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.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

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

The sun had his hat on (briefly)

At the Winter League final
What a lovely day Saturday was, when I helped weigh in at Decoy, for the Winter League final. Warm, and even some sun, and Decoy fished much better than it has for weeks. I started on Lou's, accompanied by a Peterborough angler, and sure enough, the winning weight on the lake was 49 kilos from famous peg 6, taken on feeder, waggler, and finally a good last hour on pole. It was noticeable that on the last three pegs the carp were much smaller than on the opposite side (1 to 6) and on the end.

Andy Leathers, at peg 27 on Willows.
That fish must have been well over 15 lb.

Then it was round to Willows, which can be notoriously difficult, and again I was surprised by how consistent the catches were. I took one photograph - of Andy Leathers on peg 27 with a mirror that must have weighed well over 15 lb.

I know Andy Geldart won Decoy on Yew 15 with 70 kilos, with a 60 kilos opposite. That two-day break in the cold winds wasn't long enough to spread the carp out, and with strong winds forecast for the Sunday, I didn't fancy the JV match on Beastie to produce a lot of huge weights.

Peg 20 Beastie
Next day we were met with really strong winds, and I drew first - peg 20 with the wind almost in my face. And on that swim you can't cast to the island. Actually I think that I probably would have been physically able to land my feeder against the island reeds, even in that wind.

A big raspberry ripple greeted me - and it got worse.

I started on a maggot feeder halfway across, or a little farther, and after 45 minutes I had two roach, two small bream, and a 4 lb carp in the net. A good start (for me), especially since I hadn't seen much else caught - though Rob Goodson on 18 had a carp that looked to be 8 lb.

My new Guru maggot feeder
I used, for the first time, a small Guru maggot feeder, and really liked it - easy to fill and heavy enough to allow me to get well out. The only small drawback was that I had to prise open the cap with a pair of scissors, but I will definitely use it again - and no maggots were trapped when I closed the cap. 

The next hour or so saw bites dry up completely, so I had a look on pole. That was difficult - the wind was so strong I couldn't leave even the Number Three and Four sections attached to each other - the wind just caught them and rolled them along the bank. I had to wedge each section in my holdall to stop them being blown away.

Over to my left Rob Goodson had carp on bomb and bread, and F1s on the pole.

The wind was cold - though not enough to start me shivering - and luckily, despite the mild Saturday, I had put my normal cold-weather gear on. That consists of several layers, including thermals, and my good old Imax jacket. Without that I would have been in trouble.

Roach!
The pole produced a stream of small roach, and just one F1 in the margin, and eventually I went back onto a hybrid feeder, with corn, to look for carp or F1s. First cast and an F1 came in; next a liner; and immediately I thought that perhaps the F1s had started to feed, so I came in on the pole again.

I wasted an hour (stupidly) fishing corn for F1s, where I had caught the other one, without a fish, and went back on the feeder. The micros I had wetted were running low, and instead of wetting more I added some Method groundbait on the top. That worked like a dream...

A good run
In the next hour I had a couple of small bream, a 7 lb carp, and nine or ten F1s, up to 2 lb. The big carp had a terrible gouge deep into its side - obviously not just inflicted - which looked as if it had been speared by a heron. I can't think what else it could have been, but it didn't stop the fish fighting well.

With 30 minutes left the bites stopped. Just like that! Towards the end we had just a few spots of rain, and overall it had been difficult because of the wind, but bearable. Rob Goodson on 18 had the same sort of wind as me...so he must have been cold, as well.

Roy Whitwell - overall winner with93 lb 13 oz.

The weigh in
I was first to weigh, and happy with my 35 lb 11 oz, especially when Kev Bell, on 22, to my right, produced just six fish for 23 lb 8 oz. He told me I should have stayed on the feeder, and I agreed. But when I'd had an F1 in the margins the temptation was to target them, especially since I'm better on the pole than on the feeder.

Then it was round to Roy Whitwell, on my bogey peg 24. You can't see that swim from where I was, so I was suprised when he said he had 80 lb to 90 lb, all on feeders with maggot or corn. Roy's total was 93 lb 13 oz for the overall win. Well done, Roy.  Last to weigh in our section was Peter Harrison on 30, which has fished abominably the last few weeks, and today was no different - he had 10 lb 7 oz, nearly all small roach and gudgeon, with just one F1 (there might have been two).

