I scrape in on Yew

 Peg 19, Yew, Wed, June 17
Sixteen turned out for this Spratts match, so we used both banks on Yew. There was a fair wind on, as there so often is at Decoy, though John Smith on end peg 26 had it flat calm all day. It was blowing from left to right, down towards my end.  Actually I was almost in the centre of our bank (peg 20 on my left was in the middle), while I would have preferred to be nearer a corner. But we certainly had a good Raspberry Ripple and I was on the bank I would have picked, with the wind coming in to me.

I had Roy Whitwell on my right, two swims away, and I was able to watch him catching a fish soon after the start. It took ages for me to get an F1 on a hybrid feeder and orange wafter, and another half-hour to get a second one.

Good conditions - no sun and a big Raspberry Ripple which
got bigger as the match went on.

I would normally have changed to pole quite soon, but Roy kept catching fish, so I persevered for another hour or more before having a look on the pole at 2+2, which was about as far as I could easily fish in the wind. I had nothing on a 4 mm expander, so tried maggot, which yielded a tiny roach. By that time the match was half over and I reckoned Roy had at least ten; he then changed to a pole.

A nice cut-out
I'd got a lovely cut-out which ran from my platform about four metres to the right, so next I went to the end, a metre or so from the bank. That was because the whole cut-out was very bumpy, and I found a nice flattish spot there. I was surprised when I didn't get a bite because conditions were no almost perfect - a strong warm wind and not much in the way of sunshine.

I dropped down almost into the deeper water and there I started to get bites on corn. Another F1 was the first fish, then a 6 lb carp. I then had a nice spell, landing about four carp but losing some. Into the left margin, and first drop with cat meat saw me hook a big fish which eventually came in, hooked in the side, and another which came off. The last one there just wouldn't come off the bottom...and then it turned into a 3 lb barbel...

The wizard kept catching on a feeder during the first half.

A good last hour
It was not until the last hour that I came right into the cut-out, where the depth was around three feet, and had another short spell, though I lost the first one foulhooked, and then got my first fish of the day on mussel. Another three or four fish around 7 lb came to my special method, and I was just really starting to enjoy it when, with then minutes to go, the wind became stronger amd immediately all my bites and liners stopped.

I should have gone straight down into the deeper water a acouple of metres farther out, but persevered near the bank for that last ten mnutes. To no avail. Meanwhile I had seen Roy get several big carp on pole in his margin,and estimated he had about 150 lb, while I had clicked 35 lb and 32 lb for my nets. A day I really enjoyed at the end, and I think I lost six fish, all foulhooked.

A few minutes after the match finished the wind died away a little and left conditions perfect again.

The weigh in
Top weight on the opposite bank, only a little to my left, was Peter Harrison on 6 who used mussel and meat for 101 lb 1 oz on pole. Then round to my bank, and Dick Warrener in the corner had 12 lb 15 oz, and didn't get a fish until 3.30 pm; strangely Graham Ward, opposite in corner peg 13, also had his first fish at 3.30!

Kevin's best fish - all 17 lb 14 oz of it.

Next to weigh was Kevin Lee on 16 who had a 'munter' of 17 lb 14 oz in his 70 lb 10 oz. He said he thought he had more weight than that.

Roy didn't have the 150 lb I had guessed at - 82 lb 2 oz was his total. It turned out that his early fish on feeder were all F1s, but they fought so hard he wasn't surprised that I had thought they were bigger. My 64 lb-plus estimate was way out - for only the third time I can remember, they weighed LESS than I thought - 58 lb 3 oz. Peter Spriggs said that perhaps they had lost weight in spawning.

   Dave Hobbs had a barbel in his   
second-placed catch.

It was left to dave Hobbs on 24 to sneak into second spot with 95 lb 14 oz on a pole mainly in his margins, while John Smith on 26 had an horrendous day. He hooked, and lost, eight carp in the first hour, all foulhooked. And for the next five hours sat there biteless! He had no Raspberry Ripple all day, which probably didn't help.

Marks out of ten
I scraped in fifth, last in frame, so can't grumble. And for the first time this Summer I felt I could get into "the zone" for a time.I should have discarded the rod much earlier, but I beat some good anglers, so I give myself a generous 7/10, and can't wait to get back to that swim.

