A good (unexpected) result on Jay, Pidley.

 Peg 8, Jay, Wednesday, Jan 26
Thirty-three of us fished this Over-60s match split between Jay (18) and Raven (15). The rolling draw meant that we all had plenty of time to set up and I had time for a cup of tea in the cafe (I know how to live wildly).

On Sunday I forgot to take my phone to the match, so couldn't take a picture of my swim. For this match I'd remembered my phone, but it wouldn't have mattered if I'd forgotten it, because I had exactly the same swim on Jay as I'd had two weeks ago.  On that occasion I'd finished fourth on the lake with 63 lb, but my fish were smaller than everyone else's.

Calm to begin with, but a breeze soon got up. Again, I fished to the righthand bank. 

Having the same swim meant I saved ten minutes working out the best positions for my box, nets and rollers - a bit awkward because I would again be facing across the corner of the platform towards the righthand bank. I decided not to even take out a feeder rod - I intended to spend the whole five hours fishing across to the far-bank margins, at around 13 metres. The day was cool but forecast to get warmer. So far so good, but a minor calamity was about to strike!

Yes - calamity strikes
I started OK with a 1 lb F1 on punch bread dobbed across, but it came off at the net. Two more fish came in the first half-hour, about 1 lb and 1 lb 8 oz, both on bread, which held on the hook but didn't seem to me to be the right consistency. The next two or three pieces of punch dropped off as soon as they hit the water. I checked, and to my horror realised I had picked up the wrong bag of bread - this was an old one, two weeks old, which had hardened. I tried damping it, but it didn't hold on the hook properly. I am an iriot.

Reeds again a problem

I changed to maggot, which had taken the bulk of my previous catch here, and that did work, though again my fish were all on the small side - best 2 lb at most, and only a couple of those. The reeds situation was worse than it had been before - several lay under the surface, pointing out from the bank, and inevitably I hooked some. Five times I was securely attached and envisioned walking round to the far bank to release the hook, though how I would have secured the pole to my bank I don't know. However, after a lot of shaking and pulling all five rigs came free, and I breathed several sighs of relief.

Easier fishing in the deeper margins

With about ten fish in the net, dobbing two feet from the far bank, I had a look at my second swim, about eight feet from the far bank in three feet of water, and that produced a fish first drop without my having put in any bait. From then on I put about ten maggots at a time into that swim, and would take a couple of quick fish and then have to wait 20 minutes for the next one. Sometimes they came straight after I had fed, and at other times feeding didn't help.

Mike had a couple of good fish, and finished eighth on the lake.

As forecast, the sun did warm the air and it was very pleasant by the end, though the breeze increased in strength and in the second half of the match it was impossible to get perfect presentation. To my far right I saw Shaun on Peg 2 (next to the winning peg 1 last time we fished here)  and Mike on Peg 5 land big fish, while my best was still about 2 lb. But at least I kept putting fish in the net, though the bites towards the end were the tiniest imaginable. 

A VERY sensitive rig

The maggots worked, so I stayed on that set-up, with the weight of the three maggots sinking my float when I was too shallow. So I was able to work out when the bait was just touching bottom, and either lift it an inch or drag it to one side, to get a response. From time to time I reverted to the far-bank dob, which brought four or five small fish.

GOD SAVE THE KING

The wind and sun were from the left, and frequently the shadow of my pole fell across the float, making it look like a bite. Now when I started flyfishing (in Babbingly River near King's Lynn, using my coarse fishing gear) I had read a lot about the sport. and for fishing a dry fly the advice was always: "When you see the splash of the trout at the fly don't strike immediately. Say 'God Save The King,' and then strike.

It worked then, and it worked in this match. If it looked like a bite but wasn't sure, I would raise the pole out of the way, and mutter 'God Save The King' (quietly so the fish didn't hear) and if the float was still disappeared I struck and a fish was always on.

PS It probably works, also, if you say 'God Save The Queen.'

Shaun used only part of a single slice of white bread for
his 86 lb 12 oz! This is what was left.

Obviously I experimented with the shotting, from an 18-inch drop to spreading it out, and finally putting all the shot just six inches from the hook five minutes before the end. That produced an immediate fish and I wondered whether I should have tried it earlier. I estimated I had about 40 from 8 oz up to 2 lb maximum, having lost just that first fish at the net and four more pricked on the strike.

The weigh-in
First to weigh was Shaun, and I could see as I packed up that he had two heavy weighs. I walked up to Mike for a picture, and Shaun came along and said he had totalled 86 lb 12 oz, all on dobbed bread, with several fish around 6 lb or 7 lb. He also said he had problems with the wind in the second half. Mike also had two better fish in his 13 lb 12 oz.

Yes - you read it right. I was second on Jay Lake,
and fourth overall, with my 39 lb 10 oz.

I guessed that, again, everyone else would have bigger fish than me, and I wondered whether bread would have picked them out. I had thought about walking up to Shaun to cadge some decent bread, and in fact Shaun said he would have given me some. But I felt it was too cheeky. My fish totalled 39 lb 10 oz, and I had had a very pleasant day, so would drive home knowing I'd had a good day catching.

Anyway, I went to the angler on Peg 11, to my left, for a big-catch picture, but he had only 10 lb 6 oz, and the angler to his left said he had only five fish, so I went back to pack up without taking any more photos. (I saw afterwards that he weighed 15 lb, so he must also have had bigger fish than me).

The surprise result
I drove past Shaun, who said he'd used less than half a slice of bread... I took a picture of the rest of it(!). And Steve Tilsley, who had won previously from Peg 1, and had given Shaun some pointers before the match, then said I was second on the lake! You could have knocked me down with a pole float!!! 😂

The last section on Jay was won with only 20 lb.

Raven fished well

Back at HQ to collect my winnings, for fourth in the overall match (Continental payout), with Raven having fished better than expected, and indeed better than of late, when it has been very inconsistent. I asked several anglers there whether they thought that bread would have caught me better fish. But they were all of the opinion that if the bigger ones had been in my swim, at least one would have taken maggot.

Will Hadley told me that Peg 8 is the shallowest swim on the lake, so perhaps the smaller fish have been hanging out there for some reason. And I ended very happy that I had got a good result.

 Next match Sunday on Decoy - not yet sure of the lakes to be used. Warmer weather is forecast, and I'm raring to go.

Here's the Raven result:

Raven 1-21

Raven 22-29