I pick my bogey (again) - Six-Island

Peg 22, Wednesday, Aug 24
My name was last out of the bag, picked not by me actually, but by Trevor. Then: "Twenty-Two." Two little ducks...quack, quack. quack. And I may have moaned and said to John Garner: "That's the only peg I wouldn't have picked on that lake." Because I have drawn that swim more times than any other on the whole complex, and I can remember only once when I did OK on it. I was told some years ago that it's a great peg in Winter, because it's the deepest swim on the lake. But every time I've drawn it it's been in Summer.

There had been a bright spot the day before - Tescos had stocked up with frozen mussels and I bought three bags. Be Prepared and all that. Sixteen of us fished this Spratts club match, and it was good to see Mick Linnell back with us.

A high wind (unlike my hopes) at the start.

The wind was quite fierce, a Southerly from right to left giving me something more than the ripple I love, but it was warm, and cloudy, with just occasional sun, and conditions were great. There used to be a huge floating bed of reeds on the left of Peg 22, but they vanished a year or two ago, leaving bare bank both sides, no more than eight inches deep against the bank But I plumbed up towards the platform on my left and found that at one spot, a couple of feet from the bank, there was a definite drop.

I plan to use three swims
Because of the wind I decided on three possible swims - four sections out in the deep water, the deep margin hole, and down beside my platform to the right, where it also dropped off a little. No point in struggling to reach the islands on a minimum of 13 metres.

Peter Barnes, back from Covid,  on 25 found
all these in the last half-hour, on cockle.

 I toyed with the idea of getting out my feeder rod, but suddenly felt that I could present a bait reasonably enough, even in the wind, and that the fish would likely move around as the weather was so warm. In fact one or two kept plopping in the surface (but I'm not good at shallow fishing, though I suspected Trevor might have a field day doing it). He was on peg 4, which I had a couple of weeks ago, when I struggled, taking F1s to the right and a better carp or two to the left against platform 5.

Overdepth was best
Opposite me today on 2 was Peter Spriggs, who could currently catch fish in a bucket of concrete. But I had a reasonable start, putting in a little hemp and trickling corn on top, and taking a 1 lb F1 within ten minutes, though the bites took a long time to develop - the float just dipping and rising a tiny bit as fish played with the bait. I kept changing the shotting and the depth and found that going overdepth by several inches was better than trying to fish dead depth. Eve so I had a lot of knocks before the bait had hit bottom.

With four or five smallish fish in the net I had a look in the deep margin swim, and had bites on corn immediately, but they never developed into fish. Nevertheless, that told me that there was something there - probably carp rather than roach, because of the way the float was moving.

Back to the four-section swim, where sport was still very slow and after three hours, with a little over 10 lb in my net, I rang my Dearly Beloved We Are Gathered Here to assure her that I was still alive and kicking, and that there was no need to sort out the life policies just yet. Then, after putting a few grains of corn in the deep margin swim, I wandered up to Dick Warrener on 25. he told me had had had just one bite, and one fish, after ten minutes and nothing since. 

Dick nearly had his arm wrenched off by this barbel...

A fish for Dick!
Then he suddenly shot forwards, as if he was going to dive in. A barbel had snatched his cat meat fished against the reeds, and threatened to pull his arm out of its socket. I walked back to my swim for my phone and took a couple of pictures. "You brought me luck," he said. And I decided not to risk doing that for every other competitor, so went back to my peg and changed the bait for mussel.

...and here he is unhooking it. That was the start of a good spell for him.

The effect was amazing - first drop in that deep margin hole and an 8 lb mirror took the mussel. Next drop and a five-pounder took the bait within seconds...but it came off at the net. It was the first of several I was to lose during the match.

One or two good F1s around 3 lb came from that swim, and eventually I took a chance and put in come bait just to my left, on a top two, close to the bank. Very quickly fish came in and in the next hour I had six or seven, best around 5 lb,, all on mussel, even though I kept trying corn, which produced nothing. A look in the right margin brought another five-pounder, foulhooked in the side, and I didn't get any more fish there, but I did get a ten-pounder on mussel very close in.

Peter has me worried
By now both Dick and Peter Spriggs were catching fish, and it seemed that every time I looked up Peter's elastic was stretched right out. I guessed he would soon be on his third net, while I had just started my second net, with 36 lb on the clicker for the first net.