Next match is Spratts on Beastie lake on Thursday, when the media keep telling me we will fry. Well, I can always sit in the van and put the air con on. Otherwise I look forward to Beastie, as most pegs have a margin of some sort. Peg 3 is cold in Winter, but I guess it will offer a little shade. But 18 has always been kind to me. No matter, I expect to use pole most of the day and enjoy myself. 

THE RESULT

East bank                                                                West bank

26 John Smith            DNW                      1 Martin Parker        48 lb 15 oz

24 Dave Hobbs      95 lb 14 oz     2nd    3 Mike Rawson        24 lb

22 Neil Paas            38 lb                         5 Mick Ramm          26 lb 1 oz

21 Bob Walker         53 lb 14 oz            6 Peter Harrison     101 lb 1 oz   1st

19 Mac Campbell    58 lb 3 oz   5th       8 Peter Spriggs         32 lb 7 oz

17 Roy Whitwell      82 lb 2 oz   3rd    10 Trevor Cousins      DNW

16 Kevin Lee           70 lb 10 oz  4th     11 Bob Barrett           47 lb 14 oz   

14 Dick Warrener      12 lb 15 oz           13 Graham Ward        17 lb 12 oz    

    

A visit to Two-Island lake, Float Fish Farm

Peg 27, Two-Island, Float Fish Farm
Fenland Rods' first match of the year at Float Fish Farm, who had suggested that we move it from Wagtail, which had not been fishing particulrly well. As chairman, I was happy with that, as I'd seen that redent matches on Two-Island had been producing some fish. And on the morning the eight of us had an extra frisson of excitement: working out where the pegs were situated. So far as I could make out peg 33 is no longer there, and I couldn't find 25 either. No matter - we all finished up somewhere!

Before the match there was the amazing sight of fish tails waving to us near the island halfway between Martin Parker on 3 and Mike Rawson on 30. They were there all day, but I didn't see the splashing you'd normally associate with spawning.

Nothing on a rod
My peg 27 had poduced some fish on feeder or bomb to Kevin Wilmot a day or two earlier. So I started on the feeder, which was what seems to be the main method on these pegs, which were all at the same end of the lake. One hour I spent, casting every ten minutes from the deep water (allegedly up to 15 feet) to the shallow water near the island and in front of me, near a wooden post. Not a touch. I walked up to Kev Lee on 24, who had had an 8 lb carp casting to his island. So I spent another half hour on feeder in the shallow water.

Next I spent half an hour on the bomb; then an hour on pellet waggler in open water fishing pellet; then almost an hour on caster shallow on the pole, when I had several bites which were almost certainly from roach. But not a fish. Now the match was well past the halfway mark.

Fish!
I then went out in about seven feet of water on the pole, to a spot I'd baited with groundbait hemp and sweetcorn a few times. And second drop in came a 7 lb carp; followed by one of 3 lb, followed by a very big foulhooked carp which I played for about 15 minutes. I saw it on the top a few times, but eventually the hook pulled out. Then bites stopped, even though I rebaited the spot accurately with a bait dropper, and eventually I felt I had to fish a simple 2+1 swim in front of me, using corn over groundbait.

Callum - carp and  bream for second spot.

That swim brought an F1, followed occasionally by bream to 1 lb on corn, and a small roach or two on maggot. By the end of the match I reckoned I had about 20 lb, and wished I'd started there at the start, as I had in my mind that I could hve had over 50 lb.

The weigh in

Kevin had another good carp over to the island, but then found carp in the margin on paste, weighing in 41 lb 5 oz. I had 25 lb 20 oz, and in the corner peg 34 Callum had caught on The Method, and pole near the reeds, for 53 lb 10 oz, with Mike having a dozen tiny perch which he didn't weigh.

Opposite, Martin Parker on 3 won with 58 lb 13 oz, having lost some carp on feeder hooked near the island, and then ading some later from his margins. Dave Garner and Allan Golightly didn't have a bite, but on 1 Frank Snow, with 4 lb 2 oz, will have an £8 section envelope waiting for him when I next see him, winning his section by default (as did I). I quite enjoyed it, but overall it was a disappointing result Meat is banned, and we were told on the morning that mussel is also banned, even though I spoke to three anglers who say that it's used in matches there regularly. 

Marks out of ten
I went with a plan to fish feeder and bomb, but I have never fished there and it's possible that if I'd stuck to the plan I would have contacted fish. However it didn't feel like that as I had no liners at all. If I'd changed earlier and got a feel for the pole I think I would have done much better, particularly loosefeeing caster for the silver fish. I think I was worth 6/10. 

