01/11/25 - Junior Points Match - Campbell Lake, Viaduct Fishery.

I waxed lyrical last week about the artistic skies over Puddletown and the surrounding areas to the east. This week, however, as I made my way towards Yeovil the skies looked similar only with less colour seeing as I was heading North-west this time. All this would change later on.

I really love Somerset. Even the name of the county makes you feel warm and fuzzy. The landscape reminds me a lot of Bedfordshire where I grew up with rolling hills flattening out into vales, plains and water meadows over which you can see for miles.

From experience, the best way to negotiate Yeovil is at 7:30am when the swarms of traffic have yet to be released from their respective cages.

As I left the town and pointed the car towards Somerton, I let my mind drift to times passed when my old mate Martin Vine and I used to be full of expectation for the matches at Viaduct. Well, that’s how I felt anyway. The only expectation Martin had was to have a good day’s fishing! We visited the fishery a lot, even outside of matches and it remains one of my favourite places to fish to this very day.

I was lost in my memories as I took the wrong turning and headed three miles out of my way before Martin’s voice in my head said that I was ‘quite silly for pursuing my current direction of travel’. That isn’t exactly what I heard. What I heard was inappropriate for a junior coach’s blog report. Let’s just say it involved anatomy, vegetables, and a particular shade of Badger…

Back on track, the car and I swooped through the hills and turns of the Somerset countryside, and we rolled into Somerton village. Another wave of nostalgia washed over me as the Sat-Nav had a turn at getting confused. Had I have religiously followed it I would have been perpetually lost in an endless circle of doom going round and round the small residential area on the edge of the countryside. Daphne (The name given, amongst others, to my Sat-Nav) was completely refusing to recognise the existence of the fishery that I could see with my own eyes nestled amongst the trees at the bottom of the hill.

I popped out a sign to, hopefully, prevent the others from a fate that I had skilfully avoided. But only just.

The lakes where just where I remembered they would be and the whole fishery looked sublime. It really is a beautiful place, and I heartily recommend anyone who is bored enough to read this tripe to go there and find out for themselves.

Once I had got over the majesty of nature and man’s ability to harness it for his own benefit, I wandered round with our peg numbers to highlight ‘the chosen ones’ that would be used for the day.

Swirls, sploshes and splashes greeted me as I walked in the already mild sunshine. I noted the presence of many wild fowl upon the water including several different types of duck, a goose or two, and three Herons that would all have to bu**er off before the juniors arrived… Ah, nature…

Pegs in, it was time to wait for the group to appear in their dribs and drabs. So, I lost myself within memories of great times spent with a great bloke whom I was honoured to have been able to call my friend. Rest in peace mate…

Jezza was back from the wild west (Bristol) after practicing his tea break skills whilst decorating his flat. (A dig at Painters, not the Wookie). If you want to see where Jerry’s flat is located, just follow the long line of discarded decorating equipment that stretches out between Bristol and Puddletown. Maybe you could have a family treasure hunt day out?

Your ten juniors today were:

Peg 1: Jayce (Why can’t I feed my swim from a peg a quarter of the way round the lake?) Hardware.

Peg 2: Mia (This platform is so slippery that I ain’t moving for nuffing) Evans.

Peg 3: Jack (I definitely haven’t won despite catching twice as much as everyone else) Copp.

Peg 4: Alexander (It’s pretty an’ all that, but it really isn’t my cup of tea) Adey.

Peg 5: Alfie (Why do Carp always like to spoil my silver fishing!) Ellis.

Peg 6: Seth (I caught a very big fish, but in no way alerted anyone to the fact that I had done so) Hopkins.

Peg 7: Austin (May as well have a hangover) Scott-Kennedy.

Peg 8: Josiah (I’m a bit more flexible than last time) Wells-Parkes.

Peg 9: Josh (Camouflaged only during a flu epidemic (snot green )) Roe.

Peg 10: Freddie (I came properly tooled up) Campbell.

Your ’gusset’ of angling coaches (the correct collective noun for a group of four angling coaches) today were. Halloween edition…

Graham Howard – Freddie Kruger's Sister (A nail technician. He won't let her near him)

Jerry Bracey – American Werewolf in Bristol.

Neil Haine – Count Duckcula.

John Evans – The creature from the black lagoon (Ilminster).

Peg One:

Jayce Hardware:

21lbs 14ozs, 6th place:

‘OI! You can’t do that!’, is what I wanted to say, but instead I slid next to Jake and just quietly mentioned that feeding from a swim a quarter of the way round the lake may not be seen as strictly staying within the junior match rules.

To be fair, he didn’t do it again. So, I was fine with that.

Jayce had snared a Bream early on and I think his confidence was high at the start. But he had to wait a long time for the Carp to turn up. But turn up they did, at around 2pm, like they did for everyone else!

