The walk along Oak Lake was definitely worth it! (Ellis Buddle Memorial)

Peg 15, Oak
Saturday was one of the highlights of my angling year, when I got to meet some old mates from Wisbech at the Ellis Buddle Memorial team match. And the first was Barry Gibson. We go back a long way - to when we were teenagers fishing with the Blacksmiths Arms club, and travelling to matches in Jim Flint's van (remember that, Barry?) 

There were some good anglers in that club, including Chris Webb and Roy Raven, who used to use brown bread flake for the bream.

Memories...
I remember sitting with Barry in the back of the van, back doors open as we travelled to somewhere in the Fens. Barry was smoking an illicit cigarette, and when it was finished he flicked it out through the doors. You'd think it would fly out and drop down on the road, wouldn't you? Not a bit of it.

       Roger Archer in magnificent action...      

That lighted fag end hovered near the back, in mid-air, and promptly shot straight back into the van where we sat. Funny how you remember the little things.

Roger Archer was also there - immortalised by appearing on the front of Allan Haines' book: The Complete Book  Of Match Fishing - a picture I took after a match on the Trent backwater at Syston. Roger's father, Peter, was one of the stalwarts of the Five Bells AC - he'd sit there smoking his Woodbines all night. And it was good to see other familiar faces, though I couldn't remember all their names.

The match
Anyway, my walk was to the far corner, peg 15, a swim I had never fished, though I know it has had some good weights in the past. Opposite me was match organise Shaun Buddle, fishing as an individual because the final entry was 31 - impossible to get teams from that number. So Shaun had 10 teams of three, and fished to enjoy himself.

The match had hardly started when I looked to my right to see Peter watching 
his neighbour land a carp! Two more followed very quickly.

I was teamed with Callum Judge and Steve Engledow, who were both pegged on Cedar, behind me. And for me (and for most, I think) the match started slowly. Two ten-minute casts on a Method feeder produced not even a liner, and by this time the angler two to my right, past Peter Harrison on peg 13, had what looked like a carp, followed soon after by two more, all on a pole. I changed to pole.

Peter was fishing around 14 metres, and I started at ten metres, with corn, but had had nothing after an hour. I'd been feeding casters and had a look shallow over the top, but although fish were moving on the surface, they never took my bait. So then it was down on the bottom, in that swim, with a bunch of casters.

Success...
Success! In came an 8 lb mirror. Then nothing, and I soon changed - I've ben changing swims after catching a fish much more quickly than I used to. Next it was into the deep margin to my right, facing the Southerly wind, from right to left. I kept feeding wth a little hemp, and micros, a few 6mm pellets and also casters (which I use most of the time now), and eventually had a bite. That turned out to be foulhooked, and it came off. But at least there were fish there.

I'd been flicking a few pellets in the side, right against the tins, which now line Oak lake, and when I saw a fish more there I dropped in, but nothing happened, so I left that line alone for the moment. Another 8 lb fish came from the ten-metre line on caster, and then another from the right deep margin on cat meat. I had also been feeding the left margin against the reeds, where it was a little shallower the closer you got to the reeds.

Shaun nets a fish opposite to me on peg 16.

A fish came from there, and another at ten metres, and with three-and-a-half hours gone I had just five fish and 36 lb on my clicker, having also lost another foulhooked. Peter Harrison seemed to have had a better start, and he had definitely hooked more fish than me. Afterwards he told me that several had come adrift.

Opposite, Shaun also had a better start than me, and I guessed he would eclipse my weight easily. Behind me on Cedar Trevor Cousins had hooked the occasional fish, and I know he lost some. 

In the last two-a-and-a-half hours I switched between the two deeper margin swims, and had about four more carp to 10 lb, before I saw Peter Harrison catching right against the tins, where it was about 18 inches deep. So I now included that swim in my repertoire, and my two best carp came from there - both around 12 lb; one on corn and one on mussel.

Trevor nets a fish behind me on Cedar lake.

I had to feed before every fish. If I didn't I wouldn't get a bite. I was feeding fewer grains of corn in the left margin, so used corn on the hook there, while the right deep margin saw me using cat meat (and not feeding much there); and inside on the right, mussel was best. One fish around 10 lb was hooked in the tail, but I landed it, after a hair-raising fight (you know how it is).

Two fish started to come in pretty quickly and then suddenly shot out and kept going as if foulhooked. But when I landed them they weren't foulhooked - except that both were hooked on the outside of the lip. They are so difficult to control when that happens.

Literally four minutes to go and I hooked a good fish from the tins swim, which came off leaving me with a scale. I glanced at the watch, saw two minutes remaining, hooked on another mussel, fed, and dropped the rig in. Down went the float and a fish was on. I admit I played it carefully as it would obviously be my last one. 