Next match is on Cedar, Decoy, when I'd like to fish anywhere but the middle pegs either side; but I'd like the East bank with the wind in my face.

THE RESULT

Still windy on Damson but I get fish

A quick glance and it looked like snow in the field as I drove past. In fact they are daisies - but  who would want to grow a field of daisies?

Peg 12, Damson, Decoy
Twelve of us in this Spratts match, and I am drawn peg 12; end peg; and Golden Peg. Well that ensured it would be a roll-over! Still lots of wind, into our faces and from the left, but I was pleasantly surprised when I got to the swim that the marginal reeds had grown since I last sat there, whereas peviously there had been mainly bare bank - not good for margin fishing. However, Peter Spriggs was on my left, and to his left is the stump of a small tree which has been cut down; but it's still growing, and there's a lovely little pleateau next to the bank which is a noted spot where carp congregate.

The wind was blowing into my corner and I 
hoped that the carp would be following it. 

The first few minutes on Damson are always feast or famine in the margins, and today things were very slow. I had a few liners in about two feet of water, and lost a couple foulhooked. A switch to banded pellet shallow brought a bite first drop...and that was also foulhooked and came off. Eventually I had one fish from the left margin on sweetcorn, and after an hour that was all I had. But Peter had had a nice carp or two.

Getting battered
The next hour was worse! Not a single fish for me. But Peter started to catch much better. In the next hour I managed six or seven carp around 2 lb on corn from the right margin, and halfway through the match I had about 15 lb, while I reckoned Peter had at least three times that amount. But then things got better and by carefully adjusting my depth, feeding two or three grains of corn every drop, and lifting the bait an inch to induce a bite, I started to catch occasional F1s.

Peter Spriggs on my left found fish early on while I struggled. We had 
a few showers but luckily, since the wind was in our faces,  nothing too bad.

Strange!
Then a strange thing happened. Heavy rain hit us for a few minutes, and as it started, carp started to show along the reeds in my swim. Proper carp, bigger than I had been catching, and fish I'd not seen before the rain started. And soon they started to take my bait.

One fish was about 5 lb and another couple over 3 lb. The left margin was now better, although this meant fishing into the wind and making sure my rig didn't get blown into the reeds where the fish were. But it was never easy, and I had lots of tiny liners, which at least showed me the fish were there somewhere.

 During this time Peter's catch rate slowed up, though I still estimated he had around 150 lb by the end of the match. I lost one really big fish which came off, which I didn't think was foulhooked, and I thought I had perhaps 70 lb.

Roy with part of his winning catch.

The weigh in
I had assumed that I would be quite possibly last, so was amazed at the low weights from the first few pegs - topped by Peter Harrison on peg 3 with 66 lb 5 oz. That may have been because it was more sheltered at that end of the lake. Then Roy Whitwell, who is framing in every match he fishes, took 114 lb 4 oz to the scales from peg 6, which I assumed would be beated by Peter Spriggs.

The weights continued to be below 50 lb, except from John Smith with 52 lb 2 oz, up to Peter Spriggs. Then I saw that his fish were smaller than I had imagined, and he had 'only' 95 lb 10 oz. My fish definitely seemed to have a bigger average. My first net went 38 lb, but the second one was 5 lb over our club's 50 lb limit. How did that happen?

Peter Spriggs checks the scales, flanked
by Peter Harrison and Roy Whitwell.

As it happens it made no difference to the positions - I totalled 88 lb 15 oz for third, though that 5 lb and the good fish lost would have bumped me up to second place. However, Roy had sparkled again, taking some of his fish on the feeder he loves so much, including some from the far bank of the lake. 

Marks out of ten
I was quite pleased afterwards, looking at the other weights. I actually had a nice assortment of rigs ready to use, which is essential when the depth varies so much as you move along the bank. But I didn't try in the deep water, and should have done that early on...just in case. I reckon I was worth a generous 8/10. 

But my estimate of Peter's catch was wildly out. I didn't realise, as I concentrated on my own swim, that his had largely dried up. Next match on two-Island on Float Fish Farm, where everyone tells me to use feeder or bomb. 

