Contrasting days on Lou's and Elm

Peg 6, Lous, Sunday, Sept 8
Peg 6 on Lou's has been described as the best peg in the county, and I drew it and was on a £50 Golden Peg as well, in this Fenland Rods match. But although it has such a great reputation, it's definitely better in the Winter, when the fish hole up in the far corner, about 50 yards away. Today the fish were definitely there, though - you could see them just under the surface, basking in the sunshine. And I was glad I had bought some ice-cold orange juice to drink.

The famous peg 6, where carp can bunch up in the Winter, in that far
 corner, about 50 yards away.

But I decided to start on the pole, close in, as fish were definitely moving there - I could see their swirls. And the reeds to the left looked very inviting. So I started there, putting in just half-a-dozen grains of corn, but never had even a liner. So over to the right, next to the platform for peg 7, which was unoccupied. Immediately fish started moving in the side, which was about nine inches deep.

That left margin is usually favourite with pole
anglers, but I couldn't catch a single fish there!

Waving tails
Fish waving tails at you almost at the start of a match are very inviting, but I went out to 18 inches, which gave lots of liners before I hooked a fish. It was about 9 lb, hooked in the mouth on cat meat, and ended in my net. But it was a false start, and things now became quite difficult. In fact after another fishless half-hour I cast over to the corner with a pellet waggler, which seemed a better bet than bomb or feeder, as fish were on the surface - dozens of them.

After half-an-hour of catapulting pellets out, and following them with a pellet waggler I gave up. The nearest I came to getting a bite was when one fish tried to eat the float! To my right Callum and Mel, on pegs 8 and 9, had one or two fish on a feeder, but were otherwise struggling. I came back into the margins. Fish were moving all over the lake, but not really interested in feeding, though they came and swirled every time I introduced any bait.

The right margin, between pegs 6 and 7,
was  where I caught most of my early fish.

In the next three hours I had just the occasional fish from the righthand side, with just one lost foulhooked fish from the reeds, and three more from the right, and a couple from out on 2+1 on corn. It rained fairly heavily for about an hour, during which time I didn't catch much. Then suddenly, after the rain, the air felt much warmer, I had another fish or two, and I sensed that perhaps things would get better.

An hour to go
With an hour to go I had only 36 lb on my clicker, though I fancied I had more, so I decided I'd start on my second net. Then Dick Warrener, who wasn't fishing today, came to watch. Just before he got there I saw a puff of mud from a swim just in front of me, where I had put in no bait at all - I was sure they were coming on the feed.

Out went a little hemp and some casters, and I dropped in a rig with cat meat. After getting an immediate liner I dropped in about a metre away from the feed area, and had a 5 lb carp straight away. Between that point and the end of the match I landed about eight or nine carp, losing just one foulhooked, all from a metre away from the area I had fed. A good ending, but with Kevin Lee on peg 1 and Roy Whitwell on 14, where I had won the last time we fished here, I guessed I still wouldn't win. That first five hours, which included some long fishless spells, would have made sure of that.

By the end of the match we were nearly all in short shirt sleeves.  Here,
Martin Parker weighs in his 43 lb 7 oz, worth a section win by default.

Kev Lee - beat me by 4 lb to
win an exciting match.

The weigh in
Kevin Lee had fish in three of his nets for 102 lb 12 oz, and I was sure I was beaten. He told me that with just seconds left he turned to Dick, who was watching,, and said: "I've run out of cat meat." he then looked around his tray, picked up half a mussel, stuck it on his hook, dropped in, and 'bang' a fish was on almost immediately. He landed it, and that proved to be the fish that beat me, and saved the Golden Peg money.

My last net, begun with an hour left, weighed in at 48 lb 8 oz. Good going, but it just left me wondering how some of our local anglers like Tom Edwards, Ben Townsend and Jimmy Brooks can often land 100 lb or more in an hour! 

My othernet went 50 lb 1 oz, and I ended second with 98 lb 9 oz, behind Kevin. Well done, Kev - yet another well-deserved victory.

One more fish and I would have won!
I had 48 lb in the last hour.

Roy Whitwell on 14 was third with 58 lb 4 oz, but had enormous problems with fish taking him into the reeds, and he lost four rigs. I was lucky when I fished there, as I didn't lose any rigs, though I had several hairy moments.

For marks out of ten I reckon I was worth probably 8, as those around me struggled all day. Next match was on Elm lake, the next day.

THE RESULT

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Peg 7, Elm
Blimey. I got out of the van at Decoy for this Spratts club match and couldn't believe the difference in the weather. The wind had a bit of a bite to it, and felt like it was ten degrees colder (though Shaun Buddle was still in shorts!). And I wished I'd brought hot coffee with me instead of cold orange juice. It had also swung round from South-West to almost Northerly, which gave us a back wind, over our left shoulders, as we were pegged on the West side of Elm, using all 12 pegs.