The other section fished rather better, won by Lee Kendall, back from his recent trip to Thailand, with 63 lb 9 oz of Siamese carp on peg 5. I ended up winning my four-peg section by default, and was happy enough with that. Next match probably JV on Sunday, which is currently on Lous and Willows.

RESULT:

4 Eddie McIlroy        51 lb 2 oz
5 Lee Kendall            63 lb 9 oz
15 Sean Coaten        48 lb 15 oz    
17 Chris Saunders      21 lb 5 oz
18 Rob Goodson        44 lb 4 oz
20 Mac Campbell      35 lb 11 oz
22 Kev Bell                23 lb 8 oz
24 Roy Whitwell        93 lb 13 oz
30 Peter Harrison       10 lb 7 oz

Peg thirteen not lucky for me.

Peg 13, Damson, Sunday, Feb 16

To cut a long story short I caught about nine fish in this JV club match, weighing a total of 4 oz. They were mainly small stuff! The annoying thing is that peg 13, in the corner, is a very good peg normally, but in this match you needed to be able to cast a bomb or feeder well over, either to the far bank, or to the island...and this is the only peg where you can't do that.

No wind at the start, and when it did blow, it never gave
me any of that lovely raspberry ripple.

Steve Tilsley worked real hard for his nine fish.

To my right Steve Tilsley started slowly, but eventually caught a small carp on a bomb and sweetcorn. Then in the next four hours he winkled out a few from the second shelf down - about five feet deep - on a pole to his right. And the last 30 minutes saw him catch two more on the pole from the deep water, and one on a bomb. He must have been cold because while the first seven of us had mainly back wind, Steve had it in his face. His nine fish weighed 34 lb 10 oz.

Eddie came good in the last 40 minutes, adding 
two carp to his earlier fish, all on maggot feeder.

To my left Eddie McIlroy managed three carp on a maggot feeder. And the match, was won by Peter Harrison on peg 3, casting a maggot feeder over to the far bank, for 48 lb 1 oz. For the record I caught my fish on a pole in the deep water near the end bank. It's the first time I've ever been to Damson  and not had fish in the margins. I kept hoping that carp would come in to where the occasional roach took my maggot down in the depths, but they didn't oblige. Peg 13, you see?

THE RUNNER-UP

Steve was undoubtedly colder than any of us, with the wind in his face.
But these were his reward - nine carp for 34 lb 10 oz.

Next match is Sunday on Beastie - not particularly looking forward to that, at this time of year. It's the day after the Winter League final, so I'm not expecting much, and what is caught will be from the main bowl - sort of 5, 6, and 14 round to 23 or 24. The open saw peg 13 at the back of the spit, not weigh.

THE RESULT

Another good draw for me, on Horseshoe

Peg 13, Horseshoe
It looked as if I was going to have a good day in the JV match on Horseshoe, at Decoy. This is roughly how it went...

8.30 am The cafe at Decoy is buzzing with a load of anglers fishing the Open, while we hold our draw. My sticky fingers stick to Horseshoe 13 - a dream draw. It's a noted swim, though I have never managed to draw it before. And the last two matches I know of were won on it. I am a Happy Bunny.

10 am Its lovely and warm on the bank at 13 - back wind, and sheltered by some bushes. When I walk round towards the lower numbered pegs it is several degrees colder, with the wind in their faces. 

Famous peg 13 on Horseshoe. Aftewr the match started
I had some nice raspberry ripple, and we had a little sun.

I am so confident I put in two keepnets, and start on bomb and bread, cast to the spinner in the corner, hoping for one or two big carp to give me a good start. I note that the water is clear - probably clearer than I've ever seen it, and I can see the bottom, when I throw in a couple of grains of corn, in about two feet of water.

11 am I've seen Roy Whitwell, on 16 to my left, land a couple of fish, but I haven't had anything yet, and have changed from bomb and bread to a maggot feeder, on which I've had two small liners.

