A most enjoyable day on Willows

 Peg 8, Tuesday, Sept 27

We were greeted by a cold wind - the forecast at 8 o'clock was 8 C, and jackets were pulled on and hoods pulled on. I had had to allow an hour to drive the 18 miles, because roadworks are springing up all over the place, made worse by someone placing Road Closed notices up days before the work starts (I ignored the signs and just drove round them).

Then the 15 of us in this Spratts match crowded round to watch the draw, from 1 to 18, with peg 1 the one everyone wanted. There aren't many real 'fliers' on the Decoy complex, but that is one of the few (though it doesn't always produce). Last number left in the bag was...Number 1; and we then realised that the only person whose name hadn't been drawn out was Peter Spriggs, who had a huge smile on his face. With reason. So we would likely be fishing for second place, but you never know! At least he wasn't Golden Peg...

John's peg looked good
Peg 11, where I had won two days earlier, was not drawn, but Trevor Cousins was on 12, and my mate John Smith (whose name caused some knowing glances from the receptionist when he and his new wife signed into the hotel on honeymoon 52 years ago) was on 16, near to where he had won last year. I walked down to him before the match and the margins looked inviting, with reeds lining the bank and peg 17 blank.

An aerator eight metres to my left looked so inviting.

My peg 8 gave me a side wind, just slightly behind my left shoulder, so I decided to start long on the pole, as there was some ripple a few yards out. To my left was an aerator at about 8 metres, which looked very fishy, though it meant facing the wind. The margin there was about a foot shallower than the right margin, which was the deepest water I could find, with no shelf at all. I fancied it for barbel.

A fish first cast
When the match started I dropped a calling card of a little hemp and half-a-dozen grains of corn out near the aerator - just so the fish knew I was around. Then it was out to 11 metres, and first drop the float sailed away before the corn had hit bottom, and a 2 lb F1 was mine. I got no more on the drop, but by fine-tuning the rig so the corn was JUST touching bottom I carried on catching a fish every few minutes.

Overdepth, the float showed about one-third of an inch, while off bottom the weight of the corn took it under. If I could get the float showing just a tiny amount above the surface I knew that the bait was just on bottom, and that was when I got my bites - laying on produced only one fish. There was a small area which was deeper that the rest, so the float sank when it drifted there, but I just held the line tight and the float rose up, and I held it up until it was in the area where bites were coming, when I let it down again.

Callum on peg 9 had a good start, with fish that looked to me to be over 5 lb. I think he was fishing the margins.

The bites were tiny, and I did foulhook two, which came off, but after an hour-and-a-half I had about 20 lb, mainly F1s from 1 lb upwards, with one mirror of 4 lb. Nobody else seemed to be catching much, though Callum, on my right, had one or two early fish. 

Pesky perch from the margin
Eventually my bites tailed off. I had been dropping maggots into the right margin, so had a look there, but two perch in two drops meant I abandoned that swim for the moment, and I went long again. The short rest worked, and two or more fish came, best 5 lb. I now had about 30 lb, and bites tailed off again. At least I had been putting fish into the net when those around me seemed to be struggling.

Now I went to the aerator, and first drop with corn saw a fish take the bait as it hit bottom - another F1. I moved around the area near the aerator, and probably had another 25 lb, including some net roach, but suddenly bites stopped, so I had to move. I went back to the right margin, putting in dead maggots and hemp with a bait dropper, so the little perch were not attracted by the maggots falling slowly down.

One or two little bites resulted in nothing, but they didn't look like bites from small fish - more like liners from carp. Then the float shot down and I hit something which didn't feel huge, but which went straight under the bank and snagged me. I lost the hook, but I was sure it was a barbel, and wasted another 20 minutes hoping for another, which never came. By this time Callum, on 9 to my right, had had several good fish from his margins.

It was thanks to Callum that I changed from the deep
right margin to the shallower left. He ended with 70 lb.

I change margin swims
Nothing more near the aerator, and then I realised that Callum was taking fish from his right margin, which he had told me was a lot shallower than his left (between him and me). So although the margin just to my left, which was a foot shallower than the right margin, didn't look brilliant, as there was overhanging stuff growing there, I had a drop with cat meat. Instantly I was attached to a six-pounder.

For the rest of the match I stayed there, just on a top two, putting in a little hemp and a little cat meat or a few grains of corn, and catching really well, often with the bait an inch off bottom. I should have had a look before! I must have had eight or ten good fish all over 5 lb, best almost 10 lb. Then, when the fish became a bit 'iffy', and started giving liners, I decided to change to mussel, which falls fairly slowly, and might be taken by the fish on the drop. But when I looked in my bait bag - no mussels! I had forgotten to take them out of the freezer. I am a Silly Billy.

Peter lifts one of his five nets out at the weigh-in.

I have to stay with cat meat
So I had to stay with cat meat, but my catch rate slowed, though I had started a third net just an hour earlier and now put in a fourth net. With 20 minutes to go I changed to my sweetcorn rig, and had the best fish of the day, which went into the fourth net and which we later weighed at 11 lb 9 oz.