No trophy shot for Jayce as he and Jake had to scarper before the weigh in to avoid a loss of brownie points from mum for being late for dinner. They do have the furthest to drive to Viaduct!!!

Peg Two:

Mia Evans:

10lbs 10ozs, 9th place:

So, before anyone looks at Mia’s results and thinks ‘How can you only catch 10lbs from Campbell Lake?’, it’s probably unfair to include her in the results because she more or less had a coaching day. Mia is working through a few things with her fishing at the moment to try to resurrect some earlier form. I will be going through Mia’s rigs and techniques over the winter to try to bring her more up to speed so that, hopefully, she will find some joy in her match fishing again. I did hear her sadly say that she had ‘finished last again’. But do you know what? Who cares… She had a day’s fishing at a beautiful venue surrounded by friends. Fishing is not just about what you catch. It’s about existing within the day and losing yourself to the activity.

If it was all about winning, there’s nine other kids that went home miserable too…

Chin up kiddo…

Peg Three:

Jack Copp:

59lbs 5ozs, 1st place:

‘Oh, don’t be that guy, Jack’, I said when he insisted that he hadn’t won.

‘That guy’ is the one that gives it the big ‘Oh, I don’t know. It’s going to be tight’. When deep down they know they have caught almost twice that of the rest of the match put together! (Slight exaggeration, maybe?).

Mind you, he didn’t accomplish it entirely alone…

As well as Dave leaping around Jack’s tackle shop of equipment like a roadie for a heavy metal band, there was a third member of the team today. Someone who is far too humble to ever mention the fact that it was he that told Jack where to fish. It was he that provided endless hooklinks, and it was he that has done the same thing in the past to further add to the legend that is fast becoming Jack Copp.

Stand and be recognised Jerry Bracey!

For ‘tis he that is the true hero of the day and, kudos to him, he never mentioned it once to everyone he saw on his many laps of the lake during the duration of the five LONG hours of the match…Such humility (Humidity) should be appraised within all this nonsense…

If only this wisdom could be applied to his own fishing…

Another fine example of some exceptional angling talent. Well done, Jack.

Peg Four:

Alexander Adey:

DNW:

Campbell Lake at Viaduct in the last throws of Autumn is probably not the best place to bring a live Alexander. ‘Walkies’ started after just two hours because the fish were not doing what they supposed to and picking up his hook bait. In fact, they were belligerently doing the opposite. Charlie and Alexander left Viaduct early, but hopefully Harbourbridge in a fortnight’s time will be more forgiving. No picture for Alexander, hence the cute Stoat...

Peg Five:

Alfie Ellis:

27lbs 1ozs, 5th place:

Alfie was on a mission today. Head down for silverfish.

The trouble with going for silvers is that Carp are notorious for gate crashing the party.

At one point in the match, Alfie and his Carp friend had attracted a small crowd whilst he fought a seemingly one-sided battle against a marauding Mud-Pig. But we soon got bored of watching the Carp playing with Alfie like a kitten with a new pom-pom toy. I was halfway down the other side of the lake before he slipped the net under it!

By the end, 14lbs of silvers was enough to steal a couple more pounds from nearest silvers rival, Josh. It’s all to play for at Harbourbridge for the final points paying round in two weeks’ time.

We are halfway round the lake now and I want to talk about a couple of things.

One is that I was getting nervous with just an hour and a half to go that all the hype that I had stacked on to Campbell Lake was going to be shown to be false.

But, halfway through the match, the bright blue skies had been replaced by scenes more reminiscent of Dantes Inferno. The sky had a darker look than when I admitted to Trudie that I’d had (innocently) eaten her packet of Beef Monster Munch the other week.

At 2pm the sky could not longer hold the weight of the rain and the clouds sneezed all over Somerton.

Myself and the three coaches beat a hasty retreat to bravely hide beneath the boot lid of Jerry’s car, only to emerge 20-minutes later when ‘the essential meeting’ had ended…

Fortunately the rain gave signal to the mystical Carp of Campbell Lake who turned up in great numbers.

The other subject is more serious.

This is a message to ALL juniors.

My coaches and I get a lot of praise for the juniors and the events.

But let’s be certain of one thing here.

If it was not for the kind commitment of your parents, none of it would happen.

Some of the language and disrespect for the person/people who, not only bring you to the venues we fish, but also taught you how to use a spoon and how to wipe your own bottom.

Without them, you are nothing more than feral animals, if indeed you would exist at all!.

They deserve more respect than I have seen and heard from some lately, and I will not tolerate it anymore.

I therefore give you my promise that, if I hear anymore reports similar to those that have been increasingly common during the junior events lately, I will start to issue points penalties on the grounds of a breach of the code of conduct that can be found on the website if you are not familiar with it.

We see and hear most things around the lakes and rivers that we fish, so the suggestion is to shape up or pay the price.

Peg Six:

Seth Hopkins:

27lbs 11ozs, 4th place:

‘What the hell is that?’ said I as a scream went up from somewhere.

