Another scrapping match for me on Six-Island

Peg 4, Six-Island, Wed, Mar 26
Not a peg I really fancied in the Spratts club match as, while it can be good in Summer (and it was better when there were lots of barbel in the lake), it's not fished well this Winter. And my poor luck reared its head again at the end of the match, when I found that more than a pint of beautiful, fat, wriggling, red maggots had escaped in the back of the van. I immediately cleared out the back, and brushed out as many as I could find. But I fear that they will be nestling under the carpet which lines the floor, and that eventually they will emerge to the sound of the famous Bluebottle Chorus. Hence I missed taking pictures of most of the competitors, including the winner!

A cool head wind greeted me in my new office.

Neil Paas on 17 started well with big F1s and a proper carp or two.

I started out on 2+3, in the face of a stiff wind,. and soon Peter Spriggs, on my left, was catching carp (or they might have been F1s), also on the pole. I had one F1 out there on pellet and came into the side, to my right, where I found the occasional F1 on corn, and lost a big fish, probably foulhooked. But I landed another, about 4 lb, hooked in the tail after some hairy moments trying to persuade it to dive down into my waiting landing net. Then the wind got up, it became colder, and bites ceased Just Like That! 

                     My left margin.              

A fair raspberry ripple
Most of the ripple was, at times, along my bank, though the small island tends to shelter peg 4 in a Southerly headwind. However, when I went to the right corner the wind had started really hitting the pole hard, which was a pity because I felt that if I had been able to present the bait perfectly there I would have had more fish.

The right margin - going to the
corner saw the side wind
batter the pole.

After that I scrapped about on a top two, next to the reeds on my right, where a couple of nice carp came in, plus another few F1s. To the left I found three big F1s as soon as I fished maggot, but then never had another bite there. Meanwhile Peter had started catching quickly from his lefthand margins, while over to my right, on peg 17, Neil Paas had had a good start with some F1s and a proper carp or two. 

Above is a video of Neil Paas, which may, or may not, work.

I look in the shallows

Desperate to make something happen I felt I had to go long to the platform on my left - peg 5 - even though it was very shallow (and very rough): little more than two feet deep while the rest of the swim was between three and four feet. But to my surprise I found fish there on corn, and ended with another couple of 'proper' carp and F1s to 3 lb-plus. But I never had a good spell of more than ten minutes, while Peter Spriggs was now catching fish after fish, very quickly. They were mainly F1s, but with an occasional better carp. I was sure he would be the winner, and I guessed he must have nearly 200 lb. I thought I had something over 50 lb.

Peter Spriggs had a fantastic last couple of hours in his left margin.

Neil Paas - 55 lb 9 oz, taken mainly in the 
first half of the six-hour match. 

The weigh in
As I said, I was clearing my van of those pesky maggots, and got back onto the bank just in time to catch Neil weighing in 55 lb 9 oz while Bob Barrett, who fishes mainly feeder, took 41 lb to the scales from peg22.

One interrupts Bob Allen while the weighing-in is in progress, at one's peril. So I had no idea what the weights were (or what I had  weighed) until I photographed the weighing sheet. There I saw that indeed Peter Spriggs had blitzed the match with 139 lb 3 oz - those F1s were fighting so hard they looked to me to be bigger than they were. I was gratified to see that mine went 60 lb 14 oz - enough for fourth and final frame place.

Bob Barrett was top weight  in the four 
pegs nearest the car park with 41 lb.

Marks out of ten

Afterwards I realised that I hadn't tried my change baits when I knew that there were fish in the swim I couldn't catch - cat meat (I did try it just once without any result), worm, paste. And when Peter told me had had caught most of his on paste I was annoyed with myself. Still, I had worked hard all day, and Peter's margin looked nicer than mine, so I was probably worth 6/10.

No more matches for probably a week or two - my van is poorly sick, and in dry dock.

THE RESULT

3 Mike Rawson         9 lb 3 oz

4 Mac Campbell      60 lb 14 oz      4th

6 Peter Spriggs       139 lb 3 oz       1st

8 Roy Whitwell        59 lb

9 Trevor Cousins      67 lb 4 oz      2nd

11 John Garner         67 lb 1 oz       3rd

13 Bob Walker        DNW

15 Dick Warrener    22 lb 6 oz   

17 Neil Paas            55 lb 9 oz

18 Bob Allen           14 lb 3 oz

22 Bob Barrett         41 lb

24 Wendy Bedford   7 lb 10 oz

25 Joe Bedford         DNW   

  

The first of two matches on Six-Island. And it rained!