 Ten minutes left and nothing more came to corn, so with three minutes left I reverted to cat meat and hooked a fish which felt big; then it felt foulhooked and ten seconds later it came off. End of match. I knew I had about 40 lb in three nets and just the one fish in the fourth one - probably 130 lb.

Later several of the others told me that their fish had also gone off in the last 30 minutes. Perhaps they could sense a change in the weather.

..

...which he won with 172 lb 1 oz from the margins.

The weigh-in

Just as the match finished the rain started, and word went round that Peter Spriggs had five nets in, and that was correct. He had caught carp from his left margin and weighed in a magnificent 172 lb 1 oz. The next few weights were less than I had imagined, topped by Peter Harrison with 64 lb. For once I hadn't exceeded the club's 50 lb limit, though one net went a bit close with 48 lb 13 oz. My total was 146 lb 5 oz.  Bob Allen on 15, who totalled 90 lb 8 oz, went even closer to the net limit - 49 lb 14 oz!!

John Smith on 18 had sensibly put a little less than 40 lb in the first three of  his four nets, and totalled 114 lb 4 oz, for third place, leaving me second. If I had had mussels I believe I would have had some of those later carp which wanted to come of the bottom and kept giving me liners. I managed to refrain from striking most of them, but I did foulhook two. which both came off.

Joe Bedford (only 92) with 76 lb, all taken on the feeder.

Multitasking - Rob Allen adds up John Smith's weight in the rain while doing an impression of Mary Poppins.

 I had really enjoyed that first spell fishing long; in fact I was enjoying it so much I probably kept out there longer than I should have done. No matter - second to Peg 1 was fine with me, and those two good results on Willows have fired me up for the next match on Sunday, on Oak, pegs 1 to 15. 

Oak seems to have more big carp in than the neighbouring Yew lake, with some big weights recently, and although the favoured area is about two-thirds of the way down from the car park, around peg 10, I do believe it can be won from any swim. And I will have mussels with me!

THE RESULT

1 Peter Spriggs           172 lb 1 oz        1st
2 Alan Porter                34 lb 13 oz
3 John Garner               39 lb 12 oz
4 Peter Harrison            64 lb 8 oz
5 Peter Barnes              10 lb 3 oz
6 Bob Barrett                24 lb 3 oz
7 Wendy Bedford          10 lb 15 oz
8 Mac Campbell          146 lb 5 oz        2nd
9 Callum Judge             70 lb 5 oz
10 Mike Rawson           26 lb
12 Trevor Cousins         96 lb 5 oz        4th
13 Martin Parker           58 lb 1 oz
15 Bob Allen                 90 lb 8 oz        5th
16 John Smith             114 lb 14 oz      3rd
18 Joe Bedford              76 lb 11 oz

Differing fortunes on Elm and Willows, Decoy

 Tuesday, Sept 20

My left margin had fallen in - great in summer when the fish will
feed there, but not today.

Peg 20, Elm Lake
Firstly, apologies to the army of readers of this blog for its lateness - I was away for several days, but am now back, refreshed. 😀 We were greeted by green algae on Elm Lake, for this Spratts match, while Cedar Lake, next door, was a beautiful brown colour. But I have fished in water like that before, and it doesn't seem to affect the fish, though the sticky scum at the far end did affect John Smith for the first four hours, before the wind changed and blew it all in front of Martin Parker, fishing opposite. On the way home I passed the Forty Foot drain it was absolutely covered in the stuff, from bank to bank, so it was probably as a result of some sort of weather change.

In fact the fishing for most of us was hard. I started on a pole at five sections, with no result, while to my left Dick Warrener had a good early carp at about four sections, and to his left Peter Harrison had  a fish very early. 

The right margin looked great for barbel, but I never saw one.

The margins

A move to the various margin swims produced nothing for me, except two tiny perch on maggot in what I had hoped would be a barbel hole, while Dick added another. On the far bank Trevor Cousins had been trying to mug fish, with no success, until he hit a huge fish which played him for a long time. Trevor actually had it almost in the net at one point - close enough to see it was hooked in a barbule.

Eventually that fish came off, and Trevor reverted to fishing the margins with paste, and started to find fish. Meanwhile Dick had hooked another two fish, with one from the shallow margin, though one of those two was lost, and I had foulhooked a four-pounder on the long swim, before trying small pieces of cat meat, from a sachet, in the deep right margin. At last a fish of around 10 lb picked up the bait there, and after three hours I had just those two carp, with Trevor landing more.

Dick, to my left, left me standing in the first couple of hours, with three fish on meat to my nil.

Where were the barbel?
My margins were really dodgy - the bank had fallen in to the left and I never had a bite in the shallow water, nor the deep drop-off. To the right was a bush and a tree, where I had expected barbel, so I concentrated there, still using the small pieces of cat meat. Two fish came off, foulhooked, but in the next two hours I managed two more, both 6 lb-plus. Hemp was causing fish to come into the swim very quickly, with big patches of tiny bubbles giving them away.

Joe Bedford had a good last hour on the feeder.

