Commercial Matchman: A better result on Horseshoe

Sunday, Aug 6, Peg 7, Horseshoe , Decoy
This Fenland Rods pairs match saw 12 of us line up on Horseshoe, with two sections of six, worked out on points with weight deciding any tie. My peg 7 has a good reputation, even though peg 8 is so close you can touch the platform with a top-two. But they face a little away from each other, so there's no real problem, except when big fish are foulhooked!

Peg 7, next to Pete The Meat. A swim with form, but today it was very warm with not much wind.

Plan A soon busted
I had casters with me, and intended to fish shallow with a banded caster for the F1s which are in Horseshoe. However before the match big fish came into the side, which was about eight inches deep, and I couldn't resist having a go when the match started. So I dropped the rig close to the side, and sure enough with a few seconds a big fish was hooked. Success!!

Pete The Meat was soon in action, getting some nice carp around 7 lb.
He was using (guess what).

It was a rig I had tied specially, on 10 lb line, but the fish (whatever it was) didn't worry about that. It tore off (foulhooked? I don't think so) and within seconds the rig had broken above the float😢. Then followed a bit of a nightmare. For as Pete The Meat on my left hit (and landed) fish after fish, I hooked, and lost, fish after fish. No more rigs trashed, but my mind was certainly trashed. In less than an hour Pete must have had 25 lb to 30 lb, while I had a 2 lb F1 and a small roach.

Trickling corn was best
I had soon changed to a standard rig, using corn, and the fish were just pulling off. Then Pete slowed down a little but still kept catching fish, and I regrouped and went out to 2+2 with corn, putting just a few grains in each cast. That brought me a few fish to 4 lb. At one point I did try fishing shallow with caster well out, but after 20 minutes the only fish I had had were roach, so I abandoned that.

Mel, on my right, had a purple patch using paste, with two hours to go.

I love bream
Then I dropped in to the deep left margin, only two feet from the platform, and found several bream to 3 lb. I love bream 'cos they don't fight much. A switch to worm, which I always try when bream are in the swim, yet again brought just tiny perch.

Halfway through the match I came in to a top two, still in the deep water, and again, just trickling bait in, found a few more F1s to 3 lb, and two or three carp around 4 lb, but nothing as big as Pete had been catching.

Peter Spriggs won my section convincingly with 133 lb 11 oz.

A good spell at last
Still big fish were coming right onto the mud line to my right, and I did pick off a couple with corn laid in their path. One came over the bait, and splashed violently, as the line stretched out. I thought it was foulhooked, but somehow it had hoovered the corn up and turned away all in a split second, and it was hooked in the mouth.

With an hour to go I had a good spell, on the top two. but the last 20 minutes were poor, although yet again I had a fish on when the match ended. To my right Mel Lutkin had had a purple patch in the middle when some big fish took his paste bait, and I thought he had probably beaten me; I knew Pete had.

The result
Mel weighed in 77 lb 1 1oz, and I weighed in 96 lb 4 oz, which turned out to be second in my section, won by Pete with 133 lb 11 oz. So I thought I had done a reasonable job for my team. My partner was whoever was on the second peg in the second section - Callum Judge, on 13.

That's a big bugga - Mel shows his best carp.

Before Callum weighed, Kevin Lee on 12 inevitably had a big weight - 147 lb 13 oz. He's made a remarkable recovery after practicing for the Commonwealth Games by diving backwards...off scaffolding....

Callum had 60 lb 13 oz, and it slowly became clear that we couldn't win the team event, especially when next door Dave Hobbs, a guest for the day, took 99 lb 1 oz to the scales. Then down to Sean Buddle who, unlike Pete The Meat, had fed heavily with pellets, corn and cat meat, for a winning 159 lb 1 oz.

Welcome back, Mick
It was brilliant to see Mick Rawson weigh in, with 30 lb 1 oz. Mick had a stroke a few weeks ago, and has made a good recovery, though his right arm and hand are still weak. He must have felt that despite other, better, weights, he was a real winner! In fact he felt well enough when he woke next morning to fish another match, with Spratts.