Peg 6, Six-Islands, Sunday, Mar 23
The forecast was for possible showers, but this part of the Fens often misses them, so I half-expected a dry day. I was very happy with peg 6, in the far-end bowl, which tends to be the most consistent area of the lake. Fourteen of us fished Six-Island, with four on Four-Island, behind where I sat.

I had Roy Whincup to my right on 4 and Lee Kendall to my left on 8, and half-expected to get a battering. Lee went out on a pole to the tiny island in front of him, and he had three of the Daiwa silver serctions, which I thought probably meant he was out to 17.5 metres. I had my 16-metre extension in the van, but even that wouldn't have got me to within about four metres of my island, so I opted to start at 13 metres, in some deeper water to my left, keeping the 14.5-metre section as an option.

The wind was Northerly, giving ripple to the other side for most of the match.

A quick (ish) start
Within about 15 minutes I had missed a bite on a 4mm expander pellet over micros and a little hemp, and landed a 2 lb F1; then another came in; then I hooked a much better fish  This gave me the run-around for ages. Just as I thought it might be giving up, away it went - time and time again. I saw it several times - a big golden common about 8 lb. Then  the line went slack - the hook had actually broken. That's something I am sure has never happened more than a couple of times before in the 65 years I've been matchfishing.

Later I guessed the fish had been hooked in the snout, in the bone, which is how the hook came to break. Anyway, a lean period followed, and while a few fish had been landed opposite, now everybody seemed to be struggling.  I looked into another area nearer the bank, in about the same depth - four feet - but never had a look. So it was into the deep maregins.

Corn finds a few
The margin to my right produced most of the rest of my fish - an 8 lb carp foulhooked in the tail was next - lots of splashing and swearing, but it ended in my net. After the match everyone I spoke to had lost several foulhookers - they seemed to be coming to the bait, nosing it, but not actually sucking it in. And it looked awfully likely that they were praticing pairing up to spawn. I saw lots of pairs, nuzzling each other and always coming towards the margins. 

I assumed this fish, which played Roy Whincup for several minutes, was foulhooked!

Corn produced an occasional fat F1, and another carp or two, all from the right margin, and only two more fish came from the long line; both on corn. I was really struggling, and then the main rain fell. It fell for two hours without a break, until we packed up. Opposite me  on peg 15 Steve Tilsley had left his waterproofs in the van and got absolutely drenched. Lee had his umbrella up now, but I had left mine in the van because you can't take everything down to the swim. But my Goretex bib and brace and pole jacket kept me dry.

Once, as I stood up to net a fish, a pod of four really big carp drifted along in front of me - one huge fish followed by three slightly smaller. Surely the water is not warm enough for them to start spawning soon?

Lee fished to the island for a long time, but also had carp, I think, from the margins.

A final big fish

Another couple of nice carp, around 6 lb, suddenly took the corn. Cat meat produced nothing, even though I could see the dark shapes of big carp over my loose feed. So I put mussel on, and that worked - a big carp came in, in about 40 seconds. I was using short tops, and this had the big orange elastic through it. One short run and the carp was in my net before it knew what had happened.

When I unhooked the carp, which must have weighed getting on for 15 lb, the hook was on the outside of the lip - another fish which had just nudged the bait, but which had been unlucky. The last 20 minutes were disappointing, though I did have a 4 lb carp on when the match ended, and I landed that one.

Paul Faulkner was last to weigh (by which
time the rain had, thankfully, stopped).
He had72 lb 6 oz from peg 24.

The weigh-in
I told Lee I had about 35 lb to 40 lb, and he said he had about the same, but said he had lost 80 lb. He said they were coming off as he broke the pole down. Most of what he had he had caught dobbing pellet. I think I had lost probably about six fish. As soon as the match ended Steve Tilsley went back to his car for a change of clothing, as he was wet through (some compensation was that he won his section by double-default).

My fish went a very surprising 55 lb 4 oz, but I saw Roy had beaten me by 8 oz.Then Lee beat me by 1 lb 13 oz, and I was happy with that. In fact I ended beating only three on the lake, but the standard of fishing in this club is very high, so I didn't disgrace myself. John Knights, opposite me on peg 134, won with 94 lb 6 oz, taken mainly from his left margin. But the weights overall were quite tight.

