pont samoel

Most villages in France seem to have their plan d' eau or little lake. My adopted village of Silfiac is no exception and has the beautiful lake of Pont Samoel. The embarrasing thing is that each time I fish there I catch very little . This , despite tales of huge tench and perch which in fact are true and supported by photos by the locals . On one of our trips Vince Stuckey had a good tench of nearly 3 kilos. However when I decide to have a go it always seems to end in disaster. I have actually blanked here once while fishing the dam wall and a couple of years ago I lost a roach that I estimated to be not far short of 2 lbs. The lake is as picturesque as could be imagined but the water is gin clear and shallow at the top end. It deepens towards the dam but I am struggling to find 2ft of water in the swim I have chosen. I fished the waggler at around 25 metres but struggled to feed accurately as the wind was northwesterly and in my face . Despite this I was hopeful that roach and maybe one of those elusive tench would come my way. The sun was strong and combined with the clear water I soon got the feeling that again it just was not going to happen . I did catch the odd rudd and roach but nothing of any size and was unable to put 2 bites together. In this situation I was not too hard on myself because I was only here due to the fact that it was convenient as I had such little time. Because the fishing was so poor my mind began to wander towards the final round of the Langport league. I do not really think that we can overcome the leading teams to win the league but the KO Cup might just be a possibility , should we draw well and fish well on the day. Also in my thoughts is whether or not I should try to influence team tactics or with my form on Stathe keep my mouth shut. Either way I am grateful to the Chief in particular because without his encouragement and bullying I am sure I would have given up matchfishing last year, his enthusiam has helped a lot and although he never mentions Chris I know he is aware that I struggle to be "up for it " much of the time. We , of course , must always be aware that the sex and glamour is a big part of matchfishing's attraction , the hedonistic partying and the guppies. How can we lead normal lives with the kind of adulation we recieve. Only this week " Girlie Tarts " magazine have be demanding that the Terminators should be their Calander Men for 2008 whether we win the cup or not! The magazine's angling correspondent "Sizzling Suzzana " wishes to talk to the team at sunset on the Stathe drain. See you there next week.

Langport league rd 5

After practising in the week on Stathe Drain I began to get a feeling that I may be beginning to understand a little about this venue. During practice on Friday I was getting a bite a chuck and a couple of methods seemed to be working quite well. However I am long enough in the tooth to know that practice sessions can be counter productive at times , giving too much confidence . With this in mind I was determined to keep options open . After the last round any sense of real competition between us and the Amigos seemed over as they are now 9 points adrift with just two rounds left. Also the good draws that I've been enjoying have meant that I was top individual in the league with 34 pts from 36. Far more important for me is the £260 from the pools so far!! Going well or not I still hate fishing Stathe , but when acting skipper Vince handed me peg A2 I was fairly confident I would be ok in this peg. I was pretty sure that A1 would win the section but last week Rob Eagle had 3 kilos + of small fish from this peg I was pretty confident I could do a job here. I also hoped that , as he had stood in at the last minute, Brian Read would get a good draw. Bri actually drew a very average peg which yielded him 4 pts. I had Scott Cousins on my left on A1 and for the 3rd time in my section Amigo John Buckingham on my right . The first thing to mention was the wind , vile was the only way to to describe it, just sub gale and straight in our faces. I cupped in some choppie and fished over it for 30 mins. This produced just a small rudd and a ruffe. All the time I was feeding hemp , caster and a little maggot to my right just over middle . Switching to this line I caught a small skimmer and 2 small roach then nothing. Everyone around also seemed to be struggling so I kept plugging away feeding lightly by cup plus a little hemp by catapult. Well it all ended in abject disaster, I had a few small fish for 700 grams . Although the section was very tight I just could not conjure up a few extra fish to give me decent points. The only person I beat in section was my Amigo which was some consolation , but 3 lousy points was hopeless. I blame no one but myself I just did not get it right! Scott duly won the section with 1 Kilo 700 followed by Dicky Bull with 1 Kilo 050 gr. Nigel Easton was 3rd with 950 grms, very close but still a disaster for me . I did not enjoy my day's fishing, but as my mum always says, worse things happen at sea. The good news was that Dickybob had won his section using the worms I had donated to him before the match. I was delighted for Dicky as he has had a poor run in the league this year. Unfortunately Vince's nightmare is ongoing as he collected another 2 pts today. He just cannot seem to get a good draw right now! But at least it means I am not dropped for the final round. With just 24 points I feared we may be last on the day but to my amazement we not only ended 5th but knocked tabletoppers Focus out of the cup , putting us in the final with Yeovil Nomads . It will be a lot of fun on the final day as Focus and Nomads are joint top of the league. I lost the individual lead in the league and am now joint top with 3 others. The team remain 3rd and we are suffering from vertigo from the height. As far as the individual win is concerned I do not think there is any loot on it, only bragging rights and the probability is that one of the leaders will get an end peg and win it. I blew it today , that is obvious. Given a choice I would much rather win the knockout with the team than the individual. Wish us luck and end pegs ! The Amigos finished last and are now bottom of the league. For all the banter we know they will be back next year with a variety of cunning plans to put us in our place. But for the meantime the bragging rights are ours! Nick Collins won the match with 4 kilos from the same peg I had won the previous round.

