Trip #80 - Viaduct Match Lake

A visit from the in-laws meant that this weekend I would be fishing with my father-in-law Jeff. I wanted to go somewhere which offered a bit of sport, with the potential of a few bigger bonus fish and within half an hour’s drive. There was only one option - The Viaduct. I was very keen to give Viaduct’s Cary Lake a whirl, but after asking a few questions on Maggotdrowners, I settled on re-visiting Match lake (There was a match on Cary, and Lodge was very busy). Jeff and I arrived at the Viaduct around 9am, and walked through the car park mid peg draw. I have never seen so many fishing barrows. Most of these match anglers had more gear than some small shops! Not that I was jealous… I loaded up my trolley and heaved my gear over to Match Lake. I was desperately hoping for a better result than my last visit, although the weather was a lot warmer. I positioned Jeff on peg 48 and I took up residence on the peg diagonally opposite (49). 

Trip #69 - Tough times at Somerset's finest.

This was going to be my first coarse fishing outing of 2015. To be honest it was a tossup between going Pike fishing on one of the local(ish) drains or going for a bit of a confidence boost on a commercial. In Somerset I am spoilt for choice for quality venues, The Viaduct, Summerhayes, Trinity, Land's End and Sedges - a lot of which I am yet to fish! I mentally flipped a coin and decided to fish a commercial. Aiming to get up and head for a new venue was my original intention, but not stirring from bed until 8, meant my initial choice of Sedges or Summerhayes was cast aside for a trip to the Viaduct, where I arrived just after half 9. My last trip to this venue was fantastic with F1's and Carp popping up on every put in, so I was hoping for the same. With a match on Campbell and 4 pegs taken out of Cary I chose the Match Lake (again) and opted for peg 45, hoping the fish were in the feeding mood!

Plenty of options on Peg 45

Trip #54 - Viaduct Fishery - Match Lake

Everyone in the South West knows about the Viaduct fishery. It's a well established, heavily stocked match fishery with multiple hundreds of pounds required to place in the matches. It regularly features in the Angling Press and has been a Fish'o'mania qualifier and Maver Match This qualifier venue. Clearly this would be the place to go to learn from the big angling names! I found out that on Saturday (12th) there would be 3 matches on, but chatting to a few angling facebookers the night before persuaded me to give it a whirl. With 6 lakes on the complex I called in advance and was assured there would be plenty of room, with at least 2 other lakes open for pleasure fishing. So I set off, slightly later than planned to see what all this Viaduct fuss is about.

A great set up at the Viaduct