Behind me on Four Islands, the self-styled "Kendall-Killer", Eddie McIlroy, beat Pete Molesworth into second place by winning with 44 lb 2 oz. Next match also on Six-Island is Wednesday, with Spratts.

Marks out of ten
I did try cat meat, but never had a touch - I think Chris Saunders had the same experience. But I should have tried other baits when I knew the fish were in the swim by the liners I was getting. I had worm and paste with me, and never tried them, nor maggot, except for one cast on the hybrid feeder. Probably worth 6/10. I was still in hard-frost-of-Winter mode, but now I need to be more positive.

THE RESULTS

Six-Islands

Four-Islands

In the fish, and in the frame, on Elm

Peg 16, Elm, Tues, Mar 18
Yet again ice covered my windscreen - I'm going to need a new ice-scraper soon. And the East wind was really cold as we drew - 14 of us in the second Spratts match of the year. I would always choose somewhere around peg 8 on Elm, at any time of year, and I was happy enough with peg 16, which is nearly opposite, especially as the wind was on our backs on this bank.

I had Neil Paas on 15, to my right, and Roy Whitwell two swims to the left on 20. There was bright sunshine, which doesn't help the fishing when the water is cold and clear.  Roy started, as he so often does, on a feeder, so I went out to 13 metres on the pole, but keeping an eye on Roy. It me took some time to get a bite on maggot, and when I did it was a 3 lb-plus barbel. The barbel on Decoy must be at least 15 years old now, and since they haven't bred, it's amazing that they have lived so long.

It was cold and bright, and those on the opposite
 bank must have been frozen.

Roy had a couple of carp fairly quickly, but I persevered on the pole, and in came a tiny roach. The wind became difficult so I had a look in the margins, where I had been trickling casters, and in came a 3 lb F1, on a size 20 hook with a single maggot. Hairy! Now Neil went out to 2+2 and I followed suit, and in came a nice 3 lb-plus bream, followed by a 6 lb carp from the margins. So five fish, all different species.

When the wind dropped I went out to the long line, but had just one carp there before I had to give it up. From then on I alternated between the margins and the 2+2 line. Actually the rig I was using inside was too light - about 4x12, in over six feet of water in a big wind. Instead of going to a 0.5 gm float (which I should have done) I put out a 1 gm with a size 14 hook crammed with maggots, and my reward was a bigger barbel. I will have a half-gram rig ready in future.

          Neil Paas in action on peg 15, to my right.          

Tangled!
Two more good carp came off - the second one when my line tangled with a fish Neil was playing. His fish stayed on his hook! 

I also caught another good bream, and lost a barbel foulhooked - there was a tiny silver scale on the hook - and a much bigger carp, foulhooked on the 2+2 line, which I played for a couple of minutes, always hoping I'd be lucky and it would suddenly swim straight into my net, which it didn't!

As has happened so often this Winter I couldn't get two fish in a row from the same swim. But every half-hour I'd get another carp, on maggot, from one of the two swims. In the last 45 minutes Neil started to motor, and must have had at least three cracking carp on his pole, and I knew he had overtaken me.

A last-ditch good carp
Then, with ten minutes to go, I foulhooked another carp...but this one stuck. It stuck for at least ten minutes, and was difficult to get into the landing net because I had hooked it in a pelvic fin (they are the ones underneath the body) and it kept coming towards the net sideways. Luckily the hook held and on about the fourth attempt it forgot to wag it tail snd swim back over the rim, and I had it! No time to get another, and although some said I had won, I knew Neil had beaten me. 

Me in action, and still hooded against that rotten wind.
Roy took this from peg 18 - he obviously hadn't got
anytghing better to do!

However, I could understand why they thought I had won - I had several more fish than Neil - the two barbel, two bream and one F1 would have weighed, in total, just about the same as my last big carp. And they all stretched the elastic.

The weigh in
Top weight on the other bank was Trevor Cousins, with five carp for 31 lb 3 oz - a superb performance because those around him all failed to catch or struggled. He took his fish in the margins, on maggot, on a pole.

On corner peg 13, the first on my bank, John Garner had his first bite at 3.15 pm, with just 45 minutes left,. But he managed three fish for 25 lb 10 oz in that time. Neil totalled 53 lb 1 oz, and though I thought I might perhaps have 50 lb, I guessed I would be beaten. 

It's difficult taking fish shots in
bright sunshine. But there were
several in Neil's weighing
 bag. Honest!