12 noon I'm still fishless, so walk up to Roy Whitwell, who says he's had four F1s on bomb and maggot. Roy Whincup, on my right has had one small stockie, but he says the Peter Harrison on 8 has had four carp. I go back and change the maggot feeder back to a bomb, with maggot.

1 am I've had a 2 lb F1 and a small roach on the bomb and maggot, and now go out on the pole with maggot. In the next hour that brings just two roach. I spend half an hour fishing the deep margin to my left with corn, where I know there's a lilly bed, but don't get a touch of any sort.

2.30 pm I've changed my bait to from live maggots to five dead maggots. Suddenly I turn round and see Roy Whincup landing a big carp on his feeder rod. Twenty seconds later my rod pulls round and I'm attached to a big fish myself. It turns out to be a mirror carp around 9 lb. I resume fishing full of hope that there will be more.

3.30 The match ends. All I've had in that last hour are two liners in the last ten minutes.

Peter Harrison won with 38 lb,
taken with maggot on both
pole and bomb or feeder.

The weigh in
Blimey, it really is cold in those early pegs, while I've been pretty comfortable. Dave Parsons managed to fish 16 metres, assuming that in the clear water the fish would be as far from the banks as possible, and in the deepest water. He weighs 34 lb 8 oz, but Peter Harrison on 8 has added some more, on both pole and feeder, and totals 38 lb. To my left Roy Whitwell had eight fish in the end, for 24 lb 6 oz...but never had a bite in the last three hours. 

Roy Whincup with a beautiful common.

My fish have weighed 14 lb 5 oz (that carp must have been almost 12 lb), but I'm not last - Chris Saunders has already gone home and Eddie McIlroy has been fishing a single maggot for two F1s and a load of roach - hard work for 9 lb 13 oz. Roy Whincup wins the prize for the prettiest fish - a common about 8 lb lb.

Eddie McIlroy - last to weigh and probably
had more fish than the rest of us put together.

I don't know why I didn't catch more. I had ripple for most of the day. The water must be so cold, because we've not had a warm wind for weeks. Disappointed, especially since the noted pegs in the Open - Oak 15 and Yew 15 - both produced over 180 lb. Oh well, there's always the next one to look forward to - Elm on Sunday.

THE RESULT

Winner Peter Harrison - sections to Dave Parsons and Roy Whitwell.

I draw a sort of flier on Oak

Peg 21, Oak, Sunday, Feb 2
I was scraping the ice off my windscreen at 6am, put on the heater for a few minutes...and when I actually got in to drive to Decoy I had to scrape ice off the INSIDE of the screen. The temperature never got above freezing on the drive, but then the sun came out and shone on us all, and the first hour fishing was quite pleasant, until a stiff breeze got up, and then it was BITTER.

When we arrived at the lake the water was like glass.

We fished back-to-back on Oak and Yew, while the big Open was on about five of the other lakes (some of the results are included here). And I was sort of on a flier! Peg 21 is opposite Oak peg 10, which is a noted area. Trouble was nobody had told the fish. Ernie Lowbridge was on my left, and started on pole at 14.5 metres while I went onto a bomb and bread. 

A good start for Ernie, but ooops...
About 20 minutes after the start Ernie had his first fish on his pole - around 10 lb. Wthin minutes I changed from bomb to pole, and no more than 20 seconds after I had made my first cast the float went under. A fish was on. No more than 20 seconds later it came off. Bother. 

Some time afterwards Ernie lost a big fish which he played for some time - probably foulhooked. Two hours later, despite changing from bomb to Method feeder, then hybrid feeder, then back on the pole, I hit my first fish, on a bomb and maggot. It was about 4 lb, but Ernie had had another lump, on a bomb or feeder.

That raspberry ripple
Nothing much else seemed to be happening that I could see, which wasn't surprising considering the temperature, except that behind me on Yew lake Chris Saunders hooked a couple of fish. At least we had had a nice ripple for much of the match, after a start when the water looked like glass. 

Chris Saunders on Yew 11, behind me, finished with a carp, a tench and a roach.

Forty-five minutes to go, the air temperature had definitely risen, and had Ernie landed another big fish on his pole.Then I suddenly  started getting liners on my bomb - the tip was moving every few seconds. I changed to a very small bomb, which hardly made a plop when it landed, and that seemed to work better. A big fish was on...err, actually it was a five-pounder foulhooked, but I managed to get it in.

