Bream in the wind - Beastie, Decoy

Beastie Lake, Decoy, peg 3

Wind – lots of it, with some huge gusts – greeted the 17 of us, though it was warm. A few days earlier our secretary, John, had been mulling over the pegs to put in, and was insistent that 9 and 18, which are either side of the bridge to the spit, would be left out, on the grounds that big carp can shoot under the bridge and round the corner and break you. In addition with the strong Southerly wind forecast he wasn’t going to put in the pegs immediately facing it – 14 to 18 – and he was going to leave out the pegs 9 to 13 on the grounds that they are not very good.

After speaking with John at the fishery on the morning he put in 13 (which has been very good in many matches this summer) , 15, 17 and the dreaded 18...and promptly drew the one peg he wouldn’t have wanted – Peg 18! And in fact it was the windiest peg on the lake that day...but I would have loved it. It’s my favourite peg on Decoy, and I don’t think I’ve ever fished it without framing.

Peg 3, my home for the day, was sheltered compared to some others.

I drew the one I wanted least of all – 3, which was sheltered. I wanted the windiest peg possible, especially as rain wasn’t forecast, because in those conditions big carp feed in the margins. My peg 3 was comparatively calm, sheltered by a penisula sticking out on my left, and a high bank behind me. The wind was from the back over my left shoulder – whistling straight into peg 18 in the far corner - and  had more of a swell than a ripple. In addition the last time I fished Beastie I had peg 2, and Mick Linnell, who has fished for some cracking match teams, didn’t weigh in from peg 3.

Gotta keep in with Mel - he
organises our Christmas dinner.

A problem

I followed the plan John Smalley, at the fishery, suggested to me when I told him where I was pegged – micros and a few grains of corn out towards 13 metres near the end of the penisula, followed by a cast on The Method halfway across; then feeding the pole line before another cast. You’re allowed to feed a pole line here while feedering, though our club rules have banned that. It’s dodgy anyway – on the last match here Mike Rawson lost a rod and brand new £80 reel, pulled when he wasn’t paying attention.

Alan found fish on peg 30,
but not quite enough of them.

Plumbing up I encountered a problem – my plummet got caught in a load of line at about 10 metres out. I put on another section and shook the plummet free, but it made me wary of fishing nearby. I also put on a rig for the left, near the pennisula at just four sections, and another for the margins under the tree to my right. I went round with a long-handled hook to try to find the rogue line, and although I could feel it rasping, I didn’t manage to actually hook into it to remove it.

Underway

I stuck to the plan, baiting about four times in the first three-quarters of an hour, and taking just one 3 lb common on The Method. Swapping to the pole, I tried first at just four sections, a little  to my left near the peninsula, and immediately took three bream about 1 lb on corn over micros. I had to change the elastic from a tight 16 to Preston 13 Hollo, hoping I didn’t hit a big carp which took me into the loose line just a few metres away.

Club Champion Dave Garner with
a cracking common on peg 15.

In fact I carried on catching bream, plus one F1. The bites were tiny, and I ended up putting my bulk shot three inches from the hook, which probably stopped the bait swinging about in the strong undercurrents. Occasionally I went out to my long line, and the fishing was similar here, but most of the time I stuck inside. At one point I put in a couple of handfuls of 6mm pellet and some hemp and cat meat right in front of me, and hit a 3 lb common and a 2 lb F1 immediately. Then nothing. I suspected I needed to keep baiting to draw in the odd carp, but didn’t want to mess up my bream swim which was only two metres away. So I went back to the bream, baiting only occasionally with a small pole cup,  and at least was putting fish in the net regularly.

Gradually bites petered out and I found they were gradually moving down the slope into deeper water. I suppose I was taking a bream, mainly up to 2 lb, every four or five minutes, but had no idea whether this was any good on the day as I couldn’t easily see anyone else. However, it was very enjoyable. But then Mike, on peg 4, pointed out that John our secretary was already fetching a third net. I wondered if his opinion of that peg 18 might now be changed...

A good last 50 minutes

Callum's 17 lb 6 oz munter.

Another couple of small carp also came in, and with an hour to go I felt I had to look in the margin to my right. Dead maggots under the tree produced a couple of small roach, and with 50 minutes left I put in dead maggots and hemp next to the bank, beside a rather attractive-looking clump of weed growing over the surface, hoping there might be barbel there. There were! The first one took me by surprise as I broke down to the top two, and shot under the bank to my right. I could just see the float – the fish was at least a metre under the grass! Hook gone.

The next four I successfully beat by adding a section, pushing the fish out, then breaking down and pulling the purple hydro, as quickly as I could, until there was very little stretch in it. Those four ended in my net, best 4 lb. Then a 10 lb mirror took a lump of cat meat on the drop, and that, too, ended in the landing net. The final drop-in saw a seven-pounder foulhooked and landed just as the shout went up to end the match. My two best fish in the last few minutes.

The weigh-in

I was first to weigh in – 103 lb 11 oz, of which at least 60 lb was bream. A quick visit to the toilet (one of the results of my on-going prostate radiation) and I got back in time to take some pictures. The toilets here are really good and clean – there’s even a shower!

How about than, then? Winner
John on a peg he didn't want.

To my surprise The weights on the board were much lower than I had anticipated. John Garner, on 13, who had easily won the Spratts match on peg 30 earlier in the week, struggled on 13 and weighed only 24 lb 11 oz, so it looks as if, at least for the six hours of the match, the carp hadn’t favoured that area – these strong winds set up all sorts of undercurrents which so often govern where the carp feed.

Dave Garner, our current champion, was on 15 with part head-wind, fishing a waggler, which is a big disadvantage in winds this strong. It simply doesn’t allow the options of presentation that a pole gives you – basically all you can do is fish the margin or drag a bait well overdepth farther out. He totalled 54 lb 10 oz.

Les weighed over 80 lb without
including his oxygen cannister!

Next to him Callum – after whom I reckon the storm had been named – had a whopper of 17 lb 6 oz in one of his three nets; but he finished just 13 oz short of my weight. Then to John, who was an easy winner, fishing to his right away from the bridge two to three metres out, with 139 lb 8 oz; and he lost his best fish five minutes from the end when it went round one of the platform posts. Credit to him for getting such a good weight from a peg he didn't even want to put in.

Les - Man of the Match?

Then round the lake, to Les, who was fifth with 80 lb 9 oz, mainly on long-distance feeder. I reckon that, with the wind in his face and his oxygen bottle plugged in beside him, that was a fantastic catch in difficult conditions.

Mat collates our final Club Points.

I had expected peg 26 to produce – it’s a noted swim -  but it was sheltered from the wind and Mat, one of our best anglers, struggled to 52 lb. On peg 29 (a noted swim which was even more sheltered) Tony Nisbet had mainly small carp and bream for 88 lb 10 oz and fourth. It did seem to me that, as I had suspected, the windier pegs had an edge.

I finish second

The final, windswept, result.

So I ended runner-up, which I was very pleased with. My decision to keep putting fish in the net instead of searching for carp, was vindicated. And it’s a long time since I caught more than 60 lb of bream.

 With just two matches to go – Oak and Elm, both on Decoy – it looks  to me as if Tony may end as club champion as he’s been so consistent.