Had a rabbit been shot?

Were Banshees still afoot from Halloween?

Had someone stood on a wild trifle?

Fortunately, it was none of those things. I mean, who believes in Banshees?

The sound of exhilaration came from Seth in ‘Billy-no-mates-corner’ because he had caught a fish.

It wasn’t his first fish though, he had caught already, but it was big fish.

It wasn’t any old Carp or a Bream, oh no.

This fish was an M&S Perch the size of a rugby ball and just as fat!

This Perch had been on a full fat diet with a side of Burger King!

At 3lbs 1ozs, it was big.

The only one who wasn’t happy was poor Freddie Campbell who had tempted fate by talking about his trophy winning Carp from Luckfield at the start of the day.

At close to 50% of the British record, the Perch was probably going to be hard to beat.

Not only that but, Seth’s all silverfish weight of over 27lbs would have finished very high up at the last match on Campbell only a few days previously. So, the lad did extremely well…

Peg Seven:

Austin Scott-Kennedy:

34lbs 13ozs, 3rd place:

I had a chat with Austin at the end because I felt that he was on a different planet today.

The Carp in Austin’s peg were giving themselves up faster than Trudie’s willpower in the presence of a Curly-Wirly. If they could have sent Sat-Nav co-ordinates, they would have. If they could have made neon signs and held them up saying ‘Cast here!’, they would have. To be fair, they didn’t need to. They were rolling, topping, even tail walking in the middle of the lake. Giving themselves away easier than A Fox trying to order a drink in a pub full of Game Keepers.

Yet, still Austin continued to fish in his margins.

Yes, he caught a few. But I would be looking back on today thinking about what could have been.

Don’t think the coaches didn’t try to convince him to change either. We did. I did. I even argued with him about it. The evidence was the fact that Jack, who was sat directly opposite, did exactly what we were trying to get Austin to do, and I’ve already mentioned his catch.

It was frustrating to watch, but I hope lessons were learned. I can’t watch that too many more times. I know it’s not everything and third place keeps the championship alive for Austin, but only now by 4-points. With a silverfish match being the last match, it will be interesting to see what happens.

Peg Eight:

Josiah Wells-Parkes:

16lbs 15ozs, 8th place:

Still hampered by an injury sustained during a game of ‘kick the bag of wind’, Jo was always going to be playing catch up. He was better than last week, but it still looked uncomfortable. He managed a few Breams and a solitary Carp for another day out fishing. I hope there will be a year when he isn’t handicapped by illnesses and injuries, so he can reach his full potential…

Peg Nine:

Josh Roe:

36lbs 10ozs, 2nd place:

The ‘Snot-Green Crusader’ had set up the snot shop and got off to a flying start. A couple of Bream and a Mud-Pig had everyone looking towards P9 for inspiration. Sadly, it was short-lasted as Josh slipped into the post start period lull. For the second match on the trot, Josh kept his head down and fished hard. The pounds and ounces kept ticking ever upwards so that, by the end, he had enough to pinch some points from Austin’s grip on the championship.

I had a little chat about winning attitudes which somehow ended up being about moisture levels of the air (Humility vs humidity). Either way, I hope I got my point across… (Whatever it was?)

All down to the last match then and the destiny of two championships is in Josh’s hands. But I think the real winner is how Josh’s fishing and concentration has improved this year, whatever the results at Harbourbridge…

Peg Ten:

Freddie Campbell:

19lbs 14ozs, 7th place:

The Fredster had first blood in the Carp race by catching the first muddy wobbler of the day. It didn’t really stand a chance because Fred was tooled up with a proper Carp rod! Permanent peg 130 has access to a real snag pit to his right-hand side. So, Fred was going to need all the side strain he could manage to get fish out of there.

Like Jayce opposite, Fred was at the shallower end of the lake and under the cover of trees. This meant that there was a lot of leaves and branches to navigate around and hook into. A similar weight to Jayce meant that he’d done all he could do, so he should be satisfied with his day…

With Viaduct now ticked off as a junior venue, I have no doubt that we will be going back there at some point in the future. Campbell Lake showed that you should never give up and that fishing is unpredictable despite how anglers like to think they know stuff.

We have been offered an open invite to host some ‘unofficial’ silverfish matches there whenever we want to. An offer that will be taken up.

Viaduct has always been and remains one of my most favourite places to be, let alone fish. It has some great memories for me, and I love it. I am so happy that I managed to introduce it to some new anglers so they can adore it as I do.

Many thanks to Matt for allowing us to use the lake on a day ticket, and thanks to Ed for weighing all the juniors in (Even if I did feel slightly redundant!)

We will be back…

Thank you to Jerry, Neil, and John for their coaching help, knowledge and hook links…

The next match is the Martin Vine memorial match at Harbourbridge Lakes, a silvers only match, and the last points match of the year.

Two to go…

Juniors Sec….