I guessed right! That last foulhooked fish weighed 13 lb 7 oz, bringing me up to 49 lb exactly. To my left Roy Whitwell had just six fish for 31 lb 15 oz, and the three of us finished in the first three places. So I was second, and happy with that - second match with Spratts and I had my second second-place. I'm the Second Man.

 Next match with JV on Six-Island and Four-Island. Looking forward to that as I can use my short tops, because Six-Island is shallower than the strips. Then Wednesday sees me on Six-Island again with Spratts. The weather looks like picking up, so time to take a mussel or two, methinks.

Marks out of ten
Time to start thinking about my performance. I was a bit unlucky, losing that fish when Neil's carp came into my swim, but it's inevitable at times. However I do believe that if I'd gone heavier earlier I would have had the chance of more fish, as they were  coming into the nmargin swim. There was a bit of a tow against the wind, and on this occasion the fish seemed to want a stationary bait. The heavier rig did just that. 

I believe that casters may help bring carp and barbel into the swim. Certainly they do no harm, and I have great faith in them, and from now onwards will carry a pint to most matches.

I had to reach for a second net to put that last carp in, and if I'd had it already in the water it would have given me an extra 30 seconds to perhaps get another. It's those little things that win or lose matches. But worth 8/10, which is good for me.

THE RESULT

East bank                                        West bank

24 Bob Barrett          DNW                   1 Trevor Cousins   31 lb 3 oz    4th

22 Peter Harrison       9 lb                     3 BobAllen             DNW

20 Bob Walker        DNW                     5 Dave Hobbs        13 lb 14 oz

18 Roy Whitwell    31 lb 15 oz  3rd     7 Shaun Buddle     19 lb 13 oz

16 Mac Campbell   49 lb            2nd     9 Martin Parker       7 lb 8 oz

15 Neil Paas           53 lb 1 oz    1st      10 Peter Spriggs    17 lb 5 oz

13 John Garner    2  5 lb 10 oz              12 Dick Warrener     12 lb 14 oz 

At least I caught three fish on Yew

Peg 20, Yew, Sunday, Mar 16
Lots of excitement when Steve Tilsley drove into the Decoy car park to fish this 14-entry JV match, with flies buzzing all around him. He opened the door and I tried to catch one bluebottle that was resting on his dashboard, but I missed! Ironic, isn't it, that Steve, formerly in the police, should have a car  full of bluebottles?

But that was as much excitement as I managed on Sunday.  There was ripple towards the car park end on both Yew and Oak (seven pegged on each), and Lee Kendall said that was where he fancied the fish might be. Even so Lee, down at my end on Yew, peg 17 was, I think, the first person to catch a fish on Yew - he had two in the first half hour on hair-rigged maggot and a bomb...and they were the only bites he had all day! The wind was quite cold, but it did move round occasionally, and gave those of us at the Northern end of the lake a bit of ripple.

Roy Whincup plays a fish on a feeder. Beyond him is Lee Kendall,
and in the corner was Roy Whitwell.

Things were dire for most of us, though after a couple of hours my maggot feeder lured a tench. To my right Roy Whincup did eventually get three fish, I think, on a feeder, but Eddie McIlroy to my left on peg 21, left it late before he managed a fish on his feeder. But on Eddie's left Steve Tilsley had a 3 lb F1 on feeder, then foulhooked a really big carp on pole and paste, which must have taken him 15 minutes to land. He followed this up with a tench and three more carp, all on paste. I added a barbel and a carp on pole, not long before the match ended.

Steve Tilsley caught on paste! Not a bait you'd expect to use in Winter...

The weigh in
In corner peg 16 Roy Whitwell used pole, and feeder, and bomb, for his 40 lb 13 oz, with Lee weighing in just 8 lb 11 oz for his two early carp. Roy and I both totalled 10 lb 8 oz, but Steve had won with his six fish weighing in at 47 lb 6 oz.

Roy Whitwell - second in
corner peg 16 with
40 lb 13 oz.

Steve Tilsley with the whopper he
foulhooked. He had 47 lb 6 oz,
 and included a tench.

 

On Oak, Karim Baran fished pole in the margins with maggot on peg 27, in the ripple, for 82 lb, which won overall. My next match was on the Tuesday, on Elm, with Spratts. I was second in their first match, and that has given me a bit of confidence. The weather looks like improving a bit.

