Seventeen of us fished this Spratts match, and I think one early error probably cost me at last a frame place. The stiff, cool wind was pretty much into our face on the East bank, and I set up a 1gm rig for the deep water, at seven feet deep; and a 0.5 gm rig for the far edge of the margin, which is about four feet deep. But for the near margin, which was over two feet (it used to be less) I started on a titchy little float which, in the very strong wind, was tending to get blown about.
Of course I should have had a much heavier rig, to control it in the very strong gusts. Even so I had a fish on a 4mm expander within a minute of starting, and another soon after - both under 1 lb. To my left Alan Porter started like a train, and within 30 or 40 minutes must have had 12 lb or 15 lb. Also, unbeknown to me, on the pegs to his left - roughly 1 to 10 - several of those fishing the pole had a real bonanza, with some of them having 30 lb-plus in the first 60 or 90 minutes.
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| My peg 12, next to the corner. Peter Harrison on 17 was somewhere in the bushes over there on the righthand bank. |
I couldn't see the anglers from pegs 1 to 10 though, and took my cue from the three I could easily see - Alan, Trevor on 14, on the bank to my right, and Bob on 15 next to him. Bob had a fish on a feeder within seconds of the start, and I wondered whether I should change when the fish in my swim quickly completely deserted me. He was catching just by dropping his Method feeder with a banded hard pellet down into the deep water right on the end of his rod. He said later: "I must have been hitting them on the head" as he was hooking fish within seconds of dropping it in.
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| Bob Barrett took all his fish on a feeder dropped in the deep water level with his rod tip! |
But I just couldn't get it right, and after two hours I had possibly 6 lb of small fish, though by this time Alan to my left had stopped catching and was on a feeder. To my right, in the corner, my National Veterans travelling companion Martin Parker had a few fish splashing in his swim on their way to his waiting landing net, but although I couldn't see what he was doing, I suspected he hadn't got a lot; and Trevor Cousins certainly wasn't bagging. But my mind seemed to be frozen.
Eventually I made the correct move to the deeper water, with corn, which seemed to me to be more positive than an expander, and after about 15 minutes I managed a 2 lb carp In the next half hour I added a four-pounder and a couple of smaller ones. I had been flicking corn into my margin swims and at this point I had a quick look - using the 0,5 gm rig (which I should have started on), and was surprised to get a fish immediately
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| Shaun Buddle weighed 55 lb 8 oz for sixth spot. Recently he showed me a letter I had written to him in the 1970s when I organised a practice for the Wisbech Junior National team. |
From then on I concentrated on feeding half-a-dozen grains of corn with a pole pot, alternating from side to side in the margins, and slowly started to put a weight together. In the lulls I went out to the deep water and took an occasional fish there. I lost a couple of really good fish, one of them after playing it for several minutes when it snagged my keepnet. With 90 minutes left, and with Bob and Trevor now seeming to be struggling, I had about 35 lb.
I tried cat meat, convinced that they would take a stationary bait, as Martin was now using paste, but I never had a touch. I had a special home-made paste with me, but never though to try it. How stupid was that?
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| Alan Porter, hidden in the reeds, nets a fish on the Method. |
First name out at the draw had been Peter (The Paste) Spriggs, one of the best anglers there; and the peg drawn for him elicited a groan from the rest of us - Peg 1. It has form and today was sheltered by the high bank opposite - though Peter said afterwards that he best spell came when there was a little ripple on the surface. That contrasted with most of the rest of us, who had a very big ripple all day!
Peter was first to weigh - a winning 109 lb 3 oz on paste, with 50 lb of that in the first 90 minutes or so. After that the weights tended to be up to 50 lb, with Bob Allen on 9 best on 56 lb 8 oz, just pipped by Shaun Buddle with 55 lb 8 oz.
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| Martin Parker unhooks a near-3 lb carp on corner peg 13. |
So after all that I finished seventh, and felt that even though the early pegs tend to be favourite I should have been able to catch at least 60 lb. I base that on the fact that I was catching in the margins in the afternoon when hardly anyone else could do that. In fact Alan on my left, who had started so well, weighed in only 27lb. If only I had managed to hit fish in that first hour, when most of the others were bagging. If only I had used my noddle and got out a heavier margin rig! If only...
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| Peter Harrison, second on corner peg 17 with 72 lb 10 oz. |
Next match is the Fenland Rods Handicap on Willows at Decoy on Sunday. The field is down to just eight, and I am the highest handicap (having been runner-up in last year's overall championship) with just plus 10%. Actually Peter Spriggs wasn't a full member last year, so I think he will start from scratch.
Other anglers have from plus 20% to plus 100%. So the winner could come from well down the list, which is what the system is designed to do.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOE
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| It was Joe Bedford's birthday on the day of the match, and fitting that he took what was probably the biggest fish landed on the day. PS. He was ninety-one! |
THE RESULT
2 Wendy Bedford 36 lb 2 oz
3 Mick Ramm 32 lb 4 oz
4 Mick Linnell 47 lb 11 oz
5 Peter Barnes 13 lb 5 oz
6 John Smith 41 lb 14 oz
7 Mick Rawson 14 lb 1 oz
8 Shaun Buddle 55 lb 8 oz
9 Bob Allen 56 lb 8 oz 5th
10 Joe Bedford 42 lb 4 oz
11 Alan Porter 27 lb
12 Mac Campbell 49 lb 7 oz
13 Martin Parker 59 lb 9 oz 4th
14 Trevor Cousins 35 lb 11 oz
15 Bob Barrett 65 lb 13 oz 3rd
16 John Garner 14 lb 4 oz
17 Peter Harrison 72 lb 10 oz 2nd
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