I get my annual thrashing, on Oak

 Peg 7, Oak, Sunday, July 9
Actually I wasn't thrashed badly, but being beaten both sides is not a happy experience, as any match angler will understand; and it began minutes after the match started. I had, as I last wrote, left the feeder rod in the van because my back was still playing up, and I wanted to move about as little as possible tackling up and packing away. Within minutes I sort of regretted that, when I saw the rod of Mel Lutkin, on my right, bending into a big fish, taken on a Method feeder.

My swim, with a shallow right margin - if you look closely where the bank sticks out

a little you can see, at the end of the video, a white stone on the bottom.

A couple more followed, and then Kevin Lee, on my left, landed a big fish hooked in the margins. I, meanwhile, was still trying to catch shallow on banded caster, with no success. No swirls, no liners, no nothing. The lake is surprisingly shallow - I couldn't find three feet anywhere, and neither could Kevin. The only shallower margin I had was about nine inches deep, and I could see the bottom. Hoping that there were more fish close in, I changed to corn down the side reeds, which was 32 inches deep - a little deeper than farther out..

It wasn't long before Mel Lutkin was in action on a feeder.

I am soon a long way behind
For the next 45 minutes or more neither I nor Kevin had a fish, but Mel had a couple more. Then, at roughly the same time, Kevin and I went out to about ten metres, where I tried cat meat, mussel and corn. In the next couple of hours Kevin had five or six more, on cat meat, and I had one 3 lb fish on corn. A switch to the inside, just off the reeds, and about three metres from the side bank,  brought me a quick four-pounder on mussel (which led to me wasting a lot more time trying mussel in all the swims), then no more,  nd halfway through I had just those two fish.

How does she do that?
As usual I spoke to my wife at 1 o'clock, and she asked what bait I was fishing - I said mussel at the moment, and she laughed and said that the fish were feeding on sweetcorn. Now I have learned, over 52 years, that my wife is never, ever, wrong. Actually there was one occasion when she was wrong, but I can't remember what it was, as I fainted. But do not imply that I think she is a witch...

Kevin Lee, to my left on peg 8, soon found big carp on cat meat...

Back to corn

Anyway, half an hour later I switched back to corn, at 10 metres, and in the next hour had lots of liners and two more fish. I went out to 13 metres, came into the side, and even dumped dead maggots in the right margin, in about two feet of water on a little ledge - nothing except one bite which must have been a liner. About 90 minutes to go, and both Mel and Kevin had had several more fish - I was being banjoed.

So I went out on the old 2+1, which was only a metre farther out than the reed swim, trickling in half-a-dozen grains of corn and letting the strong undertow just drag a grain slowly, along the bottom. Amazingly the float dipped first drop, and a six-pounder came in. After that I had a bite or indication most casts, lost one foulhooked, and landed six or seven up to about 7 lb.

...and here it is - a lovely light-coloured common.

Difficult to unhook

I lost one fish that looked about 8 lb trying to land it too quickly - some had come in very quickly on the short top, but others seemed to have sudden bursts of energy when they saw the landing net. There is always a problem, of course, when you can persuade a fish to come in quickly - they are terribly difficult to unhook, as they are still full of life. My fingernails have to be kept short as they split, thanks to the heavy dose of thyroxine I am on, and I have to use a disgorger or forceps almost every time. C'est la vie.

Then another big fish came in, almost in the net, but went off again into the middle of the lake. That happened several times and it suddenly dawned on me that it was probably foulhooked. Finally it took off like Usain Bolt and took my rig with it!.

A last-second fish

I quickly picked up a spare rig after I lost that one, and with only seconds left filled the cup with corn, dropped my rig over the top, and yes! The float dipped and I was playing the best fish of the day when the match ended, and I was able to shout "Fish On," which always gives me a certain mischevious sense of satisfaction - almost gamesmanship 😁. That fish was over 10 lb. But I knew I had been well beaten on both sides. I estimated I had about 80 lb.

Sean Buddle with the best of his 11 fish for 118 lb 13 oz.

 Even now I don't understand why I couldn't catch. I felt a bit better when I got home and had a look at a recent JV  match on that bank, to see that the lowest weight was from Peter Harrison, also on peg 7.

The weigh in

It became apparent that quite a lot of fish had been caught. First to weigh was Callum Judge, in the corner on peg 1, who told me before the match started, that he had caught fish from that swim before, and he remembered that he had fished well out, just away from the tree. He did it again, using mussel, and weighed in a magnificent 186 lb 11 oz. I had had a walk up to Callum before the match started, and he and John Smith next door, definitely had more water there than Kevin and I did - about four feet.

But the talk was of more fish at the other end, where Dave Hobbs was in the corner, next to Dick Warrener, who said he had 150 lb. On 5 Sean Buddle had 113 lb and Mel Lutkin weighed in 96 lb 9 oz. I totalled 87 lb 3 oz - not as bad a beating that side as I had feared.

Sean No 2 (I suppose he has got a name) just
missed out on weighing the 'ton.'

Kevin had 142 lb 9 oz, Allan Golightly 131 lb 5 oz (after apparently having the most incredible first hour), and Dick Warrener had 152 lb 4 oz, using mussel. 

Then there was a bit of drama in corner peg 15, as Dave Hobbs' four nets were totalled and checked. Beaten by 1 lb 8 oz by Callum Judge, Dave's catch, taken on mussel, came to 185 lb 3 oz for second place - the latest in a run of good catches by Dave. So several fine performances in this Fenland Rods club match - six over 100 lb out of the 11 who fished. And I finished ninth. It's not often I am beaten both sides in a club match, and usually I know what I did wrong, but not today, though if I had just gone out that extra metre from the reeds earlier it might have paid dividends.

Marks out of ten
I give myself 8/10, which looks generous because I finished well down, but at least I had a good finish, and if I had landed the two fish that got away I would have had well over 100 lb. And my fish seemed mainly to be smaller than those caught by everybody else. You can't win 'em all.

Allan Golightly looked as if he was going to empty the lake in the first hour,
but had to be content with 'only' 131 lb 5 oz.

Dick Warrener had 162 lb and still came only third.

Runner-up Dave Hobbs, 185 lb 3 oz, beaten by 1 lb 8 oz. 😞

The winner - Callum Judge from peg 1 - 186 lb 11 oz. Well done, mate! 😁

My next match will be my first at Rookery Farm Fishery for many months, in the Over 60s, which has some fine anglers who fish it regularly. I will be satisfied if I beat just one angler beside me, as I am not a regular there. It's on Crow and Jay, and I fancy Crow, which is likely to have wind on it, while Jay usually has some pegs that are calm. From recent results both may hold fish in the margins, which I must have a look at early.

THE RESULT