Those tiny bubbles are caused by fish expelling air from the gills when they become excited. I've seen chub do the same thing on the Upper Welland, where I used to live. It's very rarely that you can hook the fish when they do this, though. But suddenly, with less than an hour left, I started getting what looked like proper bites. The first fish came in fine, about 8 lb, on cat meat. But after that, disaster - I hooked six in a row and landed just one. I think some of the others were probably foulhooked, but one was probably hooked properly, and I let it kite into a reed bed to my right, at which point I felt a click and the hook pulled out. When the match finished I felt that given a few more minutes theose pesky carp would probably have started to feed properly.

Should I have tried a feeder?

Dick, though, had sat there all afternoon with not another bite. To my right was Peter Spriggs - Pete The Meat - but the tree between us meant I had no idea whether he had caught. Opposite, 92-year-old Joe Bedford had caught a couple of carp on a feeder early on, but had a better spell towards the end, and I saw him land three or four more. I should probably have put a feeder out, as I had one ready. But I guessed I would end as a 'Thanks For Coming.'

Alan Porter - second on the  bank.

The weigh-in

Predictably Trevor, second to weigh, won with 93 lb 11 oz. His swim offered a bank of reeds which he could fish alongside, while on our bank, which faces the prevailing Westerlies, the reed beds are broken up by areas where the bank has collapsed. Whether that made a difference I have no idea, but I would have liked to have been able to fish alongside the reed bed to my left, but could only fish on the corner.

Next, Alan Porter on 4 had feedered for 57 lb 13 while on 6 Joe weighed 44 lb 5 oz for third top weight on that bank. On our bank John Smith, in corner peg 13, had had real problems with the scum until it moved across, but after taking some barbel early on next to his platform, he was able, in the last two hours, to contact enough carp to take him to third spot with 71 lb 3 oz, Next to him Shaun Buddle was runner-up with 81 lb 5 oz, with Peter Harrison, on end peg 23, was fourth with 64 lb 12 oz.

John Smith found the carp when the scum moved. This one was well into double figures.

Last man to weigh, Peter Harrison, ended in fourth place.

The winner - Trevor Cousins. He always combs his hair before
I take his picture!

I plead guilty

I ended with 43 lb 2 oz for nowhere, beaten by only ounces by Pete The Meat, with poor old Dick languishing in last place, his three carp weighing 18 lb 11 oz. But I plead guilty to no trying other baits when I knew there were fish in the swim - I had paste, worm, corn and maggots available which I should have tried in that last hour. I put on a mussel and immediately foulhooked a fish, then never tried it again. Sometimes, I am sure, certain fish refuse to take certain baits, but will be tempted to take something a little out of the ordinary.  

Could have done better...😕

My report would have read (not for the first time): Could Have Done Better. Next match a rover on Willows pegs 1-15, with the two end pegs definitely favourite.

THE RESULT

East bank                                                                        West bank                                                           23 Peter Harrison            64 lb 12 oz    4th       1 Peter Barnes          24 lb 5 oz
21 Dick Warrener            18 lb 11 oz                3 Trevor Cousins      93 lb 11 oz        1st    
20 Mac Campbell            43 lb 2 oz                  4 Alan Porter            57 lb 13 oz       5th
18 Peter Spriggs              43 lb 10 oz                6 Joe Bedford           44 lb 5 oz
17 Bob Barrett                 19 lb 10 oz               7 Bob Allen              37 lb 2 oz
15 Shaun Buddle             81 lb 5 oz     2nd      9 Wendy Bedford     30 lb 2 oz
13 John Smith                 71 lb 3 oz      3rd     10 Mick Linnell        41 lb 12 oz
                                                                         12 Martin Parker       25 lb 11 oz

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Sunday, Sept 25

Peg 11, Willows

This Fenland Rods match, fished by 12, was a rover, and the first name out of the tin, who had first choice of pegs, was Kevin Lee, who predictably chose Peg 1, which we all wanted, but the groans from the rest of us were taken in good spirit by Kev. Then second out was his son, Jason, who was fishing as a guest, and he chose the other swim we all wanted, 15 - and by that time we were all too traumatised to even let out a groan.

As I hoped, Peg 11 gave me some lovely Raspberry Ripple at times. Peg 1 was just behind those willows opposite, out of sight.

I was fourth out, I think, and opted for Peg 11 because I reckoned that it would have the North-West wind on it, giving me my Raspberry Ripple, and because I had in the back of my mind that Peter Harrison had been on Peg 11 and come second when I had won from 1, and that he had later won on 11.Or is my memory playing tricks? Anyway, John Smith chose 12, next to me, because he also expected some wind on it.

Finally my name came out for the Golden Peg, to the inevitable whispers of "Roll-Over!". I heard you, lads!!

Yippee! I have a platform to fish to

So down to the bank, and to my delight I had a spare platform to my left, while beyond that was Peter Spriggs, who couldn't fish properly to that platform because of intervening reeds. But I started on the feeder, cast a metre or two from the far bank reeds, which were overhanging. That gave me some liners so I cast a little shorter next time, and that resulted in a 2 lb F1 which took the 6mm yellow washter on micros. A good start, as I hadn't seen anyone else catch, but within a minute of my re-casting Peter Spriggs to my left was playing a carp, and soon after both Jason on 15 and Dave Hobbs on 13 were also into fish.

