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