THE RESULT

1 Neil Paas                30 lb 10 oz

2 Martin Parker         29 lb 11 oz

3 Peter Harrison        66 lb 5 oz        4th

4 Trevor Cousins       34 lb 10 oz

5 Bob Walker             39 lb 4 oz

6 Roy Whitwell        114 lb 4 oz        1st

7 Graham Ward          31 lb 14 oz

8 Mick Ramm            29 lb 6 oz

9 John Smih               52 lb 2 oz

10 Bob Barrett           29 lb 13 oz

11 Peter Spriggs         95 lb 10 oz        2nd

12 Mac Campbell       88 lb 15 oz        3rd

And finally: after the rain, in my village...

I nearly frame in the wind on Yew

 Yew peg 17
A fair walk for me to peg 17 in this Fenland Rods match, with Roy (The Wizard) Whitwell in corner peg 16 to my right. And I was Golden Peg, though I doubted I would be picking much up after the match because 16 can be so good. The wind was really strong, into our faces a little from the left, and it was obvious that no-one would be fishing a long pole! And for a change I had a feeder and a bomb rod made up and ready to use, even though I prefer the pole if I can use one.

Within minutes of the start I saw Mike Rawson, a few pegs to my left, playing a fish on a rod, and a few minutes after that Martin Parker on 20 was into his first carp; not long after that his rod was bending again. After an hour fishing with a hybrid and a yellow wafter I'd not had a bite, but Roy had had two or three fish, and Martin had had some more.

Roy Whitwell lands his first fish, in the first hour. Look at how the reeds are
bending over in the high wind!

I change to bomb
I had a good look at Martin as he landed a fish, and reckoned that he was now just on a bomb, so I changed. Martin was casting right across to within inches of the far-bank reeds, so I did the same. And after 20 minutes, just as I was thinking about putting on a feeder again, the rod whipped round and I was playing my first carp, about 6 lb.

As I wandered up to John Smith, Dave Garner
landed this beauty on a waggler and mussel.

Next cast, and after 20 minutes, just as I was thinking of changing again, the rod went round again and my second carp was on; again, about 6 lb.  After the next fish (the bite for which came after 20 minutes) I wandered up to John Smith, who had two for 16 lb on a feeder; Martin now had six carp and a barbel. Roy had four carp, but I couldn't see how big they were because of the tall reeds between us.

The 20-minute syndrome

In the next two hours I landed four more carp, of which three took 20 minutes to make up their minds to take that lovely orange wafter. I also, stupidly, must have struck too hard at one fish which must have been a big one, and the hooklength broke.

Roy Whitwell snapped me at a good time - with a fish on 😀

               Now that's the best ending.             

All my bites gave a judder and then the tip sprang back. And in all cases I thought I had missed the fish, because it took a couple of winds of the rod before I felt it. I realised afterwards that it was because the bomb was very close to the reeds, so naturally the fish would move towards me. In that two hours Roy had more fish and on my left Allan Golightly cast a feeder to the middle and within about 30 seconds had a carp on. It was the only fish he caught.

Allan hit this fish within 30 seconds of casting out!

Safely in the net. The pole belongs to Kevin Lee, fishing the next peg.

A disaster
When bites stopped I followed Roy's example, and started fishing a pole, in the deep water only six feet from the bank, on corn. The elastic was 10-12, and I played my first fish for absolutely ages. Then I saw it on the surface, and it was huge - well into double figures. 

It seemed almost beaten, but I had to strip the elastic well back to try to get the fish to slide towards the net, because it was so heavy. Then suddenly everything went slack - the connector had pulled off. Normally I would have have netted the fish a lot earlier, so I can only assume that it was hooked somewhere around the outside of the mouth and the elastic had broken under too much strain. I might have said a naughty word.

I lose another!
I put out a stronger rig, with 18-20 elastic and cat meat and immediately hit a big fish, which came towards me fairly quickly but them suddenly shot towards Allan Golightly. The elastic stretched right out to him; the fish was probably foulhooked; then the hook pulled out.

I picked out aother rig and put it on a 14-16 Matrix Slik elastic and soon hooked another, about 8 lb, which I landed. Then with two minutes left I potted in hemp, which I am convinced was bringing fish to the swim, and a few grains of corn, and dropped in again. Very quickly I hooked another carp which I was playing when the match ended. That was hooked on the outside of the mouth, and it took me seven or eight minutes to land it.

Martin ended as winner...by two ounces.

The weigh in
As usual I was behind almost everyone else packing up - several tops and two rods. And I am always extra careful when I am moving around the peg, because as we get older our balance defintely deteriorates. So far the only time I've had problems is when a sudden gust of wind has caused me to overbalance and tread on a top two or other section; they can be replaced. I can't!

