 9.15 the entrance to the clubhouse is packed out with anglers looking at yesterday’s results and reliving how they did it or how not to do it in some circumstances. The doors open and were off! I manage to get to the middle of the queue and thoughts are again of a peg around 20. My turn, I pull out a peg to someone saying...
I’ve just returned from my second trip to White Acres and what an eventful one it has been! I was really looking forward to fishing the Dynamite Baits Festival as last year I felt I learnt an awful lot. I was travelling down with Ben Fisk and also had the company of Lee Kerry in our caravan, both brilliant anglers and I was sure we’d do well between us. Also my good mate Andy Geldart was down with...
A week in Spain prior to the Dynamite Baits Festival at Whiteacres was all very nice but if there is one thing you need to be at these festivals it is prepared and ready for action. If I am brutally honest I was not properly prepared and my fishing suffered. What also didn’t help was on the last night in Spain I got food poisoning so when I got back to the U.K. on Friday all I wanted to do was sleep....
It was easy to spot the anglers who were at White Acres for their second week at the draw queue. They were the ones that looked dog tired as they had just finished a week of intense fishing and drinking! Handshakes all round to mates from all around the country, most had not been seen for 12 months or so, a bit of banter and then the doors opened and we were into the clubhouse for the draw. Twiterpated!...
I’ve just returned from a trip to the dentists, where a clean bill of health for another six months was tempered slightly by the ominous warning that there was quite a lot of wear on my front teeth, making some veneers necessary in the not too distant future. “You must have done an awful lot of grinding your teeth over the years,” said the dentist. “Spending too much time watching Sheff United...
Day three - Gwinear. Well, I went to bed Tuesday dreaming of peg 31 at Gwinear as I really fancied the peg. Would you believe it, I actually drew peg 31! There was one big problem, Harry Billing was staying at home and had something to do Wednesday morning so he asked me if I could draw for him and you guessed it, I drew Harry the peg! I had drawn previously for myself and plucked 17 out of the bag....
Day One – A section, Match Lake. If I had the perfect start on the Van Den Eydne with a section win, the start on this festival was an unmitigated disaster! I drew peg 31 just off the high bank, and was not unhappy with the draw. I was not in the fancied high bank section but close enough to catch any strays. I know that the peg in the past has thrown up some good weights and that I would need carp...
Not had much on match fishing lately, so I’ve been fishing the odd open here and there. I had a terrible 2 days last weekend. I went to little john lakes at Ollerton on the Saturday, which was brilliant when I fished it in the summer. It was a bit on the breezy side when we got there, and I ended up drawing peg 21. I’m making excuses here, but it is a bit hit and miss in the colder months. It still...
Peg 36Welcome to Stewart and Harry’s magical mystery tours! And for this week’s adventure we are attempting to find Stafford Moor fishery in Devon. I don’t know why, but for some strange reason we can never find our way to this fantastic fishery. We have been on four occasions now and gone four different routes, what’s more we have come home four different ways! Hopefully we have now impregnated...
Heyup folks, Wraggy here again, with another ‘tale from the commercial bank’. I know it use to be riverbank but times change, unlike the weather at the moment! Just been up to me brothers house & he’s got two or three inches of snow on his garden! Yet last week we were catching shallow over sprayed pellet! Its no wonder the fishing is a bit haphazard to say the least. Every Sunday at Bank...
This weeks guest blogger is Lucy Wightman, who fronts fishing website http://www.fishing-women.co.uk.….. Higham Lane A few weeks ago my partner and I woke up Sunday morning thinking about going fishing, the weather wasn’t the best so we went to my partner’s mother for Sunday lunch (yummy). We then came back to my parent’s house sorting out all our fishing equipment. We were not sure...
I hadn’t been fishing for a whole seven days and I was really desperate to get back on the bank. I woke early Sunday morning in anticipation, trouble was the draw was not until 10am and looking at the clock told me there was still six and a half hours to go! I just could not sleep I got up and messed around until it was time to go by then I had been up for a day and was dog tired! I have been match...
I was only planning on fishing one day this weekend, and having Saturday off to prepare my gear for White Acres, but when Matt (Godfrey) suggested a run out to Little John Lakes to fish the open match I didn’t take much persuading! I have only fished the venue once before, but was really impressed with it when I did. It is full of a range of species from small carp to ide and barbel, and it now...
Well after a frustrating couple of weeks ive finally won a few quid this weekend! On Saturday me and carp fishing machine Jonny Kenning went down to Moorlands Farm nr Kidderminster to fish the winter league there. We decided to have a recce to the venue as we have the Drennan All Winners final coming up on the 3rd of may, and with me going to White Acres for the next week I wont get many more chances...
If there is one method I am confident with, I would have to say it is chopped worms and casters. It is a way of fishing that suits my style, and I always enjoy doing it. You can imagine my dismay then when this weekend I fished pellet all match, and got battered either side by two anglers fishing chopped worms! I drew a bad area, but from what I had heard the odd carp and skimmer was still showing,...
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