Neil Paas in action early on in the match, when he still had his
 hood up. I am really pleased to see I'm not the only one
to have a peg looking a bit like a builder's yard!

I always fancy peg 8 on Elm, but was happy enough with number 7. Neil Paas was on 8, to my left. And because it definitely felt 'unfishy' I started on the feeder, as did Neil. Half an hour later, with nothing in the net, I went out to anout ten metres and fished really hard. I got the float set exactly right, with corn just touching the bottom, and fancied I had a knock or two before two roach took the bait. One ended in my net, and the other dropped off. By now the temperature had risen a little, and we had only a few spots of rain.

I take a walk (like Ivan used to)

By this time Neil had had a fish or two on his feeder, so I went back to it for another half-hour. That produced not even a liner, and I had a short walk. Kev on peg 3 had had two big carp early on - one in the margin and one a bit farther out. I don't think Roy Whitwell had anything, but Mike Rawson had had a carp. Mick Ramm was fishless, but Neil had three now; John Garner had lost a fish on a feeder; Trevor Cousins had mugged one big carp; and John Smith in the corner peg 12 was still fishless.

Back to my peg and I decided I simply had to have a look in the margin, under the bush to my right. First drop with cat meat I had a bite which I missed; second drop brought a proper bite and a 9 lb carp! I went straight into the left margin against the reeds, and immediately hooked a fish which came off!

Fishy Galore!

Back to the right, and hemp and caster brought fish in to the swim - I could see the bubbles, which they release from their gills when they are excited (as I was, as well!) But they wouldn't take any bait.

I probably should have gone back out to ten metres, but in fact stayed in the margins for the rest of the match because the fish were there all the time now. 

There was a small shallower shelf about a metre long and 18 inches wide to my right, and a big cup of dead maggots put down there brought just one six-pounder on a bunch of deads, but no more, which surprised me.

Towards the end Neil started catching fish on a pole, but with a bush between us I couldn't see exactly where he was fishing. In fact it was at 2+2. I went out to 2+1, without result, but did manage to winkle out five more carp, on meat or mussel, from the right margin, with a couple in the last half-hour, also losing three more, probably foulhooked.

Neil plays his last fish, landed after the match ended.

With seconds left I hooked my last fish, from the right margin, which turned out to be the smallest of the day - a 2 lb F1. I ended very disappointed as I am sure I should have had more in that last 30 minutes.

In fact Neil ended with a couple of good carp taken on a feeder dropped in on his pole line. A very versatile and thinking angler is Neil.

Just so I know what a proper carp looks like!

The weigh in

Peter Spriggs on peg 1 took 39 lb 10 oz to the scales - most caught in the last 40 minutes. Then Peter Harrison on 2, who could catch fish in a bucket of Dettol, had 73 lb 5 oz, which led to me. I had no chance of beating that - my fish went 38 lb 3 oz.

To my left Neil Paas won by 9 oz - 73 lb 14 oz. Phew! And Trevor carried on mugging occasional fish for his third-placed 62 lb 12 oz, with Kevin lee fourth. Well done, Neil, who always seems to be in the frame.

Peter Harrison - second with 73 lb 5 oz.

Marks out of ten

So ended a disappointing match for me, as I had fish in the swim consistently for the last four hours. OK, it was obviously not an easy day, but I should have had more, though I'm not sure how. Fish might well have been in that longer swim if I'd fished it again. My worst result (ninth out of 12) for months. Worth 3/10.

Trevor Cousins, on peg 11, took all his fish mugging.

Well done, Neil - a good catch
on a very difficult day. He
included some flying bream...

Fenland Rods On Magpie

We're at Pidley on Sunday, pegs 1-14, and 28 to 34 on the island, with only nine definites at the time of writing. (If only we were all hale and healthy we would have considerably more). And with that number of pegs available to us the members might like to consider fishing a rover. It's up to them on the morning.

I'd like a very quick AGM afterwards, at the cafe, to check our rules for next year.

THE RESULT

1 Peter Spriggs         39 lb 10 oz

2 Peter Harrison       73 lb 5 oz        2nd

3 Kevin Lee             60 lb                 4th

4 Roy Whitwell        57 lb 8 oz

5 Mike Rawson        DNW

6 Mick Ramm          14 lb 9 oz

7 Mac Campbell       38 lb 3 oz

8 Neil Paas               73 lb 14 oz      1st

9 Shaun Buddle        42 lb 6 oz

10 John Garner         38 lb 13 oz

11 Trevor Cousins     62 lb 12 oz    3rd

12 John Smith           23 lb 1 oz (4 fish, 2 in the last four minutes!)