A few weeks ago I tret myself (as they say in Wisbech) to a new Halkon Hunt Goretex pole jacket. It's not lined, so I intend to use it during the warmer weather, and will wear my padded Imax jacket when it's cold.
Last Wednesday the weather forecasters said the weather would be 'warmer', so I checked on the internet and for Thursday's Spratts match the temperature would get to 11 degrees, feeling like eight. BUT I took both jackets to the match and Boy, I'm glad I did. Peg 18 was almost facing the West wind (which came in from the left) and although I didn't actually shiver, I had to zip the Imax right up and use a hood. If those forecaster thought it was warm, what planet are they from?
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| Peg 18. All my fish came from the margins just out from the stumps of two little bushes. |
I wanted a peg towards the far end - about 9 round to16 or 17. The Winter League final produced 76 kilos (that's around167 lb) from Peg 17, which is almost opposite the famous Elm 9 - the most consistent Winter peg on the four strips. And all the top weights came from the far end. But I thought that 18, six from the corner, might produce a fish or two.
Two anglers told me that 18 is a noted barbel peg. That sort of set the tactics for me, as Weather.com had forecasted the wind to strengthen from 9mph to 15 mph (with stronger gusts), which would mean that fishing at 14.5 metres would be almost impossible for the whole match, and experience has shown me that the big carp catches are almost always taken on long pole at this time of year.
Fourteen of us fished, and I started on a maggot feeder without any bites or liners. Then I went out to about 10 metres on the pole, fully expecting to get at least a touch on expander or corn, or two, but no. So it was inside on maggot. At this point I genuinely considered that the top weights would come from the far bank, where presentation was so much easier, and I though the best I could possibly do would be to come top on my bank.
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| Bob Barrett on 17 fished the feeder all day, taking 47 lb 13 oz of mainly barbel on a yellow wafter. |
Plumbing up near the bank to my right had revealed two humps, opposite the stumps of a bush, with a hole between them at least a foot deep, with the depth a surprising six feet. I put in a bait dropper of dead maggots down there and within 20 minutes, fishing a 0.5 gram rig with a bunch of live maggots I had what I expected - a barbel, of nearly 5 lb.
The wind never let up, so I concentrated on that area, with the occasional look on the pole up to 13 metres, and feeder, which never produced even a shiver of a bite. But in the next couple of hours three more barbel came in from the margin, and a carp about 10 lb plus one about 3 lb. I found it better to fish about a metre farther out from the hole, as the wind would blow the rig in towards the bank anyway. Unfortunately I lost three good fish, one of which was definitely a foulhooked barbel as I came back with a small shiny silver scale.
To my right Bob Barrett on 17 was also taking occasional barbel on a yellow wafter with some sort of hybrid Method feeder, with some coming from his margins. To my left Dick Warrener admitted to 16 lb halfway through the match, but the two to his left were struggling for a bite. Opposite, on Peg 11, next to the corner, Peter Harrison had a very good start, fishing a pole at about 14 metres in his back wind, though he said afterwards that some of the fish I saw him playing were foulhooked and got off.
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| Callum Judge also had mainly barbel from Peg 15. |
As the wind became stronger I decided to put on a 2 gram rig - something I used to do occasionally in rough weather, but have neglected to do recently. It enabled me to keep the bait in the place where I was getting bites more easily than the lighter rig. That produced a barbel first drop in, and a carp about 7 lb a little later. Then a smaller carp came in, and in the last hour three more barbel ended in my net, best around 5 lb-plus, though another big fish came off.
Interestingly every fish I hooked gave a tiny bite, while I must have missed at least a dozen good bites where the float really shot under. Were they roach (I caught three), or fish slashing at the bait with their tail? I used live maggots because they are a little heavier than dead ones, but tipped them with a dead one of course.
Opposite me Peter Chilton on Peg 6 totalled 68 lb 14 oz after being almost 10 lb over the club's 50 lb limit in one net. He ended second, behind Peter Harrison on 10 (97 lb 8 oz) and Peter Spriggs on 7, roughly opposite me (66 lb 4 oz). Peter had mainly barbel from his margin. The end pegs from Peter Chilton onwards all produced reasonable weights, round to me, where I weighed 51 lb 12 oz for fourth spot. I was happy with that. The anglers on both banks at the car park end struggled, with three DNWs and John Garner the best of the bunch with 9 lb 2 oz.
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