Am I on a roll?

 Peg 4, Oak, Decoy, Thursday, Nov 24
There was a moment in Sunday's match on Cedar (which I had forgotten about when I wrote my  blog) when my stars suddenly aligned in the heavens, and I was blessed with momentus moument monuommental a lotta lotta luck, with a capital L. My life took a turn for the better and I didn't realise it!

It started when I turned round to pick up a top two, with rig attached, and there it was...gone. I had used it earlier in the JV match, but now it was definitely missing. Nowhere to the right, nor left, nor behind; so it must be somewhere in the lake. Then I remembered clipping the roost with my foot a little earlier, but had thought nothing of it. The top two must have flicked up into the air and fallen in the water (as Spike Milligan used to say, on The Goons). I didn't hear it, but then I can't hear much anyway.

I went to my holdall, took out my special long-handled hook, and started dragging the bottom in the right margin. I dragged into the bank, lifted, and FIRST TIME my top two emerged from the water like the sword Excalibur. There is a god after all.

Then, next day, I went to one of my online poker sites, as I do most days, and although it recognised my login, I couldn't enter any of the tables. Now I know as much about Information Technology as I do about splitting the atom, but somehow, after a lot of blind alleys, I managed to find a chat line to a Poker Stars bod somewhere in the USA. And then, in a whirl of doubt, confusion and disbelief, I took a screenshot, changed it from a Png to a jpg (whatever they are), sent it to Poker Stars with my log files (don't ask) and was given a new site to log in to, which worked! Suddenly all was right with the world.

The dreaded draw
That was until the draw for the Spratts Christmas match on Oak. I've never done much good in the 20 years I've been fishing this event - never had a draw I really fancied. And this year nothing changed - I would have been happy with corner peg 1, which won this match last year, or anywhere from 9 to 15,  towards the end where the wind was blowing, or even 7 or 8 in the middle. Anywhere except 2 to 6. But the gods decided I had had enough luck for one week, and I was dumped, moaning, on 4.

Oak 4 - I had drawn it in an October match and struggled.

The wind was fairly strong and forecast to increase, and it was cold. A feeder seemed the obvious starting method, cast across to the far side, as we were all on one bank. So I made up two rods, one with a feeder and one with a straight bomb. But I started by  trying a banded pellet, with a 1 gm float, at about ten metres, to get a feel for the swim. After 15 minutes I was biteless, and Alan Porter, to my left, took a carp on feedered maggot cast across, but I had a quick look in the side with corn, on a different rig. Nothing there so with 30 minutes gone I went to the feeder.

A nice start on feeder
To my right Martin Parker was fishing a pole, and persevered with that for a couple of hours. Within ten minutes of my starting on the feeder, cast 50 yards to the far bank,  I started getting liners. I was 100% certain they were from fish hanging around the bait (a washed-out yellow wafter in micros held together with PV1 Noir) - the tip would pull forwards slightly, hang there for a few seconds, then drop slowly back; then it would repeat. A liner from a fish just passing by doesn't look like that - usually it's a quick flick, or a straight pull which keeps going then jumps quickly back or causes you to strike (and miss).

Alan Porter, on my left, was in action early on freedered maggot.

On the fourth cast I got a proper bite and in came a 5 lb mirror. In the next 45 minutes three more came in, including a near-10 lb light-coloured mirror which put up a hell of a fight. I have found that these light-coloured carp (usually called ghosties) fight twice as hard as the brown ones. It's the same with rainbow trout - the light ones are harder to hook and harder to land.

Alan then got a couple more on his feeder and Martin had one on his pole, but immediately changed to a feeder as the wind made it impossible for him to hold out in his pole swim. To Martin's right I had seen Peter Barnes land two, and on peg 1 Callum had also landed fish on a pole and feeder. He was not in the Christmas match, which also featured a drawn pairs event, but was fishing as an individual. So there were fish in these pegs after all.

Changing bait colour

I carried on with the feeder, catching perhaps one carp every 20 minutes, without losing any. At one point, following a biteless 20 minutes, I changed to a pink wafter. I do believe that sometimes, somehow, fish become aware of a bait which is catching their companions, and avoid it, which is why so often a change of bait will work immediately. And yes, within two minutes the pink, cast across to the platform opposite, had tempted a fish well over 10 lb.

Martin and Alan both had more fish, either side of me, but I had no idea what the anglers in the higher numbers were catching, because there were bushes in the way, but assumed there would be some big catches down there. Casting accurately was impossible in the wind, but at least I was managing to land within a few feet of the far bank, which seemed the best area.

Another one for Alan - by now the sky has darkened and it was cold!