John Garner, with his catch from Peg 18. His estimate
of "around 60 lb" was only a pound out.

When the deep margin swim died I started another, on a top three, to my left with the wind, which was now even stronger, and a good fish came from there on mussel, but then it was back to the top-two swim, where I spent the last hour, in about 18 inches of water.

I had tried the hole next to my platform earlier, and had the same sort of iffy bites, with fish playing with the corn. Now, stupidly, I forgot about that, and should have dropped a mussel down there, as there would almost certainly have been fish. In fact when the match finished I dropped some of my unused corn and micros down there and fish swirled immediately.

A good last hour
That last hour saw several more big F1s and carp to 8 lb on the top two, but I lost another four or five good fish which I am sure were not foulhooked - the hook just pulled out. Several of my fish were hooked on the outside of the mouth, with one hooked on a barbule, so they clearly were not taking the bait properly. I also felt several fish very briefly when I struck, with the mussel gone - the fish must have been holding it in their lips, as I had imagined.

Second to weigh was Peter Harrison, and when this
first net went 50 lb I thought he might win, but he had only 
8 lb 15 oz in his second net.

Peter was still hitting fish, and when the match ended he called out "Fish On" and I called out "Fish On"...and 30 seconds later I called out "Fish Off" as yet another slipped the hook. I estimated I had 70 lb, and perhaps a bit more.

The weigh in
Bob Barrett was first to walk past me, saying he had no more than 40 lb, then John Garner admitted to 60 lb, both of which amazed me as I had thought I would be way down the list. 

Peter Spriggs was first to weigh, and I got there just in time to see his second net being weighed. But there were only two wet nets on the bank, and no more in the water. So he hadn't got as many fish as I thought, and he told me he, also, had lost several.

Martin Parker's third-placed catch from Peg 9, in the corner.

Round to Trevor on 4, who did not weigh, but said he had about 40 lb and, like me earlier, had found his best carp against platform 5. Then, to my amazement, round to me nobody else exceeded 70 lb, with Martin Parker second on 63 lb 12 oz from my favourite peg 9.

 My second net was weighed first, and I had clicked 33 lb, but must have forgotten to click one as it went 44 lb! The other 36 lb net went 42 lb and amazingly I had eclipsed Peter's catch.

Dick managed 60 lb 7 oz after that terrible start, and last to weigh was Peter Barnes (welcome back after Covid, Peter) with 25 lb 1 oz, all taken in the last half-hour on cockle. So I finished as winner from my Bogey Peg 22. What do I know?

Mick Linnell fished a feeder to the aerator on Peg 10 for his 57 lb 6 oz.

Mike Rawson was on 15 - I didn't fancy that peg
myself, as it was fairly calm all day, with back wind. 

Mussel

I have a lot of faith in mussels when fish are willing to feed, because I can put in lots of corn or pellets, and a mussel will still stand out, being big and light in colour, as well as light in weight. I put half on the hook (unless it's really small) and put in only two or three halves with each one, and sometimes just the other half of the mussel. That seems to be the best plan for me.

Today the carp were almost all playing with the bait for a good minute or two minutes before deciding to take it. Dragging it along proved better in inducing a bite than lifting it. Two gudgeon took half a mussel - how do they do that?

THE RESULT

2 Peter Spriggs           82 lb 9 oz          2nd

3 Peter Harrison        58 lb 15 oz         5th=

4 Trevor Cousins        DNW

6 Alan Porter             48 lb 6 oz

8 Wendy Bedford       11 lb 1 oz

9 Martin Parker          63 lb 12 oz        3rd

10 Mick Linnell           57 lb 6 oz

12 Joe Bedford           17 lb 10 oz

13 Shaun Buddle        49 lb 15 oz (all in one net)

15 Mike Rawson        33 lb 7 oz

17 Bob Allen              41 lb 4 oz

18 John Garner           58 lb 15 oz         5th =

19 Bob Barrett            34 lb 5 oz

22 Mac Campbell       86 lb 15 oz          1st

24 Dick Warrener       60 lb 7 oz            4th

25 Peter Barnes         25 lb 1 oz