Roving over the Magpie

 Peg 2, Magpie, Sunday, Sept 15
We decided to run a rover in this Fenland Rods match on Rookery Fishery, Pidley, with pegs 1-14, and 28 to 34 on the island, to choose from. I had intended to take 32, where I've had two big catches in the past, but when it was my time to choose, pegs 34 and 33 had already gone, and with the recent cool night I thought perhaps a swim with reeds would be better than the concrete banking on the end pegs on the island. I took peg 2 only because I know that there are lilly roots down there, even though there are no lillies at the moment, and it might be a place to go to if  I was in deep trouble.

No ripple at all, but a nice-looking right margin for me.

Kev Lee took 13, where he has won from before, and I had a horrible feeling that he'd do the business again! To cut a long story short I had three fish in the first hour, all around 5 lb, on luncheon meat on a pole, using a short top plus three, in front of me. Then a move to the right deep margins in front of the reeds on my right brought a 2 lb F1 on corn and then something else!!! That proved to be a fish well into double-figures, hooked in the tail...

Ten minutes later it was on the surface, but I couldn't get it into my 18-inch landing net. I ended with it right in the side, tail pulled up in the air, placing the landing net directly underneath,, and lowering it head-first into the net. Then of course its tail hung over the edge of the net and I had a hairy few seconds dragging the net up into my lap so I could unhook it. Next move was to change the net for a 20-inch one.

Dick Warrener's first fish - but he struggled for hours after that.

Another couple of fish came from there before a move slightly towards me, against a little shelf, on a top two. That brought a good run of fish, almost all over 5 lb, in the next couple of hours, mainly on cat meat, with mussel and corn as change baits. I tried fishing caster shallow here, as the fish gave a lot of liners, and I had lost four or five foulhooked, but never had a touch on the caster, though at the end I did get a couple of fish around 10 lb on a bunch of casters on the bottom.

A good last move
Final move was to the left deep margin, which also gave me a nice run of good carp to 10 lb -  perhaps another eight or nine - before sport tailed off in the last half-hour. Opposite me, on island peg 28,  Dick Warrener had had a bad start with perhaps two fish in the first half of the match, but the last 90 minutes I saw him catch half-a-dozen carp. I thought I had perhaps 120 lb.

Callum - 99 lb from peg 1.

Me - that big fish is the one I
hooked in the tail!

The weigh-in

The island pegs were first to weigh - topped by  88lb 3 oz from Martin Parker, so my decision not to fish there was probably vindicated. Callum was next to weigh, on my right on peg 1, which to be honest I should probably have taken, as it has several options, with the lovely curving end bank of reeds. He is a better estimator than me - he said he had about 100 lb and weighed 99 lb! My fish went 155 lb 1 oz, which led round to Kevin, though Roy Whitwell and Dave Hobbs on 6 and 8, both had over 125 lb. 

Roy Whitwell and Dave Hobbs
 had a fish-for-fish battle 
on pegs 6 and 8.

Roy (left) had 125 lb with
 Dave (above) ending
victorious with 128 lb 2 oz.

But Kevin certainly had done the business - three fish on paste in the first hour were followed by lots more on cat meat from the point of the bush on his right - a magnificent 217 lb 10 oz. Well done, Kevin (not for the first time). I think the difference between getting a load and not catching much was definitely in the feeding - you've got to keep putting a little in to arouse the curiosity of passing fish, because carp don't shoal up like bream - they are always moving around.

The winner - Kev Lee with part of his 217 lb 10 oz catch on a
windless day when some of the competitors really struggled.

So I finished second (again), after being one of the Golden Pegs (again) Gotta go now! Next match next Sunday on Damson. 😀

THE RESULT