Lanport league round 4

When the league matches are on the river I am out of bed on the morning of the match bright eyed and bushy tailed, really looking forward to the day ahead. With todays match at Stathe it is really just going through the motions. I really do not want to be there.But be there I must so its off to the Arms for the draw and another run in with those Amigos. They are really up for this one as they historically do well here and had pulled 4 points on us last time out. I am so out of touch with this venue I have little or no confidence in what I am doing here. My only hope is an end peg somewhere and I may even cock that up. The draw I really fancy is E8 a nice short walk and the chance of lumps or hemp fish. God really is on my side this year and to my utter amazement my 40 to 1 shot E8 is thrust into my hand by skipper Shaun. I did at first suspect a wind up as I have seen this stunt pulled before by duplicating the ticket of the flyer and handing one to the entire team. But no I really have drawn E8 , end peg of the match so I gave the ticket a tender kiss and set off for Stathe .Part of what makes this peg a flier is that not only is it end peg but it runs into a thick weed bed which extends some 30 metres to the right. Also because of easy access it gets fished and sees bait regularly unlike many other areas. I set up a pole and a whip with the intention of fishing 2/3rds across on choppie worm and inside on the hemp. Just after the off I am joined by an old mate , Barking Brian Read . Now Brian is kindly going to fish the next round for us as Russ and Shaun are on holiday. Brian is without doubt the most naturally talented angler I have ever met. He is superb technically but his watercraft and ability to read the water is even better. He lay down behind me for a while and chatting to him is always fascinating. He also said I drew better than Billy the Kid and Rolf Harris and had better win from here.! As far as the match went I bullied 4 good bream +skimmers and a few hemp fish to win with 9kilos 170 grms .I lost 1 in the weed plus a foulhooked fish at the net. The few hemp fish I just caught while resting the other line.I am fairly sure that every other angler would have won off my peg so it is almost embarrasing. I just seem to be rolling in bream slime and pools money at the moment. Second in section was Mark Hollister who was next to me and nicked a bream while I wasn't looking.I did not walk with the scales this time because a group of bullocks seemed too interested in my kit, so I do not know who was third. Team wise it was a good day for us. Russ again coming up trumps with 2nd individual and the Chief a handy 7 points. Despite poor Vince having a nightmare 2 pointer we finished 2nd on the day with 32 points.The Amigos were close to meltdown and finished very low down, saved only by Chris Sandfords section win. I have never known an angler quite like Chris , something odd seems to happen to him every time he fishes. He once battered me at Stathe from the next peg fishing a waggler all over the swim while everyone else was fishing and feeding tight on the pole. Today a cow jumped into the water near him and was there for ages whislt a herd from the far bank stampeded over to look at it. This sort of thing doesn't seem to faze Chris as with all this going on he caught 4+ kilos of small fish despite the attention of a pike as well. If ever the space shuttle disappears from the radar it will almost certainly land in his swim. Another angler to mention is Steve Bishop of Team Focus, he fished a brilliant match ! Nearly 6 kilos of roach! Magic! Another thing to mention , an excellent angler like Al (puppy ) Dunn who was last in section. Thats Stathe !! Its a lottery, get lucky!