Dave Hobbs, guesting for the season before joining next year, was soon in action on Peg 13, to my right.

That made me swap over to pole, and after a short while at five sections, in about four feet of water, another F1 and a 2 lb bream took my expander just touching bottom. Then bites slowed and I had a look in a deepish hole right in front of me on a top two, convinced I would catch there, as I had been flicking out sweetcorn. But I got not a jot or a tittle - nothing. So it was back out, also for no more fish, and I had a look towards the platform.

Plumbing up

When I plumbed up on the long line I could feel my plummet being sucked as I pulled it up, and I assumed there was silt on the bottom - inevitable on waters where carp are dominant, because whatever they eat comes out of the other end! Now normally I plumb up so the float bristle shows just above the surface, then I know I have to add about an inch, to allow for the bend in the line when using a light bait. Then the bait is JUST touching bottom, which I can tell from the way the bristle stands.

But today I had to slide the float down the line to allow for the soft bottom. I have read that on many commercial waters dominated by carp the fish tend to want to feed off bottom a lot of the time, because stirring up the muck on the bottom puts them off feeding. That's why I like to just touch bottom if it feels soft.

The platform swim

I had already plumbed up carefully, and found that about a metre my side of the platform the water was several inches deeper. So I started there, just out from the corner post, but of course I was allowed only to fish up to the platform - not in front of it. I toss-potted about four grains at a time in, plus a pinch of hemp - no big handfuls, as the weather is a little cooler and the fish are always finicky when that happens.

Dave Hobbs' fish came in assorted sizes.

Slowly I began to get a feel for the swim, dropping into the deeper water so the corn was off bottom, and letting it drift into the shallower water, when of course the rig stopped. At that point I lifted the bait no more than an inch, and often got a bite. The first two were F1s, about 3 lb, but the next was a proper carp of around 6 lb.

Now Dave Hobbs caught a good fish or two, and Jason under the tree on 15 had landed some good carp - the splashing caused me to look up several times. Peter, to my left, had also landed two or three decent fish. 

I switch to the right margin

After about four fish in 45 minutes from the platform swim it died and I tried to start a new swim in my right margin, using my special method which is very sensitive and usually tells me if there are any fish in the swim. I put only a few grains into the platform swim before I switched, as the fish were obviously coming to bait. I fished the same in the right margin - putting in about four grains at a time, plus some hemp. dropping the bait over the top, and repeating that every minute or two. 

After about 20 minutes, just as I was giving up on it, I had a knock. Next drop a 2 lb F1 came in, and then a bigger carp. I then came right into the side, in about 18 inches of water, and soon had two fish there, best 8 lb. Then the right margin dried up.

Next to me John Smith was having a torrid time, with just a couple of small fish, and he said he'd give it another half-hour. But first he walked up to Allan Golightly on peg 8 for a chat, who told him that Kevin Lee on 1 had been catching really well.  Then John did sit down again for another spell fishing, although his heart was obviously not in it.

Peter Spriggs was on my left but couldn't fish to
the platform I was catching from.

I stick with corn

Another carp or two came from my platform swim, plus one or two nice roach, and then John did pack up, about 90 minutes before the end, and I said I was about to start baiting with mussel. No sooner had John left than I started to catch better from the platform swim, on corn, at one time getting four good fish in four drops, including a bream that must have weighed 4 lb, and shot out of the water like a trout when it was hooked. Up to now I hadn't lost any fish at all, and had foulhooked only one carp, which I landed.

Several times I pulled back to find the corn missing from the hook - a sure sign, to me, that carp were still there. So I persevered with corn, with nearly every bite coming as the bait was moved, and added some more good fish, including one great big carp which I thought at first was a grass carp, but then its scales didn't look big enough. It was about 10 lb.

As I was catching I stayed with corn, getting just one more fish from the right margin, and ten minutes before the end I started a third net, and put just one four-pounder into it. I thought I had about 41 lb in each of the first two nets, so admitted to about 85 lb, and had not lost a single fish.

The weigh-in

Me with fish - Kev Lee does an excellent job taking
pictures with my camera. Thanks, Kev.

Kevin came round before he started to weigh, and when I said I had about 85 lb he said that would win. I was amazed when he said he had about 70 lb, as I had heard he was 'hammering' fish. Later he told me that first drop with paste his float had gone straight under and he thought he'd plumbed up wrongly. But when he lifted his pole there was a big carp on the end...and the same thing happened next drop, and he had several more early on, but then he had had a really bad afternoon. He actually weighed 65 lb 11 oz, to lead round to Peter Spriggs.

I had seen Peter, to my left, land about 20 lb of fish, so I assumed he probably had at least double that, as I had been concentrating hard on my own swim, and he has been having a great season, winning time after time . But no - 25 lb 5 oz was all he weighed. 

My weigh

My first '41 lb net' went 49 lb 14 oz! The 4 lb fish was next to be weighed...at 6 lb 10 oz! And the other 41 lb net went nearly 55 lb, knocked back to 50 lb!! 😒 Total 106 lb 5 oz. The other anglers all agreed that the 10 lb torpedo was, in fact, a grass carp. I wonder whether it was the same one landed by Trevor a year or two ago, also on Willows? 

