Summerhayes – Open – 25th May 2026
Bank Holiday Monday and it was back to Summerhayes with the forecast for another blisteringly hot day, there were only a few of us so it would be a rover with most people hoping for a low number so they …
Bank Holiday Monday and it was back to Summerhayes with the forecast for another blisteringly hot day, there were only a few of us so it would be a rover with most people hoping for a low number so they …
Summerhayes on Sunday (and did I mention it was also a Bank Holiday weekend so lots of fishing with four matches!) with a great turnout of 19 anglers. I was top of the list to draw and gutted to see …
For the first match of the weekend it was up to Acorn for Foxy’s latest match and I drew 16 over on the far side, a decent area for silvers. I got the usual rigs out for top four, 10 …
For Ruthie’s Cup this year we were up to twenty anglers, so five per group to be split over four venues with each group visiting the different lakes once. The draw for who was in which group took place a …
In my last post, I looked at luck and the part it plays in match fishing and things you can do to swing the odds in your favour. I touched on the fact that given all the variables, it’s all the more impressive when you see the level of consistency some of the top anglers perform at. Within match angling you have …
I always look forward to the start of this league, I’ve only ever won it once and would dearly love to win it again. It’s normally a popular league and we had fifteen anglers booked in for the first one including Digger Denslow who used to fish the river years ago, Steve Maynard who travelled up from Cornwall and Ben Simmonds who was fishing …
Following on from the success of last years Fridays silvers final, Pete decided to do it for Sundays as well. I think it’s a great idea, every match we’ve paid an extra £2 pools with a pound going in both the carp and silvers pot and with pools on the day as well, there’s a good payout. Originally the forecast had been pretty …
In my last Random Ramblings post (which I’ve had some great feedback and comments about, so thank you for that), I talked about how Match Fishing is possibly ‘The Most Complex Sport Of Them All’ and touched on the role that luck plays in it. Now, obviously you can have good or bad luck but is there anything you can you do to improve the …
This match was supposed to be on the River Tone but due to low flows and weed it was switched to Stathe, a venue I haven’t fished since 2007! The matches used to be won with decent nets of bream and tench on chopped worm and caster fished across but judging by recent reports, there aren’t as many bream around now although odd tench …
Whenever I talk about match fishing to people I know who don’t fish, they nearly all come out with the same statement ‘Yeah, but it’s all luck isn’t it?’. Now if you strip match fishing down to it’s basics, that statement isn’t too far off the mark is it?, the person that draws the best peg with either the biggest or the most …
I always look forward to fishing Hebditch’s pond but because of the hot weather and low water levels we haven’t fished it since February when it was a bit of a struggle so hopefully we’d get a few more bites today. As always we would be donating a proportion of the entry fee to charity and this time the proceeds from the match and …
A few years ago, I was asked if I would organise a trip to France to fish the river Loire for barbel, chub, mullet and possibly silure. The deal was that they would pay all expenses, ferry, fuel, digs and food. My job would be to do all the booking, the driving, sort licences and bait, act as guide to the swims …
With the Ilminster summer league over and the first river match not until 7th Oct, I booked in for the open on Longs. It was looking like being a wet and windy one as I met Jess (Zooner) and Alvin for breakfast at the Toby in Taunton. It was still chucking it down as we pulled into the car park at Summerhayes although …
I was back at Dillington for the final Summer League match and Jake had one hand on the title as he was over 30lb ahead of Nick in second place but he wasn’t counting any chickens yet as the pond is more than capable of throwing up big weights. After breakfast, Nick announced the draw and I was hoping for one of the …