Langport vs Taunton

With the first 3 rounds of the Langport league on the river over it is now time to turn attention to Stathe Drain. To be honest this venue is far from my favourite . I'm not entirely sure why I have not enjoyed my fishing here but it is certain that I have totally lost the plot . In recent years it has been one disaster after another and I really cannot remember a decent result. With this in mind you can imagine my dismay when this year it was decided that 3 rounds would be here. I almost decided to ask the skipper whether it was possible to be considered just to fish the river but that is really not on . No ! dont be a primma donna , get on with it and try to sort it out! With this in mind I had a couple of practice sessions which taught me absolutely nothing. The problem I have with this venue is that I do not really understand the amounts of fish of the various species, their response to a variety of conditions and also how they react to matchfishing pressure. This interclub match at least gave an opportunity to fish under match conditions prior to the league match. At least the practice sessions had allowed me to make one or two decent rigs and my rough matchplan was to fish for lumps for at least an hour whilst feeding caster and hemp , hoping to catch on these baits sometime later in the match. The draw was organised with each team drawing odds and evens. This was either done for the sake of fairness or to keep Amigos and Terminators apart. The conditions on the the day were frankly awful from a fishing point of view , exceptionly sunny and bright and the water level had dropped about a foot and lost its colour. I drew peg 28 above the railway bridge which I thought would be as good as any barring end pegs . To my right was Ian Brewer who I have known for thirty years, but have never got to know well. On my left was a blank peg and then Amigo Mark Vigar. On the whistle I cupped in some chopped worm 3/4 the way across and began feeding hemp on the inside. I had one tiny skimmer on the choppie then nothing. The hemp line produced not a touch. Its already turning into a Stathe disaster and by the halfway mark I have caught next to nothing. People around me are also stuggling and some are fishing the whip and catching a few tiny fish. I then decide to fish a lighter rig over and to my supprise get a 4 oz skimmer first put in , followed by 4 tiny skimmers and a roach. Then the float goes down and I am into a lump. It tears off to my right and I stop it and turn it I am now optimistic that it will come out and I keep it high in the water and put as much pressure as I dare on it. Just as I feel that I am somewhere near in control it goes solid in midwater. Snagged! Nowhere near any visible weed but snagged solid . I release pressure then re exert pressure but its just solid. No feel of any fish now so I know I must just exert pressure until something happens. The rig flies back at me and thats that. I hate this bloody venue! The rest of the match ticked by with me trying all sorts to catch but nothing happens. Another Stathe disaster to add to my collection, I weigh in a paltry 470grms and wished I had stayed home and had some teeth out or sat in the greenhouse with a thick jacket on. The good news is that fellow Terminator Russ Farley has won and it is his first win, I am really chuffed for him. He had 2 tench plus bits for 5 kilos+. Generally the drain has fished very poorly with ours the worst section , won with under a kilo by Mark Vigar next to you know who. I think I must have been in the bottom 3 in the entire match About par for Stathe and me. We just do not get on!