Jason was fishing as a guest - pity I couldn't do
him justice by getting all his fish in the picture!

My winnings

I had seen Dave Hobbs on 13 land about 40 lb, and assumed he must have a lot more, but he didn't either - 46 lb 9 oz; and the same applied to Jason, who weighed 61 lb 4 oz when I reckoned I had seen him land 50 lb. 

So I ended as winner of the match (helped by having that platform to fish to), and the Golden Peg money of £67. I am convinced that switching swims when bites slowed was the key - the fish seemed to hang around. I thought that if I had hooked another one when they were so finicky they would perhaps have been scared right away.

I am back on Willows, with Spratts,on the low-numbered pegs, on Tuesday. I expect to feed very frugally again. After the match, when I was sitting in John Smith's home supping tea with him, he said he had probably over-fed, and yes, I think that some fish can be put off by large amounts of food going in when they are not really hungry. I assume they associate it with being caught. Who knows?

 

A most interesting match on Damson, Decoy

Peg 11, Sunday, Sept 18
I rather like this time of year, when the weather is cool enough for me to start thinking about not having to put ice packs into my bait bag, to keep the maggots and cat meat cold. And this was the first match for weeks when I was able to do that - not that the big lumps of cat meat came out much!

Fourteen of us fished this Fenland Rods match, and although fish are usually seen in the very shallow margins as we tackle up, that didn't happen today, partly because there was a big wave on. I thought that the stiff, cold Northerly wind blowing into our bank had probably put them down, and had half decided to start long - on three sections into eight feet of water - that was until I dipped by pole cup in to get water to wet my micros.

No sooner had I poured water over the top of the micros than fish suddenly appeared in the margins...so they were there after all, obviously coming to what might have been food! That meant a return to Plan A at the start - a banded pellet in the shallow margins, which could work for up to an hour. I also had a feeder ready, with a banded pellet, because I had an island in front of me, but I never actually used it.

Sun to start with, but it soon clouded over and the wind became stronger.

There were three pegs on the far end bank, to my right - 14 to 16 -  which I fancied to do well, and I would also have liked pegs 1 and 2; but I had a rather nice overhanging tree to my left and Shaun told me the last Over-55s Open had been won there, fishing under the tree, with cat meat and paste. 

A quick fish
First drop with the banded pellet saw the float zoom away, but there was nothing there. Next three drops were the same, but the fourth resulted in an F1 of 1 lb-plus. I was on my way! But No...the next ten minutes didn't bring even a knock of any kind. I remembered that that had happened to me once before, but this was strange.

Shaun, on the end bank, was already catching well in his shallow margin, so I quickly made the change, leaving the tree swim for the moment because I reasoned that it was a natural holding spot, and had a look with sweetcorn over micros with about four grains in the pole cup, in my righthand margin next to the reeds. That produced almost immediately, and after an hour I had about ten fish, all between 1 lb and 2 lb. Then they slowed down and I switched to the tree swim, using a lump of cat meat.

Mel Lutkin, to my right, started in the deep water had had some fish around 4 lb early on.

Meat worked, but only small pieces
That lup of cat meat produced a fish immediately, but then no more, so I tried the small pieces from a Whiskas sachet, and straight away had fish. With about ten more in my net, fishing about 18 inches deep a metres from the bank, bites became 'iffy' and I missed a lot. It looked as if roach had moved in - the float twitched and dipped a lot and I missed bite after bite. Eventually I felt I simply had to leave the rig in and see if the fish were roach or carp.

A Magic Number
Now I am a counter a lot of the time - when fishing a pole I count the bait down and keep counting, because sometimes the fish tend to take the bait after it's been there a certain amount of time. Earlier this season I had four or five big carp on Oak lake by counting just past 100, and all those fish took the bait between 90 and 105; if I left it longer I didn't get a bite. And today something similar happened - the float first started moving around 12, and striking then meant I missed every one. So I left it, and never had any more indications until past 30. The Magic Number (believe it or not) was 41. At that point I had a bite on about 50 per cent of the casts. If I left it lying there longer a bite never came.

In my mind's eye I imagined the carp watching the roach attack the bait as it hit bottom (a count of 12), then swimming a yard or two away, turning round, and coming to check that the bait was still lying there before taking it. Occasionally I would lift the bait at a count of 45 (if I hadn't had a bite) and would get a reaction instantly.

That really was almost surreal, and I must have taken 20 or more fish, mainly from 1 lb to 2 lb, but including two five-pounders, in that spell. And then another strange thing happened. 

Dave Garner always uses a waggler...but he always catches!!

Another mystery
Good fish, around 4 lb, were sometimes coming into the margin close to me and several times I dropped a bait on their nose, only to see the fish take one close look and zoom off. I assumed they must have seen the line, so when another good 'un started moseying along the bank from the tree towards me, in only a few inches of water, I quickly dropped the float in, with a big lump of cat meat which I could see in the water, leaving about a foot of line on the bottom.

