Peg 19, Jay, Pidley
With so much wind in the Fens, it was so unusual, and a bit of a shock, to see the lakes almost flat calm for this Over 60s match on Jay and Crow...and the fish must have been traumatised because not many were caught, and that includes my swim. Peg 19 can be very good, especially when a West wind blows into the corner, to the left, when fish can be found alongside the stick-ups in the margin.
With so much wind in the Fens, it was so unusual, and a bit of a shock, to see the lakes almost flat calm for this Over 60s match on Jay and Crow...and the fish must have been traumatised because not many were caught, and that includes my swim. Peg 19 can be very good, especially when a West wind blows into the corner, to the left, when fish can be found alongside the stick-ups in the margin.
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| Not often you see this in the Fens... |
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| I asked Tim Bates to draw for me, as whenever someone else draws for me it seems to be a decent peg. I'm a terrible drawer. |
But today I started, as did a lot, by dobbing bread over the far side, at 13 and then 14.5 metres, and at the end of an hour I had managed just one liner. I tried maggot for a time, but eventually had to give that up, and fish the deep water. On a 2+2 with corn I fancied I saw one or two tiny movements of the float, so spent a long time adding No 13 shot to get the tip right down to a pimple.
A fish!
Suddenly that pimple vanished and I was playing a 1 lb F1. Twenty minutes later another came in, then a long blank spell. A walk up to Shaun Buddle on 25, and he told me he had two carp, three F1s, and a load of small perch, fishing right across. So I toddled off back to my swim and had a sudden brainwave - groundbait. It's allowed only in a feeder on Decoy, but here you can use it. So some cool-water F1 groundbait went in (just a little) and within a minuite or two my first proper carp was on its way in, foulhooked.
Suddenly that pimple vanished and I was playing a 1 lb F1. Twenty minutes later another came in, then a long blank spell. A walk up to Shaun Buddle on 25, and he told me he had two carp, three F1s, and a load of small perch, fishing right across. So I toddled off back to my swim and had a sudden brainwave - groundbait. It's allowed only in a feeder on Decoy, but here you can use it. So some cool-water F1 groundbait went in (just a little) and within a minuite or two my first proper carp was on its way in, foulhooked.
That weighed about 6 lb, and I tried fishing off bottom, which saw just the tiniest of movements, obviously liners. An hour later, after more groundbait, I lost two more good fish, obviously foulhooked. In the last hour, corn accounted for another big fish about 6 lb, and another F1. To my right on 17 Malcolm Roberts had had one or two small fish (probably on maggot) but then I saw him with a good carp, which he landed. That was his only carp.
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| Malcolm Roberts plays his one and only decent carp, hooked late. |
I wondered, afterwards, whether I should have tried maggot, and I definitely should have tried a bunch on the hook. But I didn't fancy feeding maggot after Shaun told me about his littple perch. In Summer I am sure that small fish feeding can attract carp, but when the water is dead I get the feeling that any flashing of hooked fish - even tiny perch - puts carp off.
The weigh in
Pegs 1 and 6 had, as they have done so often recently, produced some carp, and my two carp and three F1s weighing 17 lb 14 oz was fourth out of that section of seven. I was delighted to beat Shaun Buddle, though by only 1 lb 4 oz.Then weights got better, with Roy Whincup on 25 and Chris Neal on 38 both lucky enough to see fish knocking their margin stick-ups, and coming second and first, respectively, on Jay lake with weights of 43 lb 2 oz and 52 lb 13 oz.
Pegs 1 and 6 had, as they have done so often recently, produced some carp, and my two carp and three F1s weighing 17 lb 14 oz was fourth out of that section of seven. I was delighted to beat Shaun Buddle, though by only 1 lb 4 oz.Then weights got better, with Roy Whincup on 25 and Chris Neal on 38 both lucky enough to see fish knocking their margin stick-ups, and coming second and first, respectively, on Jay lake with weights of 43 lb 2 oz and 52 lb 13 oz.
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| Tim Bates wheels the specially-designed weighing system along to end peg 47, by the bridge. |
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| I caught up with Colin Walker on peg 47, who had 32 lb 24 oz, mainly on maggot. |
Steve Tilsley caught late on Crow to win overall with 58 lb, with Mark Waring beside him second on that lake with 48 lb 4 oz. The payout was on the Continental system.
Marks out of ten
I was very pleased with the way I fished. I felt I kept it simple, but kept making changes whenever I felt I had to try to make something happen. I felt the time I spent getting the rig really sensitive was time well spent, and I give myself 8/10.
Next match Sunday on Willows, Decoy. It was scheduld to be on Oak, but it's probably prettty muddy on the banks there, following the work Sean Reilly and his team have done. The banks have been cleaned up and sheeting put in, to prevent further bank erosion. There's a short video on Decoy's Facebook page showing what has been achieved so far. It will probably be ready to fish in the very near future.
The wind is forecast to be Westerly, which is straight into pegs 24 and 25 on Willows. Of those two I would prefer 24, but a draw in Dead Man's Bay (16 to 23) would suit me. Ben Townsend won off 3 recently, but he is quite exceptional. However, I would be happy with peg 1, which usually holds a fish or two.
THE RESULT
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| 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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