A last-hour job for me on Cedar, Decoy

 Peg 8, Cedar,  Decoy
A thick layer of ice on my windscreen greeted me when I left home. But things looked up at Decoy - the suspension-busting pothole in front of the gates has been filled in, and I see some of the platforms are bearing shiny new frames. The new owners are doing well, in my opinion, and I am told that they intend to shore up the banks on the four strip lakes which have been eroded by fish, the wind, and voles.

Sixteen fished this penultimate Spratts match of the season, and when Peter Harrison said he had won a match the previous Friday on Peg 13 with 119 lb I obviously fancied drawing there. But my hopes were dashed when it went to Trevor Cousins, and Peg 8 was drawn for me - partway down the West bank. The wind was a cold South-Westerly over my right shoulder, and the anglers on the opposite bank must have been frozen.

There was a lovely-looking bush just down to my left, and I thought there must be barbel under there, so I kept dripping in maggots while I started on a maggot feeder. which produced a 1 lb F1 after about 30 minutes. Then, because Sean to my right had had a fish on the pole, I had a look under the bush. In fact all I had nothing there all day, despite trying it several times.

You'd think there would be barbel under that bush, wouldn't you?

A terrible spell fishing long
I was having to use my Browning Sting at 12 metres because my Xitan was being repaired. It's a floppy pole, but strong. However it wobbled about so much in the wind that I didn't feel confident in feeding via a small pole pot, so had to put out a few maggots and hemp with a bigger pot. Four hours there produced just two roach, when I went down to two maggots, and three more which dropped off. They were the only bites I had.

Meanwhile Sean had had three early carp out long, and opposite him Martin Parker on 21 had also had about three in the first hour or so, and I guessed he was on maggot. Now, with a little over an hour left Martin had just had another couple, and proceeded to catch another four or five before the end of the match. A check by me found that Mick Linnell, to my left, had not had a bite, and Trevor in the corner had had a couple of small bream and a couple of roach. Opposite me Bob Allen hadn't had a bite.

Mick Linnell, on 10, had not had a single bite with a hour to go.

The nine-metre line holds fish!
I eventually decided I would have to concentrate on another line, so came in to nine metres, fed just four grains of corn, and waited. No bite, but when I pulled up I hit a fish which must have been foulhooked, as it came off and left the corn in place. So I repeated my feeding pattern and up came a 2 lb F1. Then a 3 lb bream which fought so hard I thought it was a carp. I'm convinced that the floppy pole was the cause - the stiffer the pole the less fish are inclined to fight.

That was followed by a double-figure carp and then another F1. There was a tow against the wind and I  found it best to fish about three inches overdepth, allow the float to drift with the tow, hold it still for a minute, then lift and let it drift a little farther along.

Mushy mussels

Now on Oak I could see Peter Maskell, pleasure fishing, playing fish after fish, and I knew he would be using mussel. So I took mine out, which had been in the fridge since Sunday, when I had taken them to the JV match. But they were all mushy, and it took me some time just to get half of one to hang on the hook.

In fact I had two bites on mussel, but each time the bait was intact so they must have been liners. Clearly I must take the mussels out of the freezer on the morning of the match for them to remain solid enough for them top be hooked properly. Lesson learned!

I saw Wendy landing this fish in the last minute or two -
 it turned out to be 11 lb 7 oz,  and put her in sixth place.

My last-gasp five-pounder
With just two minutes left I reverted to a grain of corn and hit a 5 lb carp, and while I was playing it I saw Martin Parker landing yet another, and Wendy, to his left, netting a big fish. Yet again it was to be a last-hour job.

On my left Mick Linnell, biteless,  had started to pack up with an hour to go, but then his feeder rod was almost pulled in, and he landed the first of five carp taken on a wafter. To my right Shaun, the other side of a tree, appeared to be fishing in the margins, so I guessed he had had another fish or two. I eventually landed my last carp after the match finished.

The weigh in
I was late packing away because of playing that last fish, and my back was hurting...when in the distance I espied an angel in the form of a scruffy angler (name of John Garner) gliding towards me. He offered to take my holdalls and bait back to the van, an offer I gladly accepted, and I was able to wheel the trolley to the van and get back just in time to see me weighed in - 23 lb 7 oz, which was third up to that point. John was leading with 40 lb 6 oz, and Shaun second, but I guessed that Martin Parker had more than them.

Martin Parker won with 53 lb 1 oz, and said that for most of the match
he had to wait about half an hour for a bite. He fished at 13 metres all day.

Mick Linnell's late spurt brought him 25 lb 11 oz, pushing me down to fourth. Trevor had carried on struggling in the corner for 9 lb 10 oz. Then we moved to the opposite bank, where the weights were well down until we came to Martin. He had fished at 13 metres all day, and took his first two carp on a hard pellet, then about four on maggot, followed my the rest on worm. 

He had caught a fish in the margin after the halfway mark, but then went straight out to 13 metres again; caught a fish there, and came back into the margin, resting the swim after a fish had been hooked. At this time of year that's sometimes a 'must' as the flashing of a hooked fish undoubtedly scares others. He ended with ten or 11 for a winning 53 lb 1 oz. So I ended in last frame place - fifth.

THE RESULT

26 Mick Ramm                7 lb 4 oz                        1 Mick Rawson            DNW 

24 Bob Barrett                 DNW                             3 John Garner              40 lb 6 oz            2nd

22 Wendy Bedford           21 lb 11 oz                    5 Peter Harrison            18 lb 10 oz

21 Martin Parker              53 lb 1 oz         1st        6 Shaun Buddle            26 lb 4 oz           3rd

19 Bob Allen                    2 lb 4 oz                        8 Mac Campbell          23 lb 7 oz            5th

18 Joe Bedford                 8 lb 13 oz                    10 Mick Linnell            25 lb 11 oz         4th

16 Peter Barnes                10 lb 6 oz                    11 Peter Spriggs               18 lb 7 oz

14 Alan Porter                   8 lb 1 oz                      13 Trevor Cousins            9 lb 10 oz

What I should have done!
I should have come in to nine metres earlier, but had stayed out as far as I could because in the past that's where the majority of fish have been found on the strips when it's cold.

 My next match is with JV club on Cedar on Sunday, followed by Spratts' Christmas match, with prizes, on Oak on Wednesday. No matter how cold, I must try mussel - Peter Maskell came down to me after our match had finished and estimated he had had 150 lb on Oak, fishing just four sections, and all he used was mussel.