Langport league rd 3

Round 3 of the league and I regret, the last on the river. We duly met at the Arms and being top of the league the lads were in fine fettle with the banter. I was also very pleased that the Amigos seemed much more chipper and were dishing out plenty of abuse themselves despite being bottom. I had practised a few times on the river but the rain in week washed out the way I had intended to fish. I was drawn peg A1 which is the first peg below the town bridge. The river was down a little but coloured and pacey. End pegs had been a real bonus in the previous match ,so now I'd got one it was up to me to do the business. I also knew that Weston man Ron Stark had won the section from this peg on the previous match with bream. God again was smiling at me because this is also the shortest walk of all and I was going to give it some serious groundbait which I'd got to carry. On my left was Chard Remain's Dave Lawrence who I have known for years and get on well with , so a chat from time to time would be in order. I had weighed everything up and decided that I was going for it , so in went 15 babies heads of varying stiffness. I started on the whip and had a roach first put in followed by a chublet of about 250 grms. The first hour went OK but not catching very quickly , I was getting the odd better fish on the 2grm rig, holding back hard. I was just thinking about a look with the feeder when I was into a bream on the whip. The fish kicked hard in the flow but I felt pretty much in control . Bringing it towards the net I then realised just how much the river had dropped because I was struggling to get the net to it. Right on the rim of the net the hook pulled out. It lay just out reach for a moment before swimming off. Oh Golly Gosh ! Fiddlesticks I politely exclaimed. I uttered a few more polite sentiments when I realised that the rig was trashed when I pulled out. It is times like this that I wish I still smoked , a fag would make me feel so much better. I did have a bacon buttie which HG had kindly made for me so I pigged that back before changing rigs and assembling a 4 piece landing net handle. What a wally I am , I should have spotted that I needed it. Having lost the bream I spent a fruitless 45 mins on the feeder. The weed flowing down made feeder fishing difficult. Back on the whip and still breamless I chugged away, catching steadily but never fast. In the back of my mind always that escaped bream and that it would cost me something. 11/2 hours from the end I had another go with the feeder but it was really difficult now with more and more floating weed coming down .I had a couple of small fish on the feeder but with 1 hour to go decided it was the whip for the rest of the match. shortly after going back to the whip I hooked another bream. Determined not to lose this one as well I played it very carefully, slowly but surely taking control the fish was becoming tired. I was watching the line so intently I failed to see a big raft of weed which hit the line. Despite my best efforts the fish and weed raft became one entangled mass and it came off. The polite words were almost a scream now but the bottom line was I had now lost 2 and I was gutted. I did manage to strangle a smaller one of around 2lbs + a good hybrid but on the whistle I was not a happy chappie. I knew very little about how the rest of the section had done but as I'd got the scales I would soon find out. Amigo John Buckingham weighed 3 kilos + from the end peg downstream for third in section most of this weight being a single bream. A few other people had single bream but Dicky Bull had more smaller fish with his for 2nd in section with 3kilos + . I suppose I should have been pleased with a section win and 3rd individual with 6kilos + but in truth it was a match lost rather than a section won. Amigo Mark Vigar won the match with 8 kilos and I lost 2nd place by a few grams. Losing big fish nearly always costs and this was no exception .We also had an indifferent day team wise with 26 points and lost our place on top the league. The Amigos had done well and have made up some ground. The next 3 rounds are on Stathe Drain which is probally my least favourite venue in the county. Wish me luck. At least the £87 quid winnings made me feel a bit better . I even bought the Amigos a drink.

Langport league rd 2

Langport league round 2 and the team are at the Arms eager for the next round and lying in ambush to bait any unsuspecting Amigo who may pass by. The Chief and Russ seemed to be in animated conversation about something so I slide over in case its team tactics that I should know about. Alas nothing of the sort only the price of Thatchers cider being discussed. I once asked the captain about tactics and he replied that he thought they were little mints you could buy from One Stop. I was hoping to avoid the top 2 sections because this time of year the pike are often so active it gets like fishing in a crocodile pit at the zoo. The bottom 3 sections are not as bad normally. God smiles on the righteous and I draw C6 at Coombe. I know this area reasonably well and there is just one peg in the section that I do not want. I think its C5 but I am not sure. Alas when I arrive at the peg its the one I did not want. I am not going to make pitiful excuses before the match and oddly enough I had came second in the match from this peg last year. I had fished the peg in exceptional circumstances when a huge raft of floating duckweed ruined most of the section and there were loads of roach hanging around the edge of it, allowing me to fish shallow and catch 5 kilos. The reason I do not like the peg is because it is wider than most of the section and its on the inside of the bend. It catches the wind a bit more and the bottom is uneven . I suspect the shelf goes out further here and its very deep, plumbing it up I found it was all over the place. Add to that that its a very uncomfortable bank you can see I am not thrilled to be here. On my right is Chard Remain's skipper and slightly reformed lager lout Jamie Rich. Jamie recently appeared on the Al Murray show in Pub of the Year. On my left is Trotter's Pete Edwards I do not know Pete very well but he seems a very agreeable sort of guy. Peg 1 in the section is favourite for a few bream if they show and I am sure that bream mugger Darren Kempson will not hesitate to go for them. I set up 2 whips ,a pole and the feeder . On the whistle I put in 5 babies heads on the inside plus 2 3/4s over. I was expecting a bit of a struggle but nothing like this , just 5 tiny roach in the first hour . The feeder failed to get me out of jail either, no one that I could see was setting the world alight but everyone had at least 3 times what I had. I could not really see Jamie on my right because he was hidden in the boondocks. However Jamie always counts his fish and I'd heard him take his shoes and socks off ages ago so he must be past 10. Drizzle now turns to heavy rain and I consider a newspaper over my head and a Hamlet cigar. Last year I won the 1st match and then came last in the following round, looks like a re run. The second hour improves very slightly . I feed in a different way and fish further down the peg. It is not how I had planned to fish but needs must to make a bite or two.I was supprised to see both anglers on my left investing a lot of time in fishing for a bream. With this in mind I kept plugging away hoping just to sneak off the bottom of section if they failed to snare one. By the end of the 3rd hour I thought I'd got a kilo and bites were beginning to come, but the fish were very small. Switching to caster , I had a run of slightly better fish + a chublet of 250 grms then they backed off and it was back to maggot and tiny fish . The last hour was no time to experiment, a small fish every put in and hope for the best. Steve Lovell weighed nearly 5 kilos from peg 8 and Jamie 2.5kilos nextdoor.It was a relief when my weigh went 3 kilos+ .To my supprise that beat the next four anglers on my left but we had heard that the bream strangler on peg one had done the business and sure enough Darren had 8kilos of them for 2nd in the match.This gave me 7 section points for which I was grateful but I still could not figure out that awful start especially when other people caught well early then faded out. I really mulled this one over , good recovery or bad match plan? Not sure! Wayne Buckingham was my Amigo to beat and mission accomplished.Weston's Mick White did the donkey work for his team by winning with 17kilos +. The biggest plus was the team result all the lads had done well and without a section win we had come second and were now top of the league. Terminators top ! unbelievable! The Amigos had a wretched time and where last on the day and are now last in the league I was slightly concerned that they seemed genuinely a bit fed up . They will bounce back .They always do, but for now they had to endure plenty of mickeytaking.

