Twenty-five of us fished the Rookery Waters match for the Over-60s, on Jay and Crow lakes. I drew Jay 17, a swim I'd never fished before, where the Northerly wind was slightly over my left shoulder, but a bank on my left gave good shelter, and in any case the wind never seemed to reach the 14 mph forecast.
My swim had bare bank opposite, which I wasn't delighted with, because at the moment the carp seem to be hogging the areas around cover, like lillies or reeds, I needed 14.5 netres to get the rig across to the far bank, and although that last section is a real hassle to push out with my dodgy shoulder, I managed.
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| Calm in my corner at the start - the reeds were too far away for me to reach with a pole. |
I started on a bomb with bread, cast right across, because Steve Tilsley, on 11, told me he'd had three good carp in the last half-hour from the far bank when he'd fished this swim a month ago. So out went my bomb, and about a minute later I looked to my right, to see Trevor Watson on 14 playing a carp. hooked right across to the far bank reeds. He played it for several minutes - either foulhooked or a big fish. When I saw his catch at the end, there was a fish there almost 10 lb, and he told me he'd had 15 lb in the first half-hour. So it was a good fish, and I couldn't resist the temptation to swap over to pole quickly.
I should have started on bread, but wasn't confident that it would survive all the pushing through the water and the jigging about getting my final pole section on, so I started on maggot.
In the first few minutes I had two or three indications - possibly liners - and then a roach. A little later I got the carp I was hoping for - about 5 lb. But after that, although I persevered for over an hour, also using bread (which stayed on) I had no more bites. A switch to 2+2 with maggot over a little groundbait and dead maggot brought about five little perch and roach, but then even those bites petered out.
I was certain I would get bites on sweetcorn just over a shelf to my left, only a foot from the edge of a thick reed bed, and fished it for over an hour. I definitely had six bites which must have been liners, but no fish. After another try on the bomb, long pole over the far side again, and in the maggot swim, with no result, and with about an hour to go, I wandered up to Steve Tilsley on 11, just in time to see him strike and hook, and land, a 2 lb carp. I asked him how many he had, and he said: "I've not been counting them." So I knew he had more than I did, fishing about 11 metres out with maggot.
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| Trevor Watson - 35 lb 8 oz from peg 14. That big carp must have been the very first one he hooked, two minutes after the start! |
So back to my swim, and as I passed by, Trevor Watson said he had two carp and five F1s.
When I got back I plumbed up a swim 11 metres out and it was exactly the same depth as I had been fishing the groundbait and maggot. I saw no reason why there should be fish there when they wouldn't come in a few yards to where I had been fishing, and there was no obvious feature - the bottom was pretty flat, with just a gentle rise to the far bank - no drop-offs at all.
There was about 45 minutes left when I put in about 30 red maggots with a big pot, followed it up with my rig...and seconds later was playing a 2 lb carp! A few minutes later I had another, and three more in the next half-hour, Eight minutes to go and my sole hearing aid (the other one is being repaired) gave up on me - condensation in the tubing. I decided to carry on, but keeping an eye on Peg 19, as I couldn't now hear anything, and certainly not the final hooter.
Two minutes later I hit another fish, and this was bigger. Eventually it was coming protestingly towards the landing net, and I could see it was about 7 lb. Almost over the net and the hook pulled out! The fish was half in and half out, but unfortunately the bit which was out was the head - one flap of the tail and it shot over the rim before I could lift it. I may have said a naughty word... Would it have stuck on, say, a size 16 stronger hook? Who knows, but I shouldn't have risked it.
Peg 19 was also landing a big fish at this time, and he shouted something out, which must have been that the match had finished; meanwhile Trevor Watson was also landing a fish. I was sure that if I had gone out to 11 metres earlier I would have found fish feeding, as both anglers later said that the last 90 minutes had been best.
Mark Waring on 9, fishing 16 metres towards his right bank, won with 62 lb 10 oz, all F1s except for two carp. Last year I drew peg 8 twice, and came second each time, also with almost entirely F1s. They must inhabit that corner in the Winter.
Steve was second on the lake with 49 lb 8 oz, with Trevor on 35 lg 8 oz, while I finished next to last with 15 lb 14 oz. But these blokes know the lake so much better than I do, so I wasn't too upset.
The angler on 19, whose name I cannot read from the weigh sheet (definitely not Shaun Buddle, as has been reported elsewhere) said that his last three fish, taken in the last 20 minutes, had weighed about 17 lb. His total was 31 lb 10 oz. How important it is to keep fishing right to the end. And how important it is to search you swim at this time of year, which I didn't do!
The whole match was won by Will Hadley on Crow 4, fishing 11 metres on the pole with maggot. My next match is with JV on Six-Island lake at Decoy. With a North-Westerly forecast I fancy the big end , around pegs 8 to 13, but temperatures are forecast to be low, so it may not be very pleasant, as there's no shelter and the wind blows across the fens direct from Scandinavia. Brrrr.
THE RESULT
Jay 1-22
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| Jay 23-47 |
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| Crow 1-13 |
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| Crow 14-25 |
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