Years ago Bryan Lakey and I were discussing why the anglers from Nottingham seemed to do so well fishing for roach on the static Fen drains, when most of their fishing, at that time, was on the flowing River Trent. We decided that it was because, on the Trent, they knew that there would be roach somewhere nearby which they could attract up into their swim. So they got into the habit of fishing hard all day, knowing that eventually they would get a bite or two. That knowledge meant that they became used to catching fish every time they went out, and learned so much while they did it.
But on the Fen drains we locals would inevitably become despondent if we hadn't had a bite after three or four hours, especially if no-one near us had had a bite, either. I once fished 13 matches in a row on the Great Ouse Relief Channel without a single fish (Percy Anderson told me his record was 17); and I remember a match on the Middle Level when five sections of 12 in a row were all fishless, and we drew for the pools money. We wondered whether there had been a single fish in that 1,200-yard stretch. Certainly we never learned anything on that day...
Contrast that to fishing on the commercials, where we at least KNOW that there are fish in every swim, even in the depths of Winter. That keeps us fishing hard. all day. I now never give up, mentally. How lucky we are now.
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| Lee Kendall's first fish - he estimated it at 17 lb. |
I was happy with Peg 6 - it's towards the better end of Cedar. I started on the pole at 10 metres in the fierce, cold backish wind, with expander, while Lee started on the feeder cast across to the other side. First drop I had a bite which must have been a liner; then after a while Lee had a big fish on his feeder. It was way into double-figures. He said that Michael Dawson, to his right on 3, had also had fish.
It was difficult to keep the rig over the baited spot because the wind was blowing it away from me, and from side to side. After 45 minutes I changed to feeder and eventually had a 2 lb bream on maggot. No bites on bread or pellet so I turned back to the pole.
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| Michael Dawson had a great start on Peg 3 on Cedar, ending with 98 lb 9 oz, all on Method feeder and pellet. |
I went to the left margin, under a bush, where I had been flicking maggots, which brought a quick bite which I hit. The fish seemed to be sluggish for a few seconds and the 10/11 elastic came out only a couple of feet. Then the fish turned on the turbo chargers and I realised it was foulhooked. Soon the elastic went slack - the hooklength was broken. Twenty minutes later the same thing happened - the 6 lb hooklength went again.
Next a 4 lb barbel took four maggots, and this came in without a lot of trouble. Then Lee suddenly had a real blitz, taking four good carp in about 30 minutes - he told me he was fishing bread, on a banjo feeder. Michael Dawson, meanwhile had had several more, on a Method feeder and pellet.
Over an hour without another touch saw me try the feeder again, with bread on a bomb or feeder, then back into the margin swim where I had a couple of liners, so I knew the fish were still there. Meanwhile Lee had another purple patch with carp, and in the last hour I managed a 2 lb barbel in the margins.
With ten minutes left, after a long slack spell, I went out on the feeder again with bread and micros in the feeder, and a 5 lb carp obliged just two minutes before the match finished. At the end I went up to Lee, who kindly showed me exactly how he was fishing the bread - pretty much the same as I was, though I think his micros were fluffier. That led me to experiment doing it Tom Pickering's way, overnight, and I think I've now cracked that!
Here's a link to his short video: https://www.maggotdrowning.com/forums/threads/tommy-pickering-how-to-prepare-micro-pellets-in-winter.246677/
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| Lee Kendall shows that cracking first fish, his best of the day on Peg 5. |
Peter Harrison had 61 lb 8 in the corner, while Michael's 20 fish went 98 lb 9 oz. Lee had only 12 carp and a barbel, having missed the keepnet with a big carp, which jumped out of his landing net (!) but they went 107 lb 14 oz, for the lake win. They were the top three on Cedar.
Lee had his barbel on bread, and Eddie McIlroy on 8, to my left, also had a barbel on bread. He had several fish, including barbel and bream, for his 47 lb. Interesting to see barbel taking bread. On Elm the weights were lower, won by Andy Bull in the corner on 12, fishing next to the end bank, using bread fished eight inches off bottom.
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| "Peg 11, Steve Tilsley, 21 lb exactly." Hello, what's this? These youngsters will get up to all sorts of tricks at the weigh-in. You have to keep your eye on them! |
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