Frustrating

Half an hour now left and I was getting liners almost before the bomb hit bottom - well before I had tightened up. There was nothing for it but to wait until the rod was almost pulled in, but that did eventually happen, and a fish nearly 10 lb ended in my net. Yet another followed, about 6 lb, but that last 15 minutes saw my tip hardly still for more than a few seconds. Ernie had two more fish, finishing with five. I went back on to the pole for a couple of minutes, with maggot, but got nothing. I reckon if we'd had another half hour the fish would really have started feeding.

Ernie Lowbridge had just five carp, all around 10 lb.

The weigh in
The first four pegs on Yew never had a fish! That lake was won by Roy Whincup on corner peg 15 with 105 lb 13 oz on a maggot feeder, with next peg 14 second. Our lake was won by Ian Frith on corner peg 16. He dobbed bread about a foot off bottom near the end-bank reeds, and took most of his fish early on. Peter Harrison, who can't stop catching fish at the moment, was second (just) on peg 26, taking all his fish on a bomb, with Ernie third (just). His five fish went 49 lb. My four weighed 25 lb 4 oz, and unexpectedly won me the section by default because the two anglers on my right didn't weigh in.

Marks out of ten
It's worth analysing my performance because later I realised what might have worked. The fish were obviously off bottom, and probably, milling around my hookbait (dead maggots was the best).  A pop-up might have worked, but I have a slow-sinking bomb in my box, and I reckon that maggots fished on that might have worked,. But I never thought about it. It would have taken only seconds to make the switch.

Ernie with a great fish for the time of year.

Not sure whether a better angler would have had a load on my peg. I seemed to be at the end of the fish. I fished it with confidence all day, and had that first fish stuck I might have had another 10 lb. I thought I fished the pole perfectly alright - at 13 metres and 14.5 metres. But  the results on both lakes were patchy, so I just have to chalk it up to not getting that extra bit of luck I needed. Worth 6/10. At least I caught some fish on a cold, bright day. SOME OF THE OPEN RESULTS ARE AT THE END.

JV match - ELM

JV match - YEW

OPEN - Six-Island

OPEN - Horseshoe

OPEN - Elm

Bream to the rescue on Elm

Peg 5, Elm, Fri Jan 31
Fridays is the day when the famous Old Gits match takes place at Decoy, and I was granted a place in this one, fished on Elm and Cedar. And the weather wasn't too bad - cold but not too much wind. Everything would have been better if I had managed to pick a peg farther down the lake, but peg 5 was my office for the day.Chris Saunders was on my right, and his recent results suggested that we would be either in a very good area or a very bad one - Chris doesn't do things by halves.

A cold, dull day. This was John Crouch, peg 6.

Halfway through the match and things looked bad...and stayed that way. Chris hadn't had a fish, and neither had John Crouch on my left...and neither had I. I'd wasted the first couple of hours on the bomb with bread and corn, and had a long look on the pole at 13 metres, with maggot. I think Shaun Coaten, on Chris' right, had a fish on pole, and Chris made up his waggler rod, with no success. Then I found a real fish!

YES!

With nothing doing farther out I looked in the margins with maggot. I doubt if anyone had caught a fish there, but my options had run out. However, first drop on a top two I had a bite. Honestly! Next drop, and my float went down again and a 2 lb bream came in. Chris saw this and also had a look in his margin, but after half an hour when neither of us caught anything he went out on a long pole.

So  that's  what  a  carp  looks like...

A minute later my float went down again - a 3 lb bream. A little later another 3 lb bream came in. Meanwhile John Crouch on my left had a carp on a bomb cast well across, and I saw that on his left someone else just past him also had a fish...then another. John had two more late carp; I had nothing more; Shaun had two or three late ones...and Chris ended with not a single fish. A day to be forgotten.

Winner on Elm lake - Keith Smith with
32 lb 7 oz - second overall on the day.

The weigh in.

Shaun won our four-peg end section with 21 lb 4 oz; I had 8 lb 6 oz, and John Crouch 15 lb 10 oz. The best weight was 32 lb 7 oz by Keith Smith, all on a bomb and corn I think, cast right across.

