The 20 JVAC members in this match had a sombre start when we all stood at our pegs for a minute before the match to remember club member Alan Marshall, who died at Decoy two days earlier. Alan had won an Over 50s match from Peg 4 on Yew, with 100 lb-plus, but collapsed in the car park at the Strips while loading his car. I am told an ambulance, the air ambulance and the police all attended, but Alan was pronounced dead at the scene.
For a time then, when we sat down, fishing didn't seem so important; but there was a match to fish, and fishing, as we know, helps forget some of the worries from the outside world. So we fished...
This was a drawn pairs match, with ten on Horseshoe and ten on Beastie. When I left home the weather seemed fairly warm; but when I got out of the van at Decoy the wind was biting, and I was told that there had been a hard frost earlier. Gus Gausden had most of the ten fishing Beastie with a back wind, though Roy Whincup on 15 had it into him all day, and Steve Nurse on 18 had a side wind. My peg 21 was fairly comfortable, thanks to the high bank behind me. But it became clear quite soon that not many fish would be caught.
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| Peg 21 on Beastie. The point of the island is about 60 yards away. Luckily it was a back wind. |
Nearly everyone started on a feeder - mainly maggot feeders on Beastie, where there is a fair head of bream. I did so, but in the first half hour I saw just one fish caught - by Steve Nurse on 18. Then my rod tip pulled forwards and dropped back in a typical carp bite, and I struck and hit a good fish. Forty yards away towards the island a 4 lb carp was hooked, and it ended in my keepnet after a hairy last few seconds. The water is clear, and I think we all found that fish kept turning away from the net at the last second.
Not long after that I had a strange bite - the tip moved slowly round and held there. It could have been a liner, but after two or three seconds I decided to strike and another fish was on. This was bigger and immediately took line; then, to my horror, it started kiting round to the right, and threatening to charge through Smug's swim on Peg 22.
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| Gus took both his fish on double corn - a lesson for me in future, even in ice-cold water. |
I simply had to wind down as fast and hard as I could, but within a second the fish had come off. I think it must have been foulhooked. On my right Smug was fishing wagglers, casting a full 50 yards to the island, and I know he is brilliant at this. I fully expected him to start hitting fish, but up to this point he was fishless, as was Gus Gausden on my left on 20, fishing a pole.
The next couple of hours were fishless for me, but I did see Steve Nurse net about four more. Then Gus, fishing double corn, landed a carp around 8 lb. I'd had a good look on my two pole lines, at 11.5 metres an seven metres, where I had been flicking maggots, but never had a touch of any kind.
Back on the feeder and I suddenly found that my six-inch hooklength had started tangling with the line above the feeder. So I added an eight-inch length of Drennan Supplex nylon between the hooklength and feeder. This is quite stiff, and it stopped the tangling.
First cast, and my tip sort of shuddered and kept quivering, so I struck and a 2 lb bream came in, but no more. I tried the "Pour A Drink" trick, but even that didn't work. Nothing on the pole lines, even though I felt I was doing it perfectly. So with 30 minutes left I put out the maggot feeder again, about 50 yards, and waited.
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| Four hours and 55 minutes after the start Smug Whiting hooked his only fish! |
No more than TWENTY SECONDS later Gus called time and for the second match in a row I landed a fish after the match finished. It was another bream about 2 lb.
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| Winner on Beastie was Steve Nurse, who travelled the 90 miles from his Cleethorpes home to fish. He weighed 25 lb 5 oz. |
Roy Whincup, who must have been frozen, weighed in 7 lb ll oz, and Steve Nurse had, in fact, landed nine fish - bream and carp, just putting his maggot feeder out halfway to the island, with a bomb as a change tactic. Steve weighed 25 lb 5 oz for top weight on the lake. Gus had added a bream for a total of 10 lb 2 oz, and my fish weighed 8 lb for fourth on the lake.
Somehow that brought me my section by default - Gus assured me that was correct, and I have a brown envelope to prove it!
On Horseshoe, Steve Richardson fished a Method feeder with a wafter, and a bomb and pop-up, and won the lake with 38 lb 6 oz of carp. So the two Scunthorpe anglers had a brilliant practice day. Their swims would have been fancied by all the anglers, but you've still got to catch 'em.
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| The Beastie weigh sheet. |
It happened that the the two Steves were drawn together in the Pairs event, and obviously won it by a country mile. My partner was Ian Frith, who was third on Horseshoe with 18 lb 12 oz fom Peg 13, helped by a 7 lb carp hooked just three minutes from the end. And jammy old me, thanks to those late fish from both of us, ended second with Ian in the Pairs match and came away with another brown envelope
NOTE: I tried out my heated vest, on the lowest setting, and although I could feel the heat I can't say it made me as warm as toast. But it did stop me getting any colder. Next time I will try it on a higher setting.
My next match is at Pidley on Wednesday, fishing Magpie/Jay. I guess it will be very hard indeed.
An Open was fished on Damson, Elm and Cedar, and was won by Andy Kelk on Cedar 7 with 105 lb 8 oz, fishing maggot feeder and maggots on the pole at 14.5 metres. The weights were much better than in our matches, which may have been partly down to the quality of angler, but the Strips tend to produce much better catches in the Winter than Beastie, Horseshoe and Willows.
Decoy have just announced that bread can be used on the hook from November to March. This will be especially welcomed on Horseshoe, where there are still plenty of lillies showing. Here are the Open weigh sheets:
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| Damson. |
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| Elm. |
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| Cedar. |
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