Thrashed! And not much joy on Jay, Pidley

 Peg 41
The first of the Individual Winter League matches at Rookery Fishery, Pidley. I use the Matrix dip net bag to dip the nets - much easier than dipping each one separately or filling the stink bag and then having to empty it. Then I queue for the shop to pay my entry fee. Tim stands outside, allowing only four in at once, with masks, of course. Then there's a second queue, which I don't join, for the take-away food, which will be taken to the peg. All in accordance with Angling Trust rules.

I was looking forward very much to fishing against the Big Boys, and even while I stood in the queue Mark Pollard and Jon Whincup came and had a word. My target - honestly - was not to come last on my lake. That would make me very happy.

Alex had drawn me 41 on Jay. Magpie and Raven are also being used. In Summer peg 41 had produced fish, but three anglers told me that on the previous match there the peg had not produced much. But it was quite mild, with hardly a breath of wind, and I fancied fishing across with bread - which virtually every angler on Jay and Raven would no doubt be doing if possible, as the far bank shallows are an obvious target area.

An unbelievable start for Peg 44
To cut a long story short, within 20 seconds of the match starting the angler on 44, (who I later learned was Gavin Bridge), three blank swims to my left, was playing a carp. I went out to 13 metres plus a half butt with bread, fishing inches from the far bank, but nothing happened.  At that moment the wind started to blow. Two minutes later Gavin was playing another carp; then another. He had several before I had a bite, hooked a fish, and lost it as I was breaking the pole down.

For the next two hours Gavin continued catching fish after fish while I failed to get a bite. The wind was picking up slowly all the time, and the big gusts, which nearly took the pole out of my hands, were becoming more frequent. I could see that Gavin had a bit more shelter than I did. Then, becoming very disheartened, I came in to four section of pole with maggot. Two tiny perch were followed, eventually, by a 3 lb carp. At least I had a fish. 

Gavin Bridge with his magnificent 181 lb 2 oz winning catch of carp to
8 lb or 9 lb  on Jay in the Individual Winter League, all taken dobbing
bread at 14 metres.  He put in no groundbait or loosefeed during the match.

I consider withdrawing from the league
Even with one carp in the net I was already genuinely considering withdrawing from the League. It seemed obvious I was wildly outclassed by anglers of this calibre, would make a complete fool of myself at the weigh in, and I didn't know why I wasn't catching - which is worse than knowing what you're doing wrong. Obviously I should never have entered.

I went through the motions, though, and when it became so cold my teeth were chattering I put down the pole, had a drink of hot Bovril, re-plumbed across, and again re-set the rig to three inches off bottom, still with bread.

First cast and a 6 lb carp came in. But then - nothing. When the bigger gusts came I reverted to the maggot line, and with an hour to go a 4 lb mirror was my reward. I kept trying across with bread, but that was my last fish.

Gavin had kept on catching fish all day. I was mortified.  I knew he had far in excess of 100 lb. The worst thrashing I had ever had. Then to the weigh in.

The weigh in
Tim and James came along with the scales and my fish weighed a miserable 13 lb 10 oz.  Again it's in accordance with AT rules - I tipped the fish into the bag and James emptied the bag after the weighing, so I never had to touch it.

Tim gave me my weight and showed me the sheet, which gave me a bit of a shock. Top weight so far was 53 lb 12 oz but the rest were around only 20 lb. I suggested that Gavin had far more than that, which surprised Tim and James. And sure enough, he weighed in a magnificent 181 lb 2 oz of carp from 4 lb to 8 lb. Beautiful fish.

First weigh-in sheet on Jay - pegs 1-23. There are 10 matches. 

Then Stuart Bracey drove past, and had a chat, and told me he had caught 16 lb. Believe me, that made me feel a lot better! Stuart is one hell of an angler, with a huge reputation locally. And after photographing the results I realised I was indeed not last on the lake. And although I was well down, I hadn't disgraced myself. So I wouldn't withdraw from the league after all!

Dave Rawlings, to my right on 38,  told me had one 3 lb carp with 65 minutes to go, but had then seen fish under the surface on the far bank which had not been there before.  He targeted them with bread and had another 20 lb. That's how quickly things can alter in the Winter.

I'm a Happy Bunny now
Afterwards I felt so much better. I though I had fished a tidy match. Everything had gone smoothly - I kept everything simple, using just bread, maggots, and a few micros, though I had more options if I had needed them. I had lost just the one fish, and had had no problem fishing the long pole all day to within inches of the far bank. But there had been a problem there. 

The far bank has been dredged recently, which is fine, because there had been thick banks of reeds, which used to hold floating rubbish, making it difficult to fish across in places. Since the cleaning-up operation anglers have reported good catches fishing right across to the far bank. Gavin had a nice smooth bank, while I had a bush to the left where there seemed to be a shallow hump, while to the right there was a stump showing where the bank had fallen in, making it quite shallow.

Results from my half of the Jay lake.

Between the two there were only about five feet of fairly flat bottom, which was fine before the wind started. But once the water started drifting the rig was being pulled into the shallow area and dragging under. The wind made it very difficult to hold the rig in place. Obviously I tried fishing that shallow area off bottom, but never had a knock.

Had the wind not started blowing hard I might have done better. But the fish were obviously holed up around peg 44, and very well done to Gavin to take a catch like that in mid-December. Match fishing is like poker - you have to take your chances when they appear.

My next match is on Wednesday, a Christmas match on Magpie. A prize for all, and we all take a raffle prize, and some of us wear Santa hats. Weights could be low, especially since the forecast is for rain and high winds.