Langport league rd 1 2007

The Langport League is an annual six match series fished in the summer on the Rr Parret and Stathe drain . It has been running now for 13 or 14 years. I wrote its constitution and chaired the inaugural meeting, since then I take no credit whatever for its enduring success. In the league's early years I fished for successful teams but for the last 7 or 8 years I have fished for the Terminators. The Terminators , I believe , have been last in every year bar one , that does not bother me or any other member of the team as far as I am aware. We all do our best and when the wheel eventually falls off , have a laugh about it . I am also the member of the team that drinks the least which is a position of some novelty for me. The team consists of skipper Shaun Gamble, Keith (The Chief ) Dowdell , Dickybob Webber, Vince Stuckey, new boy Russ Farley and myself . Sadly we lost our other team member Dave "Grandad " Taylor who died after a long illness on June 16 th. Grandad was a super character and family man and I wish circumstances had allowed me to get to know him better. As I have previously mentioned we have not been the leagues most successful team over the years but without doubt are the thirstiest and nicest looking. Voted sexiest team in league by Girlie Tarts magazine for the last 7 years. We are all still available for modelling contracts and Girlie talk shows for reasonable fees. The other thing to mention is the deadly rivalry that has existed between us and a team called the Amigos. This rivalry has escalated in recent years due to some quite outrageous bets, contentious transfers and new signings.There are also attempts to nobble the opposition by getting them plastered on the night before the match. I generally keep aloof from these goings on because I am too old for this nonsense and I do not think my marriage would stand this kind of behaviour. So , on the morning of the match we duly assembled at the Langport Arms .Our team looked in reasonable order with the exception of Dickybob who had had a late night .On the plus side the Chief had shaved off his Ricky Gervais beard because Russ said he looked like an armpit with teeth. It was a very nice touch that a minutes silence was observed for Grandad and the team wore black armbands. I was drawn D3 in the new section of Calders field , upstream of the normal E section.I had absolutely no idea how this section was going to fish because I could not remember the last time it had been matchfished. On my left was ex boxer Ron Mortimer, Ron is getting on a bit now , but has been the only Weston Super Mare team member to threaten me with violence unless I stop suggesting that their team behave improperly with donkeys . On my right was Amigo new signing John Buckingham who I have known for years and of course I have known Ron for donkeys years .I think the river took us all a little by supprise it was certainly faster than I had anticipated. I liked the look of the swim , it is narrow for the Parret , deep and even paced. I fed 8 babies heads at the off and began with a 2grm jolly on a 7m whip. The first 45mins went very well in deed as despite the fact I was not catching quickly . I was getting the odd good skimmer and hybrids. I was enjoying my match except for the weather and settling in to a nice rythm when out of the blue I was into a real lump. To be honest this is not the sort of fish you want on a whip in 12 ft of water of this pace and when I saw it briefly for the first time I thought it was a tench.( need new glasses ) I did not think it was coming out on this tackle but I stayed calm and just put a little pressure on when I thought I could . To my supprise the fish eventually tired and up popped a very dark bream of some 2.5 kilos+ . Gently into the net and what a bonus. I then faced a dilemma , I was going well on the whip , but were there more bream? I made a decision . 15mins on the feeder to look for one. I did not get any response so back to the whip. Things went very well for the next 1 1/2 hrs as I picked off some good hybrids and roach but in the back of my mind was when to have another look on the feeder. At about the half way mark my mind was made up for me as odd bream began to show in the section. Despite being confident that I was well ahead of all the anglers I could see there was still time for it to turn into a bream catching contest and my early lead could be wiped out. I then put a couple more balls in and committed totally to the feeder . After a long wait for a response the tip fell back and I had a bream of about 1 1/2 kilos . This I thought gave me about 7kilos in total. I gambled that this would give me good points in the section and stayed with the feeder . This produced another couple of kilo fish and two more lumps . At weigh - in the scales registered 13 kilos 600g to easily win the section. My match had gone very smoothly and I was pleased with how I had fished (for a change) Alan Diamond was 2nd in the section with 4 small bream for 5kilos + . 3rd was Scott Russell with an excellent 4 kilos+ of small fish. Scott seems to be in good form these days , catching well wherever he goes. Back at the Arms I hear that I have won the match and just as pleasing the team are 2nd with 31pts ,well ahead of the dreaded Amigos. I pick up £87 for the win and after buying the team a drink leave them to torment the Amigos mecilessly.