On Cedar, Peter Harrison won, also on a bomb - one carp on bread and the rest on maggot, for 42 lb 6 oz - the best weight of the day. I was happy enough, even if I am now definitely an Old Git..

Not raving about Raven at Rookery Waters

 Peg 1, Raven, Wed, Jan 22
Wednesday and, after I showed the Fuhrer my wife an article which explained how much vitamin D we all ought to be getting, and the fact that it comes mainly from sunshine being outside, she unexpectedly signed my 10-hour pass. So I scooted off to the Pidley Pensioners, who were to fish on Raven and Magpie.

To cut a long, sad, story short I ended up with probably the last peg I would have chosen, apart from Magpie 28. I pulled out Raven peg 1 - not a noted peg in Winter. Indeed I can't remember it ever featuring in any result I have seen. Still it would be a day's fishing on Rookery Waters, so what's not to like?

Just to rub it in, Fate decreed that I should ask just two anglers where they had drawn. Ernie Lowbridge and Shaun Buddle were sitting together in the cafe, and delightedly informed me that Ernie had Raven 11 (a corner peg with considerable form) and Shaun had the famous Magpie 36. Of course nothing is guaranteed from any swim, but those were probably the first two pegs I would have chosen! 😞

No sun, and no raspbery ripple (except from the ducks).

Foggy on the way in

The dense fog which enveloped me on some of the journey to Pidley had miraculously lifted by the time I got there, and although it was cold, there wasn't much wind - not bad conditions. At my office for the day it was 14 metres to the far bank - farther if I wanted to go sideways towards vacant peg 2, on my right. But there weren't any reeds or stick-ups on the far bank anyway, so I started just to the left, towards the really shallow end of the lake and dobbed bread, about 18 inches deep, along the far bank, moving a metre or two every couple of minutes.

Blimey - within 10 minutes I was playing a 1 lb F1. Already I had 1 lb more than I had expected to catch! But that didn't last, and it was nearly a hour before the next fish came in. I've recently seen one of the Guru underwater videos, and was stuck by the fact that those carp seemed to be spooked by bulk shot hanging off the bottom, so for the rest of the day I put all my shot under the float.

The end of the lake, to my left, was very shallow, and I also found that even at only 18 inches deep the float didn't always settle properly - the weight of the bread should sink it to just the correct level. Presumably there was weed on the bottom. But I felt I had to keep trying it, and suddenly, out of the blue, the float dipped and I was playing a 7 lb common. Very gingerly, because I was using a light size 18 hook.

Chris Saunders was on 27, behind me,
and had to watch Mark Waring, two
swims to his right, catching fish while
Chris himself, struggled to 27 lb 6 oz
(which still beat me!)

A short purple patch
It took another hour for the next fish, but four, all around 3 lb, came in about an hour, then they vanished. I tried maggot in the deep water down the track and just over my margin, but never had a touch. Nor did dobbed maggot work. Back out on the bread and one more 3 lb carp came in, and with 20 minutes left I went out with maggot in the deep water just off the far bank margin. First cast another carp came in, and then the angler to my right had a fish. In the last 20 minutes he had at least two more, but my float remained resolutely still. 

I'd had about seven or eight liners all day, all at 18 inches, and when I shallowed up I had none. And as so often happens if I had a liner I never had a proper bite afterwards. It seems that once one fish had taken fright the rest could all suddenly see my line. I ended with eight fish, but had no idea what anyone else might have. I was also pleased that I didn't lose any.

 Mark Wareing's best fish in his winning
84 lb 12 oz  catch was about 8 lb.

The weigh in
I was first to weigh on Raven - 23 lb 4 oz which gave me third place in my section of seven, and I was happy with that, beaten by noted peg 5, and 11 (that was Ernie, the Fastest Angler in the West). Raven was won on end peg 28 by Mark Wareing, who dobbed maggots across in the shallow water, never fed anything all day, and ended with 84 lb 12 oz. Ernie was second on 11, dobbing bread at 16 metres (this swim is on the inside of a corner). I see peg 33 , opposite the island, won Magpie. My next match will probably not be until a week Sunday.

THE RESULT

RAVEN

MAGPIE