THE RESULT

YEW

OAK

It's hot, and then c-o-l-d, on Oak (two matches)

 Peg 22, Oak, Sunday, Mar 9
Another good draw for me in this JV match, but the weather didn't help - flat calm and a bright sun after a cold night. In fact when I started driving to Decoy my van temperature showed 5.5 degrees; halfway there it had dropped to 2.5 degrees. And indeed, at the draw it was so cold I think we all suspected that the forecast for a hot day was way out. In fact by the time the match started it was actually quite hot.

Back to the fishing. Eight of us were pegged on the East bank of Oak, with seven on Elm. My peg  22 was in the area which is always favoured on Oak. Looks like my drawing hand is working pretty well. But actually not a lot was caught, which is hardly surprising considering the conditions. I started dobbing a single maggot on a size 20 hook, about 18 inches deep, because a few carp could be seen juist under the surface. After 15 minutes I had a bite...from a roach. I tried mugging the occasional carp I could see - but with no takers.

Looks like summer. No wonder it was hard.

Two carp at 13 metres
So it was on to a maggot feeder, then a bomb and corn. But I didn't catch until I went out to 13 metres on a pole with a bunch of dead maggots over just a few deads, and some micros. That had brought me two carp about 4 lb each after three hours, with Ernie on my left on three, I think, including a couple on a feeder.  Ernie had been slapping on a long pole for a time, but had no fish, which is so annoying when you can see them.

To my right Kevin Bell had, I think, just one carp. And everybody was struggling. Eventually I tried going out to 14.5 metres, though I'd not fed anything there...and I had a carp on first cast. That was about 7 lb, and within minutes of a recast I hit another - obviously fouhooked because of the way it stretched the elastic. Then the hook pulled.

Ernie Lowbridge on 24, to my left, nets his last fish, on a pole.

Two more lost
I lost two more foulhooked - one at 13 metres, and the other from a swim right against the bank. Kevin and Ernie and myself were all looking in the margins in the last hour, but with ten minutes left and no more activity in the margin I went out to 14 metres again, with a bunch of dead maggots. Amazingly, first cast I had another bite, fron an eight-pounder, and that was my last fish. Kevin had two fish fairly late, and Ernie had another couple.

Kevin Bell, on my right, had a couple of late fish. This one was on a feeder.

So Kevin ended with three carp, I had four, and Ernie had five. While I was fishing in the margins with corn a big carp drifted towards me and I dropped the rig in more than a metre away from the fish. As soon as the corn plopped onto the water the fish took fright. It didn't even have a look - it shot off straight away. That led me to believe that the fish were on a heightened sense of vulnerability in the sun, certainly near the bank, though Steve Tilsley reported that he'd had a carp or two fishing a waggler shallow well out. But he's good!

The weigh-in.
 It was a real surprise when Lee Kendall, on corner, weighed in just two carp, for 12 lb. He said they were the only bites he had had, fishing long pole alongside the end-bank reeds. Lee's got a fantastic record in local matches, so at that point I realised that it had been REALLY hard. Next to him was Ernie McIlroy, who managed just a barbel and a few roach for 3 lb 1 oz.

Kev's three fish went 24 lb, and at an 8 lb average that was the case for nearly everybody in the match. I totalled 32 lb 5 oz, and Ernie went into the lead with 41 lb 1 oz. But the winner was Peter Harrison, on next peg 26, who had some smaller fish, taken mainly on long pole, for 45 lb 14 oz.. And the next two also weighed over 30 lb, so in the end the fish were fairly even spread, apart fro the end pegs. Elm was also difficult, with Roy Whincup and Joe Bourn dominating  on pegs 21 and 23, at the car park end - I think they fished mainly feeder.

I was delighted, in the cafe, to be handed money for my four-peg section win. Things are looking up. Next day was the Spratts match, also on Oak, and I wondered whether the sun, which was balzing hot at the end, had warmed the water enough to set the fish feeding.

Kevin Bell, with friend.

Ernie Lowbridge - second on Oak.

Marks out of ten
A friend who lives locally told me he thought I'd often been hard on myself in the past when marking my performance. I stopped during the freezing cold, when there seemed to be no pattern to catching carp. But it's time to restart, and I give myself 6/10 for this match. Fish came into the margins very late on, so perhaps I should have dripped micros in there for an hour beforehand, so the carp get a sense of where there might be food when they decide to start feeding. I was pleased I startd shallow, and gave it up fairly soon when I sensed it simply wasn't going to work. No - seeing as how I sort of held my own with Kev and Ernie, who are both better (and younger) than me, I think I was worth 7/10.

