Winter approaches

15lb 6oz Avon gold for Dave Tupper on the River Monster Boilie!

Before I start with my angling adventures....I want to just talk for a few lines about some friends who've been out impressing all of us with their awesome captures! First of and most exciting of all is news from one of my good friends and field testers Chris Tupper. Chris and his father Dave have been concentrating their efforts on a very under fished section of the middle upper section of the Hampshire Avon.....Chris had had a lot of blank sessions prior to coming on board as a field tester and after getting on the River Monster Boilies he's happy to report numerous cracking barbel to 9lbs and a good haul of big chub including a new pb of 6lb 12oz.

Emma with her new PB Mirror of 17lbs

Well, this week was no different and after sending me a text message informing me of another barbel capture to his rods of 8lb 3oz, I received another message a half hour later informing me that his father Dave had just managed another Barbel and new PB of 15lb 6oz!! What a fish....I'll leave you with the picture to tell the rest of the story! Well done Dave!

Another angler catching a PB is the gorgeous Emma Dyer. Partner of top bloke and all round nice guy Dave Brooks. Dave's another of my brilliant field testers. Daves results on the Monkey Nut boilies have been great so far despite only being able to get out on the odd occasion for a brief session. Dave's managed a few very nice carp including a real brute of just over 40 pounds.

Well, after taking Emma for a quick overnighter the pair managed a nice catch of 17lb carp a piece which was a new PB for Emma. Well done both of you guys!

Finally a quick word about another guy who's been doing rather well on the FSG recently! Dougie Hull has been out fishing the Kennet around Newbury recently and taken numerous good specimen fish including this stunning 10lb 6oz barbel taken last week on the Frankfurter Sausage and Garlic.

Despite a rising river with lots of debris coming down, Dougie fished through the tough conditions to buy a bite from this beauty...just goes to show that if you fish well and persevere at it, all will come good in the end. Well done Dougie!

After a few weeks of struggling on the bank side and not really finding any real action on my rods throughout what is usually one of the most prolific times of year for many aspects of angling. I had the chance of a brief overnighter on a local still water. 

Tazz keeping a keen eye on things for me!

This seemed the perfect opportunity to grab a bit of carping before the weather turned a bit too cold for my old bones...well, needless to say that despite the conditions looking absolutely spot on, no angling pressure on the water and even visible fish in my favourite spots! I still pulled another blank!

Bobs Kennet Chev

Times are feeling tough and my next plan of action was a few days spent with Bob down in Newbury chasing River Carp! I managed to get a bit more than a few days in though and the wife allowed me 7 nights of angling bliss! I really needed the get away to be honest as it's been nearly 3 years since I last had anything that resembled a decent length of carping session anywhere!

With a bit of new winter clothing and a new Fox supa brolly system in tow, I loaded up the car and made the journey down to Aldershot to get myself a season ticket for Farnham Angling Club. They have some fantastic waters to choose from including the prolific and famous Yateley Complex!

I arrived at The South Lake around 4.30pm and after numerous walks around the venue I settled into the right hand 'Night mare' swim...After boating out 2 baits and getting set for my first mini session, the kettle was on and hopes were high for a run or two....This never happened and despite fish crashing to my left all night, I never received a touch on either rod.

Kennet duck broken, but not with the right species!!!

A swift move was made in the morning around to the 'Willow Beach Swim' behind the houses. Another 2 nights of arduous blanking was to be had before I packed up on the Friday morning and headed over to meet up with Bob and his birthday treat for me of 2 days fishing Newbury club waters.

We started in full swing with renewed enthusiasm on the River Kennet. Bob put me into a known Carp hot spot and we were almost sitting on the rods expecting a take any second! Again things were bloody tough and despite sitting it out all night for a take in what looked top notch conditions. All I managed was 2 fat bream and Bob took a 5lb chub. In the morning we packed up feeling bemused by the lack of action and headed over to one of the clubs prolific pools.

The stunning Yateley South Lake

Bob again set me up in the going hot peg....He dropped in next to me and it was great to see some of my old mates from days when I used to fish Theale fishery some 8 to 10 years ago. Bob was almost straight away into a nice 18lb 14oz common and then it all dried up until well after dark when he took 6 others to 19lb 14oz!

My rods sat stupidly still yet again and all I could muster up was a very small common of around 5lbs! It seemed I just couldn't put a foot right this week.

Autumnal Gold for the Bobster! Well done bro!

After 5 nights of torment I left Bob and headed back over to Yateley for round 2, this time on the stunning Match Lake. There had been many set backs over the course of the week including flat batteries, broken solar charging systems, massive traffic ques, road works and finally a terrible problem with a sticking EGR valve in my Audi!

Another brute of a common for Bob....I was getting my arse whooooooppppeeed!

I settled in for the last couple of night opposite a beautiful island. The swim looked perfect and with a few very likely looking deep holes found around the marginal banks of the island using the boats echo sounder, I felt really confident of busting my Yateley blank.

The fishing was shite...but who cares!!!

I sat it out for 2 nights as the temperature dropped away and winter suddenly felt like it was upon us. I don't suppose we can complain hugely as it's been a terrific mild September and October! The real trip highlight was getting to see a fantastic fireworks display from Newbury Race Course. The fireworks lit the entire sky over the club lakes. We were in a great position to see the whole display and with camera on tripod, we managed a great pile of pictures to boot!

Well, that's all I have to report back with really...another fruitless effort on my behalf but at least I got to see the delightful venues I intend on spending some quality time on next year and of course, I got to see Bob and the other lads too, which was bloody brilliant! Not 100 percent sure on my next angling adventure????Whether the river Wye is going to do me one or two last Barbel before she shuts up shop for the winter...who knows? If not it's going to be a few Pike sessions next. I'm going to see if I can bust that magic 30lb river pike this year.

Hope your all well and catching a few more fish than me!!!

Regards
Keith ;)