That fish snuffled along the bottom right up to my lump of cat meat, took one look, and immediately turned and shot off. Now I doubt whether it could have noticed the line laying on the bottom, so surely it was the bait itself which frightened it? Yet two swims to my left Peter Spriggs was catching well on big lumps of cat meat! Could it be that some fish will refuse some baits at times? I've read that a goldfish has a memory of ten seconds, which doesn't make sense, considering what I saw. 

My catch - afterwards I found that almost
everyone had had problems keeping fish in
 the swim, and they had to keep switching.

Later, having tried mussel (which didn't work) I dropped half a mussel in the side where I could see it, and left it there. Half an hour later it had gone, presumably taken by a fish which I hadn't noticed. So those margin fish were willing to eat!

Things got harder
Anyway, the tree swim gradually petered out and I went back to the right margin for a few more, though the wind was now getting colder and fiercer, and I half thought that perhaps the fish didn't like the cold water on their backs in the shallow margin. Going out another foot or two into three feet brought one or two fish, but soon I had to go out into the deep water, about eight feet deep. where Mel, to my right, had had some nice fish. 

That brought a 3 lb carp first drop, on corn, and 15 minutes later another on cat meat, but I couldn't get any more, so came inside for another two, before going out again, with five minutes left, with cat meat for a final flourish - and it worked! Just before the match ended I hit a good carp which felt around 5 lb, but seconds before the match ended it came off - only the second fish I had lost all day. It was a bit of a bummer. 

Martin Parker was second to weigh in, with 115lb 7 oz  - but
his fish were much smaller than most of had caught.

I estimated I had perhaps 80 lb and thought I would probably come well down the list, because at times fish had fed really well and I imagined several others being able to keep them feeding. I had visions of two or three bagging around 200 lb.

The weigh in

Of course the match had been finished for only a minute or two before the wind started to die away and conditions became absolutely perfect!!!

Allan Golightly on peg 1 must have been disappointed with his 27 lb because this peg can produce big weights, but the wind was right into that corner, and he said it became really rough at times. Next to him Martin Parker had fished the margins, right next to the bank, all day for 115 lb 7 oz.

Kevin Lee, who always does well here, had 78 lb next door, and I thought I might beat that, which satisfied me, whatever the result, because if you can beat Kev anywhere you have done well. Then weights got a bit topsy-turvey, with John Smith's 64 lb battering the anglers on either side. Then to Dave Garner, who first net went about 42 lb, and I imagined him bringing out another big one, but the second net went only about 21 lb.

It's been a long times since James Garner fished with us, and it was great to see him back. I asked him to look at the scales for this picture, but he obviously had a fit of the giggles. Anyway, his fish went 70 lb 3 oz for eighth overall. Notice how calm the water is now...

Well done Pete The Meat

Peter Spriggs, though, continued his great run of results with 128 lb 13 oz on cat meat, which won the match - Well Done Again, Peter. My first net to be weighed went 42 lb, followed by one of 10 lb, then Oh Dear, the last went about 3 lb 6 oz over our club 50 lb limit. It's so difficult to estimate the weights of these smaller fish. My total was 102 lb 2 oz, more than I had estimated (not for the first time).

Peter's best fish (on meat) must have been around 10 lb.

Shaun on 14 said he had a brilliant first hour, taking 26 fish on a top two down to his left margin, then moving to his right margin. But after that he would catch a few and find that they just disappeared, so  like me in the last 90 minutes, he had to scrap around several spots for the occasional fish.

On the end peg 16 Callum Judge weighed 108 lb, for third, leaving Martin in third, and I ended fourth. I was pleased with that, as Damson is not a lake I look forward to fishing even though I've not had bad results from it over the years.

Next match on Elm, where I was told 200 lb won on the day we fished on Damson. I like Peg 12, but anywhere from 9 found to16 will particularly suit me. Peg 1 has been a disaster area for me in the past. 

THE RESULT

Fish galore...but not in my net!

Peg 12, Kingsland small lake, Saturday, Sept10
It's strange that up to three or four years ago you caught mainly big carp and small rudd in this lake, but suddenly (probably as a result of our hotter summers) the population of small carp has exploded. There must be millions there. 

I knew this had happened, but this year it was a huge nightmare - put a bait of any size into my swim and within three seconds these little ones, mainly from 2 oz to 4 oz, were either eating it or knocking it about. Because of that I didn't put in any loose feed, but it didn't help, and I decided to throw in floating pellets and try to nick a few better fish off the surface.

My swim - no ripple but that didn't matter on the day.

I had a nice right margin.

For locals - we placed Peg 1 (not used) in the first corner, along to 7, with 8 and 9 on the end bank, back down to 16, with 17 on its own). And for anyone that hadn't fished here recently, big steps have been laid down to the platforms, so it's much better than it used to be. I love it that the platforms are so big here.

Kevin has a great start
Within minutes of the start I saw Kevin Lee on Peg 2 was already playing what looked like a good fish. And not long after Allan Golightly, on my left, caught a carp on his feeder. I persevered with trying to dob fish on the surface, and indeed within about an hour I had got six in my net, all around 2 lb. 