THE RESULT

OAK

ELM

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Peg 13, Oak, Mon, Mar 10

What a contrast to 24 hours earlier. Now we were facing a very cold Easterly wind which got colder as the day went on. My hopes that the fish might start feeding were dashed even before we started. At least there was cloud cover, and only a few spots of rain halfway through this Spratts match.

Eleven of us draw for pegs 2 to 15, and I fancied (as I imagine almost everyone else did) pegs 9 and 10, which are either side of a bit of a gap where the new banking has dropped a little.  I was almost opposite peg 18, where Eddie McIlroy had sat the previous day, and come plumb last on the lake.

We were huddled up against the East wind at the draw.

Some poles were out in the first couple of hours, but by the end I think almost everyone was on a bomb or feeder. To my left, in corner peg 15, John Garner had a nice-looking swim, where he could fish to the end-bank reeds, opposite to where Lee Kendall had been on the Sunday.

A slow start except for...

I started on a maggot feeder, then went on to the pole at 13 metres, using the same rig I'd used the previous day. They produced nothing, but on 10 Roy Whitwell caught some carp on a rod with what I was sure was a small hybrid feeder, casting right cross to within a foot or two of the far bank. 

Before I changed to a hybrid feeder, I had a quick look in the margins, where I dropped in a few dead maggots, and followed it up with a rig, in about three feet of water. The float dived down instantly - first drop - and I was attached to a double-figure carp. I know this because after about five minutes it rose to the top - a beautiful light-coloured mirror. But the hook pulled out, and I think I may have said a naughty word!

I was not catching, so I nipped up to Roy Whiwelll to take him in action.

No more touches in the side, so I changed to the hybrid feeder. I put in it a few micros, with a few dead maggots, laid on my bunch of deads, and covered the top with Method feeder groundbait. That worked, and after three hours I had two carp, about 4 lb each, while John to my left had a small perch, and Bob Allen, on my right, had nothing.

Once, when I was reeling back after a fruitless cast, I hit something that bent the rod, and a minute later that hook, too, pulled out. Obviously foulhooked. Not my day.

I try Sticky Syrup

In the afternoon I had another look on the 13-metre pole line, for not a touch, nor at 14.5 metres. I also started adding a touch of Sticky Syrup additive to the feeder, and with an hour to go I had added three more carp around 8 lb. I also had several line bites, all obviously by fish high up in the water - either a quick flick, or a long pull without a proper tug on the line.

Near the end Bob Allen had a good
run of three fish in about an hour.

To my right Bob Allen had a good hour when he hit three carp on his hybrid feeder. I had a quick look down the margins, only inches from the 'tins' which line this lake, and very quickly hd a bite on corn which I missed. I changed to a smaller grain and immediately hit an 8 lb carp, which I landed. I know that carp were coming into the swim during that last hour, but I couldn't work out how to present the bait so they took it. Very frustrating.

A purple patch for John

Half an hour to go and John Garner still had just that tiny perch. Then, suddenly, his luck changed, carp started to feed in his swim, and he caught three good 'uns on a soft pellet on the pole. He had no time for a fourth before the weigh-in.

John Garner from Zero to sort of Hero in 30 minutes.

The weigh-in

I was surprised how few fish the early pegs had - Bob Barrett on peg 3  led with 29 lb 12 oz, taken on a feeder and wafter, down to Roy Whitwell. Roy had obviously won, with about ten or 11 carp for 82 lb 1 oz,taken mainly in the first half of the match.

Bob Allen's three went 23 lb 15 oz, and my six carp weighed in at a satisfying 45 lb 11 oz - enough for second place, with John Garner's extra-late spurt giving him 25 lb 4 oz and third spot. I was happy with my result, but still very cold. And the forecast befor the next week doesn't seem to be much better. Perhaps things will have improved a little for JV's match on Sunday - no idea what lake it is on. They are all so different.

The winner, Roy Whitwell, 82 lb 1 oz.

John Garner - a late sprint
to get to fourth place.

Marks out of ten

I felt I fished pretty well, considering I'm much better on the pole than on a feeder. But I took a lot of care with the bait in the feeder, and managed to tget the feeder right across to within a foot of the far bank at times. I rung the changes with the distance - sometimes a foot into the shallow water and sometimes two metres back, into the deep water. Both gave me the odd fish. So I think I'm worth 8/10. Things are getting better.