A hook-up?
One of my fish kited dangerously near to Alan, on my left, who was also playing one. Both lines came in towards the margin between us and a fish splashed on the top - obviously one of us had hooked the other's line. I got up, slackened off, walked up the bank, and said Alan could land the fish, which he did - at which point I suddenly realised my line was now not pointing towards Alan, but towards the middle of the lake. There was still a fish on my line! It was about 5 lb, and I managed to grab the landing net and claim it. Talk about luck!

After three or four fish on the pink, including two more extra-hard-fighting light-coloured fish, I swapped back to yellow, and with an hour left I had probably 14. Martin had been catching a few, but not as many as me, and suddenly, I saw he had changed back to a pole and he landed two big fish in quick succession. I hadn't had a bite for some time, so I took a chance and went back to pole. The eight-metre line with banded pellet didn't bring even a bite, but now Martin landed a third good fish, around 10 lb.

Martin Parker had a good spell on first changing from pole to feeder.

Back into the margins

Thirty minutes left and I decided to try the left margin with corn - I had been flicking corn down there all match - and I would give it just 15 minutes, and go back to feeder for the last 15 minutes if the margins didn't produce; it was a plan of sorts. Nothing came from right against the bank, so I dropped in two metres out and... a bite! The perpetrator was about 9 lb and very frisky. But eventually I got it in on the strong blue Middy elastic.

Callum - 82 lb 3 oz on feeder and pole from Peg 1.

I stayed in that swim, seeing two more tentative bites from fish playing with the bait. Once I struck and the corn was gone - a sure sign the fish were just holding it in their lips. Eventually another fish came in, and I netted it just as Bob Allen lit his 'banger' to end the match. It sounded like a  Boer war 12-pounder, and I definitely heard it! 

Unfortunately I missed the fireworks that followed as I was unhooking the fish and gingerly placing it in the third net I had ready to drop into the water - holding the net in the water in one hand, placing the net, with fish, inside, and then attaching the net to my bar. After all I hadn't expected to catch much, and had put in only two nets. The gods were playing tricks on me again...  

The weigh in

By the time we weighed in the sky was black and the rain was falling, but Bob Allen did a fantastic job recording all the weights and the team result, walking the bank while holding an umbrella above his head. 

Dick Warrener had one bigger than this somewhere in that bag!

Callum on 1 weighed in 82 lb 3 oz, beaten by Martin who had 83 lb 2 oz. I estimated I had 80 lb-plus, but both of the two  nets I had clicked at 40 lb went over out 50 lb limit! My final weight was 108 lb 10 oz, but I had dropped around 5 lb. Next peg, Alan Porter weighed 73 lb 4 oz after having a bad spell in the middle of the match.

Then I got a big surprise - only two anglers past Alan broke the 50 lb mark, led by Peter Harrison on 10 with 98 lb 3 oz, and I had won! The only explanation I have is that the wind was one of the first cold ones for a few days, so the fish at our end of the lake, which was slightly sheltered, were more inclined to feed. Except in front of Peter Harrison, who could catch from a bucket of concrete!

Just some of the prizes - plus a tin of sweets for everybody.

The presentation

Trevor is very clever - the prizes he brings out are all around the £50 mark, so there's no 'special' winning prize, and I was very happy with a voucher for a restaurant near Wisbech, where I can take the wife. Yet again Trevor had done a fantastic job over the season and with the prizes, everybody got something really good, and he has our grateful thanks.

The full results

Everybody got a prize (except Callum, who wasn't eligible on this occasion), and a tin of sweets, and Karen at Decoy had laid on the most beautiful, hot, roast potatoes and sausages for us. Finally the team event went to Peter Harrison and Martin Parker with a 181 lb 5 oz total, while myself and Bob Barrett ended runner-up (but every one of the seven teams won money).

THE FINAL INDIVIDUAL RESULT

1 Callum Judge            82 lb 3 oz        4th

2 Peter Barnes             50 lb 9 oz        7th

3 Martin Parker           83 lb 2 oz        3rd

4 Mac Campbell        108 lb 10 oz      1st

5 Alan Porter                    73 lb 4 oz            5th

6 Joe Bedford                   20 lb                  15th

7 Peter Spriggs                 27 lb 5 oz          14th

8 Dick Warrener               50 lb                    8th=

9 Mike Rawson                44 lb 11 oz        10th

10 Peter Harrison             98 lb 3 oz            2nd

11 Bob Barrett                 34 lb 11 oz         11th

12 Wendy Bedford          27 lb 15 oz         13th

13 Trevor Cousins           53 lb 15 oz          6th

14 John Garner                31 lb 2 oz          12th

15 Bob Allen                    50 lb                   8th=

Next match is Sunday on Six-Island with the JV club. It looks like I am on a roll...The wind is forecast to be SW, with rain, so 10 to 23 will be back wind. I'd rather like peg 11. Are you listening up there?