Allan Golightly with a cracking fish taken early
in the match on a feeder.

Unfortunately as soon as the pellet on my hook fell more than an inch under the surface a small carp would snap it up. I had to hold it absolutely on the surface, and even then some small ones nipped in and took the bait before the bigger fish could get into position to take it. Like everybody else I saw big fish swimming around all day, which was most frustrating, as they wouldn't look at a bait dropped in front of them - they only seemed to feed right on the surface.

I take a stroll...
There was one 3 lb carp which kept coming up and trying to take the bait, but it had a deformed mouth and just couldn't seem to suck anything in. That one was a real nuisance, as I couldn't pick it out as it swam around, to avoid targetting it. Several times as I held the pellet just above the surface, trying to ambush a big carp, small fry used to leap out and try to take it!

I walked up to Peter Spriggs just in time to see him playing a 5 lb carp.

Then, with those six fish in my net, as if things couldn't get any worse, the next 45 minutes saw me without a single decent carp - they just seemed disinterested. And putting any bait in - even big lumps of luncheon meat - only attracted the fry. So I had a walk along to Mel on my right, and he had one five-pounder and some fry. Next door Peter Spriggs was getting on much better - he had already clicked 46 lb, and said that Kevin opposite was hammering big fish.

The margins come alive
Back to my swim and I tried putting in handfuls of corn into the margins, which brought big fish in very quickly, and if I dropped a bait like corn or cat meat or luncheon meat down among them, very occasionally a good fish would take it.  At times they were like dolphins - leaping up and over each other as they became excited. But if the bait went for ten seconds without a big fish taking it, a little one was sure to do so - they seemed to be quite unafraid of the bigger fish many times their size.

So I spent the rest of the match fishing like this, mainly with luncheon meat on the hook, and every few minutes I would find myself playing something good. I foulhooked only two (which came off), which was amazing as the float was pushed under, up, and round the swim, but the fish seemed to be able to avoid hooking themselves. My first try of mussel saw it taken as soon as it touched the surface by a four-pounder, but after that it lost its attraction.

Peter went 17 lb over in one net but still came third.

Towards the end of the match I got the impression that once the big fish had come to the loosefeed they were stopping in the area for much longer than they had earlier. I should probably have tried mussel again, as I have the feeling that it would have worked because of its size. But I didn't think about doing that, unfortunately.

I was nearly 4 lb lb over on one net myself.

The weigh-in
Dave Garner, fishing waggler and luncheon meat, lost several fish in the reeds which encroach on that swim, but weighed in a magnificent 168 lb 7 oz. Next to him, next to corner peg 16, Martin Parker took 137 lb 11 oz to the scales, followed by Peter Spriggs, who used mainly luncheon meat for his 139 ln 9 oz...although he was 17 lb over our 50 lb limit in one net! 

Then, as the scales moved towards the Southern end of the lake, weights dropped away. Mel managed to catch just five decent carp in his 28 lb 2 oz, though I managed to finish with a 'ton', weighing 107 lb 15 oz. Allan on my left had 61 lb 10 oz.

Allan tells his fish to quieten down.

On the opposite bank Shaun Buddle had over 100 lb, but it was Kevin who had blitzed everybody else with 243 lb 1 oz. He filled his first net in the first 45 minutes of the match, and we weighed this net at 49 lb 8 oz - with not a small fish in itt. Kevin said that he just never had a problem with the fry to start with, though they moved into his swim later. 

Dave Hobbs, in his first season with us, topped 75 lb.

Last to weigh, with five nets, Kevin Lee brings up his catch...

...and this was his biggest fish - a beautiful common.

I finished sixth, which disappointed me at the time because of the number of fish I had in my swim. But I then realised that the four top weights were in the four swims at the Northern end of the lake. I'm not sure whether that is just a coincidence, but I do think that sometimes small fish emigrate to certain areas and tend to leave other areas alone. That's my excuse, anyway!

 THE RESULT

My next match is Sunday on Damson at Decoy. I must resolve not to stay in the margin for too long if the fish go off there. 

Hard, with a whirlwind, on Yew

 Peg 26, Yew, Friday, Sept 9
Thirteen of us in this Spratts match, on the Eastern bank, and my swim looked good, with a shallow area a few yards to the left of the platform, giving me hope that it would come alive there in the last hour. Trevor Cousins was on my left; I like to be able to watch a better angler - so often leaving blank pegs means that a match now almost feels like pleasure fishing.

Grey skies greeted us and we did get rain.

The sky was cloudy, with probable rain forecast, so I donned my new Goretex bib and brace. But it wasn't until I used it properly that I realised it doesn't have the two large outside pockets that my old one had. I found them so useful, particularly for holding my mobile as I walked along following the scales and hoping for pictures.

Wendy was soon in action on her feeder rod.

And this was the result - all 18 lb 9 oz of it safely in the net!