Birthday on the Blavet 2

I always like to go fishing on my birthday. It is perhaps a statement of being independant from working for a boss or a company. So whatever day it falls or however much business pressure there is, I try to go fishing This year I decided on a leisurely day feeder fishing outside the Connextion showroom on the Bar le Blavet stretch. After a huge storm during the week the river had gone the colour of oxtail soup in places but this colour was now beginning to drop out. I had two pints of the casters I had turned during the week, plus some worms that I dug , so I decided it time to get serious about bream fishing. I mixed about 3 kilos of stiffish groundbait and laced it with half the casters. I balled this in just past the middle then made a dryer mix to go in the feeder. This area really is quite consistant and I go here expecting to catch bream rather than just hoping. With these favourable conditions I was not in the least supprised to start catching fairly quickly and during the 4.5 hour session I had about 40lbs of bream & hybrids , best fish around 2kilos. This is a good but not exceptional return from this area and to be honest I was rather hoping for a bit more but the swim faded in the last hour. The end of a pleasant break but I must begin to explore a little more.

Birthday on the Blavet 1

The first week in June HG and I usually spend in Brittany and this year I had bumped into an old friend Marcel le Boule. It was agreed that Marcel would pick me up and we would go and fish Guerledan. To our supprise, when we arrived the water level was so high it was nigh on impossible to gain access to fish. So for this reason we ended up back at Bon Repos. The river was a bit quick but a 2 gr jolly seemed to cope ok, the problem was getting bites I am beginning to wonder where all the roach and skimmers have gone. I managed just one roach of about 6 ozs in the first 1 1/2 hrs and Marcel had a skimmer and a few bleak. Marcel had the first bream after 2 hrs then lost another. I had trashed three rigs on a snag and feeling pretty fed up changed to the feeder. I had one bream of about 1 1/2 kilos within 10 mins and Marcel had another and lost another on the pole. Just before packing up time I had a bream and a big hybrid which gave a narrow victory for les anglais. Not the most exciting short session but nice to see Marcel again. He yet again nobbled me for a few feeders and some casters but in return explained where I could find the best red worms I have seen for years. What goes around comes around! so they say.