One thing I did was to use really manky dead maggots, which seem to me to be a better bet than nice plump ones. I still remember the time in Deeping St James (where I lived) when I was feeding casters to a shoal of chub from Jimmy Deeping bridge. The sun went in and I couldn't see the casters, so I flicked in a single white maggot so I could check where it was running down the river.

I watched the maggot as it flowed downstream, and watched a chub approach it (I could just see its light-coloured lips). Next thing was that the whole shoal turned tail, their sides flashing white, and they completely disappeared. That taught me a lesson that, at least sometimes, fish will take fright at a bait. Presumably because they have been caught on it. Who knows? 

THE RESULT

2 Peter Spriggs         15 lb 5 oz

3 Bob Barrett            29 lb 12 oz        4th

4 Neil Paas                21 lb 8 oz

5 Bob Walker            DNW

7 Trevor Cousins      24 lb 12 oz

8 Martin Parker        One liner

9 Mick Ramm           DNW

10 Roy Whitwell      82 lb 1 oz         1st

12 Bob Allen            23 lb 25 oz

13 Mac Campbell    45 lb 11 oz       2nd

15 John Garner        25 lb 4 oz        3rd

Two matches in glorious sunshine

 I've had the gremlins in, and am not a happy bunny. Spent an hour and a half writing this, adding pictures, and was just finishing when I lost the lot! Vanished. No idea how it happened, so here is a short version, with pictures.

Peg 1, Six-Island. Friday, Feb 28

Flat calm most of the day, with just a few clouds.

The Friday Old Codgers match on Horseshoe and Six-Island. It was the last day for using bread on Decoy, so I dobbed it in the deep water, at 13 metres and 14.5 metres, a foot off bottom for one big carp, and added a few roach later on maggot from the margin. Weighed in 11 lb 11 oz for a default section win.

Phil Stubley on peg 24

Phil Stubley caught one carp about halfway through, and another later, with a couple of roach, but didn't weigh. If he had he would probably have beaten me.

Ron Cuthbert in action late on, peg 22

Ron Cuthbert struggled for hours but eventually hooked three roach, two of which dropped off. The third he swung over the bank before taking his pole apart...and sure enough the one also fell off! On to the grass. Like a leopard Ron leapt off his box, snatched up the fish, and put it in his net, to avoid a blank. That was the most excitement I had in the middle of the match. Near the end his elastic stretched...and stretched...with a 2 lb barbel. End of match for him.

Gordon Parker, peg 3.

To my left Gordon Parker was blanking after about two hours, before putting a hybrid feeder and a wafter right across to the far bank. Normally that would not be possible because there would be anglers there, but not today, so Gordon took advantage, winning with 59 lb 1 oz, to win the lake. He never had a bite on the pole. Well done, Gordon.

Gordon - winner with 59 lb 1 oz.

Horseshoe

Six-Island result.

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Peg 3, Willows, Sunday, March 2

Calm at the start, with a little ripple later, and sun all day. I dobbed an F1 18 inches deep on two maggots in the first halfhour, and never had another doing it. Concentrated on the aerator to my left, and eventually had abut three roach, and then a 4 lb carp foulhooked in the tail.

My office for the day.

Peter Harrrison - winner of my
section with 23 lb 1 oz, all
taken on a long pole with maggot.

Concentrating there I picked up two or three F1s on maggot before going out to my second swim at 14 metres, were a single maggot up the shank of a size 16 picked up another small carp and another three F1s in the last 45 minutes. Weighed in 19 lb 5 oz, beaten by Peter Harrison for the section.

All together a lovely day in the sun - though I doubt if Chris Saunders agreed, and he packed up, having not caught much. As expected the better weights were in Deadmans Bay - 16 to 25.

Roy Whincup plays his first fish, an F1.

A very late 5 lb carp brought Roy's weight to 10 lb 10 oz.

Winner Dan Pettigrew, peg 24. He had
fish on a feeder until the last 90 minutes,
when he switched to a pole at 14 metres.
Final weight was 70 lb 2 oz. Sorry about
the picture - too much sun!!!

Pete Molesworth was second on 27, casting a Method feeder up between the islands. Not easy to cast and not easy to land fish. Well done to Dan and Peter (and the rest of us, 'cos the water is like ice.)

Best bit was when I twice saw a kingfisher - second time it sat on the aerator for a few seconds. Magic.

THE RESULT