Last Friday I decided to have a day - or at least part of one - at Decoy, to get back into some sort of a routine. Two days earlier at Pidley, I had forgotten my cushion; after a break that sort of thing happens, so these pleasure session hopefully remind me what I need. I decided to keep it simple, taking just a tin of corn, some maggots, and some expanders. The light wind was cool, and behind me.
At 10.30 I started at peg 3 on Cedar - chosen because my trolley's motor is not working and I didn't want to risk feeling ill pushing it back, at the end, to the car. I would have preferred Elm 9, which has a reputation for being a good Winter peg, but is a longer walk. So Cedar 3 would have to do - the platform is easily accessible, with no drop-down to it.
I don't do enough feedering, so I put up just my feeder rod at the start, fishing with hair-rigged corn on a banjo with micros, and gave myself an hour minimum. It took 50 minutes to get a bite, with the feeder cast right across to the far bank. That first fish was a 3 lb barbel. So knowing that barbel tend to prefer meaty baits (maggots or meat) to pellet and corn I changed to four red maggots...and promptly hooked a 5 lb carp!
A 3 lb barbel followed, followed by two more small barbel, and two or three F1s, best 3 lb, all taken right across, with the line in the clip. But when pleasure fishing I can't bring myself to just keep catching fish on one method, so I put my pole up, fishing it at 13 metres (which I where I would start in a Winter match here), with loose-fed 4mm expanders. It took 30 minutes to get a bite, but the first fish, on a 4mm expander, was a barbel around 5 lb.
I was deliberately using a lighter elastic than I would normally in a match - Preston black size 8 Slip, and the barbel really stretched it. Most of the top matchmen seem to favour light elastics - and I understand why; it makes it easier to get the pole back on the rollers to move it back so you can grab the top two. But although it seemed to take an age, at least I got the fish in, and stayed with that elastic for several smaller barbel, a 3 lb carp, and two or three F1s, the light elastic working well for those smaller fish.
With 70 minutes to go, at 1.50 pm, I came into the side, with a bunch of four maggots, to target the barbel, which tend to hug the banks in the deepish water. The first three drops to my left, about four feet from the bank, saw me hook three barbel all around 5 lb, and land them (though I felt it was taking me too long). The fourth one, probably a foulhooked barbel, bottomed me out and broke me, so it was on to a strong bungee-type elastic (no idea what it was rated at).
I confess I don't know what a lot of my elastics are - if they work I'll stay on them; if they don't, I change. The one I now chose was thick and red, and next drop down a fish was on within three seconds - another 5 lb barbel, which came in MUCH more quickly. Then, out of curiosity, I adjusted the depth from about five feet to half that and dropped in a foot in front of the platform.
The result was two more 5 lb barbel in two drops, followed by two or three smaller ones and then some F1s. I was really motoring at this point. and the fish were coming it really nicely without being bullied. The secret was to keep the pole over the top of the fish if I thought they were barbel, but to drop the pole tip into the water if they felt like F1s.
Last fish, in less than two feet of water literally beside the platform, was another 5 lb barbel. It was now 3 o'clock, and Di had set packing-up time at 3 pm (the same time as a match would normally finish at this time of year). Two anglers on Oak packed up at the same time - one had been catching steadily on a feeder all the time I was there.
That last 70 minutes had seen me catch over 50 lb of fish, and I estimated I had caught 80 lb-plus in total, in four-and-a-half hours, including eight 5 lb barbel (with the first 50 minutes fishless). But I was more pleased by catching fish in three different swims, and not making any stupid mistakes.
The barbel sometimes took the bait at the first attempt, but other times seemed to be playing about with it for a minute or more. I couldn't make up my mind whether they were having trouble getting it into their mouths, or whether they really were messing about.
I was wearing my new Muck boots for only the second time. Honestly, they make walking so much easier than normal Wellies - they are light, warm, and comfortable. The best Christmas present I had last year. I am intending to go back to Decoy tomorrow (Wednesday).
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