The match ended, I shouted 'Fish On', and Trevor obligingly shouted (very loudly) "Mac's got a fish on". That follows a comment in a recent blog that I shouted 'Fish On' a few weeks ago and someone (forget who) kept reminding me the match had finished. Anyway that fish, about 7 lb, ended where it should. I had 15 carp in four nets, with only one in the last one.

Lots of excitement on the bank as John Garner
takes a long, last, lingering look at the golden
coin he has had to deposit in Bob Allen's hand. 

The weigh-in
I was several minutes late playing that last fish. And I had caught on four different rigs from four different swims, and also had a spare rig and the shallow rig to pack away, and an assortment of baits, so as usual I was way behind most others. I was just in time to see Rod Melnyk on peg 9 weigh in his three nets.

I had spoken to Rod as I walked to my peg, saying that peg 9 was the swim I would have chosen - I won from it earlier this summer, and the next time we fished Oak, Kev Lee won from it. There are perhaps 30 yards between pegs 9 and 10, because the tins have collapsed, and a platform couldn't be put in where it should have gone.

Rod certainly did the swim justice -  first net was 22 lb 9 oz, but the next two both went over the strict 50 lb limit which Shaun had decreed for the match, by about 3 lb on each. It's so easy to do when the fish are around the double-figure mark. Total 122 lb 9 oz, and in the lead.

I thought Peter Harrison on 13 would
beat me, but no - he had 107 lb 4 oz.

I estimated I had around 120 lb to 130 lb, so also took a great interest when Peter Harrison weighed in his three nets, and was surprised when he totalled only 107 lb 4 oz, but while I had lost just six fish Peter said he had lost a fair number more than that.

My first net of five fish went 42 lb, the next five were 47 lb, a net of four was 39 lb, and the last fish was 8 lb 15 oz - total 138 lb 9 oz. That was leading, but I was told that Bob Allen on the opposite bank had several carp. Before that, Shaun in the corner opposite me weighed in - 112 lb 7 oz, as I think he had a poor ending.

Then Bob Allen weighed in, and after partnering me to second-place the previous Sunday in our pairs match, he had another really good catch today - 121 lb 3 oz, with every fish on paste. Why didn't I try paste? There were no more 100 lb-plus catches on Oak lake, so I was the winner there. And in fact top weight on cedar was 112 lb 7 oz to John Garner, so I ended as overall winner.

The presentations

Shaun had arranged for food for us all, and announced the winners  as Mel Lutkin, Phillip Allen, and Bob Allen, who all had over 100 lb and who were the only team to all top their three-peg sections.

Shaun prepares to present all the prizes, but
where on earth is the winner?

Myself and John Garner received a great box of goodies and a trophy, and I picked out a lucky peg number, with the winner receiving cash. The lucky man was...none other than Shaun Buddle, which was perfect since he'd given up his chance of being in a team after two people had cocked-up the date of the match and dropped out the day before.

Never mind - take the runner-up's picture - he's
better-looking anyway. Well done, John Garner!

Great surprise

When I got home I opened the box and it contained not a trophy but a mug stating the name of the match. It was an excellent idea, and my wife will see it every day, every time I make a mug of tea or coffe!

Inscribed mugs instead of trophies - I really love that idea, Shaun.

Shaun Buddle (L) with the winning team (L-R) Phillip Allen, Mel Lutkin, Bob Allen.

Runners-up Neil Paas, Roy Whitwell and Rod Melnyk.

So ended a really good match, with Shaun's thanks going to all the helpers and weighers-in, plus the Decoy team for the food, plus Mum Buddle for making up the boxes of goodies (I've already started on the pork scratchings, which I haven't had since I was a boy). But most of all Shaun deserves our thanks for bringing us all together every year, and at the same time doing his Dad proud!

My marks out of ten

I thought I played those big fish pretty well, having opted for my long tops because of the extra insurance of the extra elastic. But given that I didn't try a bunch of maggots, or a worm, or paste, or prawn or pellet on the hook, all of which I had with me, I am probably worth only 6/10. However I bothered to buy and take casters, which appear to be a magnet for carp, so in the best tradition of the late Len Goodman on Strictly I'll increase that to SEVERN.

Next match on Cedar on Wednesday, where peg 26 in the corner usually holds fish. But I'm confident that at the moment I can put up a good show from any peg, especially if I have casters with me.

THE RESULTS

Shaun gave up his team place to fish as an individual, and caught
112 lb 8 oz. Then I picked him out as the Lucky Peg winner!

That's all, folks!