The water felt 'dead'
Like Trevor I started on a feeder, and like him I had a look on the pole line after about 20 minutes without a knock. The water felt 'dead', so I felt I had time to try my three earmarked pole swims to see the float working properly - the shallow water, a deep hole on the right hoping for barbel eventually, and a simple 2+2 our just to my left, and the brisk wind was coming from the right. But at least I had a big Raspberry Ripple, unlike the anglers farther down towards the Northern end of the lake. The first person I saw land a fish was Bob Barrett, three swims to my right, who was fishing his usual feeder.

Meanwhile Wendy, to my right had had three fish on the feeder and I know she usually uses sweetcorn - in fact it looked as if she had double corn on the hook. So I changed my pink wafter on the feeder for two grains of sweetcorn, with micros, and that brought a fish of about 6 lb. A big lull followed, during which time Trevor lost a fish on the pole and went back himself onto the feeder. 

Trevor in action to my left - the umbrella was for his secret weapon - his wife.

Slow on the pole

In the next hour or two I managed a 2 lb F1 foulhooked on the pole at 2+2, and then some small perch on maggot over the casters I had put into the deep hole, but no barbel. Trevor now had a good spell on the feeder and when Martin Parker came along Trevor had had six; I had just the one decent carp, and Martin said that Bob Barrett had seven. I was being thrashed.

Then I hit a big fish on the feeder which weeded me to the right. I held on and slowly the fish came free, but it was obviously attached to something, which turned out to be a big lump of twigs and branches. I had this lump, clinging to my feeder, almost over the landing net, and could see the fish lying next to the bundle, but I couldn't position my landing net properly. 

Trevor would be the one to conduct the weigh-ins.

Lost!
The the fish slowly took the whole caboodle out a little and before it glided back to me the hooklength broke - it must have been cut on a thorn or something. I believe I said "Oh dear, Oh dear," or something similar! But while I had been playing the fish, and as Trevor had taken several more on a feeder, I had made up my mind to have another look on the pole line, as I felt the atmosphere had altered and it looked as if perhaps carp had started feeding.

I was using a cheap rod (I remember it cost me £25, including the reel  many years ago) with an all-through action. To be honest it hasn't enough beef in it to deal properly with this size of fish - I made up my mind to put the Preston feeder system on one of my Matrix feeder rods, which I should have done a long time ago.

Fish on the pole
Back on the pole and I suddenly lost a foulhooked fish on the 2+2 line, and followed that with three carp around 8 lb in three casts. Then, just as if someone had thrown a switch, the bites stopped. In the next hour or so I tried the other swims - nothing there until I had a look on the deep margin just beyond the shallow spot, and quickly had a big fish on mussel, and two foulhooked and lost on it before they also went AWOL. That was followed by another fish on the feeder, which I had now covered with groundbait, rather than using just pellets.

Rain came during the weigh-in. Here Bob Barrett, 
who had a brilliant start, waits for his weight to be called.

Somewhere around this time  a sudden whirlwind, not uncommon in the Fens, caught us by surprise - I held on to my side tray, but Bob Barrett had one of his holdalls lifted off the ground and deposited in the water. Seconds later everything returned to normal, but afterwards John Smith, who was nine swims away on 17, said that they knew nothing about it at that end of the lake - it must have bypassed them...

I finish with seven decent carp
In the last hour I fished the shallow swim hard, but eventually gave up with 20 minutes left, and had another cast on the feeder with groundbait, which brought a carp around 8  lb. I finished with those seven decent carp, the F1 and a few small perch. The barbel never showed. I guessed Trevor had around 20 fish. He told me afterwards that he, also, had started catching better when he had substituted the pellets on his feeder for groundbait. If I had done that earlier I am sure I would have had more.

My old mate Martin Parker, happy cos he'd caught some fish!

The weigh in

Joe Bedford, at 92, was first to weigh and did himself proud with 44 lb 9 oz. But it was generally agreed that Trevor had blitzed the match, and indeed he had, with 136 lb 6 oz. I weighed in 61 lb, while Wendy next door had 51 lb, which included one fish which we weighed at 18 lb 9 oz!

Bob Barrett had a torrid time after those seven early fish and weighed in just 71 lb 9 oz. Best weight after that was Alan Porter's 55 lb 3 oz - the swims towards the far end, which had the calmest water, definitely fished the hardest. So I ended up a very surprised third in a difficult match -
Peter Barnes never had a bite!

Wendy's best-ever carp.

The winner - Trevor with 136 lb 6 oz.

Next match was on Kingsland small lake, which turned out to be most frustrating!

                    THE RESULT

        28 Joe Bedford            44 lb 9 oz
        27 Trevor Cousins     136 lb 9 oz        1st

        26 Mac Campbell        61 lb               3rd

        25 Wendy Bedford      51 lb

        24 Peter Barnes            DNW

        23 Bob Barrett            71 lb 9 oz        2nd

        22 Alan Porter            55 lb 3 oz        4th

        21 Martin Parker        52 lb 10 oz

        20 John Garner            21 lb 4 oz

        19 Bob Allen               27 lb 12 oz

        18 Mike Rawson            DNW

        17 John Smith            32 lb 14 oz

        16 Dick Warrener        23 lb 1 oz

        And a message from Bob Allen...see below...

Bob Allen is becoming rich on his winnings from John Garner, and would like the world to know...