I caught up with the scales at Martin's peg, looked at the sheet, and was amazed at how low the weights were up to that point. Callum had 89 lb from end peg 30, but the rest were all below 30 lb. However I knew Martin had more than that, and sure enough he ended with 109 lb 15 oz, which would obviously beat me, so he had saved the Golden peg money.

Roy - 109 lb 13 oz for second place.

Allan Golightly's one fish went 6 lb, and then it was my turn to pull out my nets. My nine carp weighed in at 72 lb 13 oz, which put me third! But Roy's three nets also went well over 100 lb, and after a quick check Callum announced that Martin had beaten Roy...by two ounces!

Marks out of ten
I ended fourth, winning the end section by default, but was annoyed afterwards that I'd not brought out more tops and rigs so I had them ready to use quickly, if needed, because I had lost valuable minutes at the end when the fish were feeding. But when it's that windy and everything has to be done so deliberately to stop anything from blowing away, I tend to try to keep it simple. However I was pleased that I had changed from a hybrid feeder to a bomb and wafter, which I don't often use, and had a big selection of pellet colours available.

Then that fish lost on the light elastic didn't actually cost me the match, but it shouldn't have happened. The problem was that the fish was like a sack of potatoes, and I with the water there being over six feet deep I had to strip back so much of that light elastic that I put a massive strain on it. And the wind didn't help. The 14-16 I changed to was actually the best, I found. But each day differs.

All-round, when I look at the other weights, I was probably worth 6.5/10. But when I got home I immediately spent a long time putting several rigs on my short tops ready for Damson, which was my next match.

THE RESULT

A 'ton' for me on Elm; and F1s on Six-Island

 A bit late with this Spratts match on Elm. The trouble is that I'm now retired, and you never get a day off! And there's lots of gardening to do. Slugs or something have eaten all my kale seedlings so I've had to buy plants. But the rain seems to have suited my potatoes and courgettes. And the optician who tested my eyes says I have better than 20/20 vision. Not sure how I can be better than perfect, but there you are!

A longish walk to peg 13 on Elm saw me settled in the corner for the day, with John Garner opposite on 12. Roy Whitwell had been on 14 a day or too earlier and he said that had a lovely margin to the right, which would be to my left. Sure enough it was still there when I arrived, though plumbing up revealed that it was horribly bumpy. However I decided that I would have a quick look there when the match started, after putting in a few delicacies at 2+2 a bit to the right. because the warm wind was quite strong, from the left, but giving a lovely big Raspberry Ripple.

A big warm wind blowing down to my end. Nice.

There was less than three feet depth next to platform 14 (which was vacant) and soon after dropping in corn I hooked a fish, certainly foulhooked, which suddenly remembered it had an urgent appointment in Peterborough, turned on the turbo chargers, and waved me goodbye. A bit later a nice F1 came from that spot, and I fancied I had another knock or two, so I stayed in that margin for far too long, catching another F1 close to me on a top two, before realising that John Garner had started catching carp close to the end bank.

To the end bank
I went out to my baited swim and had a definite bite, but soon moved out at 13 metres to the end bank. That brought two nice big carp quite quickly. It was hard work in the wind so I had a look down in the deep margin to my right, a couple of mtres out. Sure enough I started getting bites on corn, and carp to 5 lb came in. Cat meat brought the occasional better fish, but they were never ravenous.

Lost!
One big fish gave me a bit of a runaround, and after a time it came towards the net. But a wag of its tail saw it slide past, and towards my keepnet. It slewed away from that and came into the bare bank on my right, and appeared beaten, as it lay on its side. 

Another little spurt, before I could move the landing net, saw it glide toward the reeds on my right, but I wasn't worried. Then suddenly the line went tight. It had snagged me a foot or two from the reeds, probably on a root. A little twitch, and it was gone. My long hook got me the rig back, though. I was to regret that loss later.

No more than 15 minutes before the end I had a look in the left margin again, just on a top two, and had a big F1 and two 8 lb carp, and lost another. I should have gone there earlier, of course. But at least I had my rig all ready plumbed up, so I did that right!

John Garner with onbe of his best mirrors.

The weigh in
Roy Whitwell, who could catch fish anywhere, started with  124 lb 12 oz from peg 2. I wasn't surprised, as he's so good, and conditions were almost perfect. On peg 8 Neil Paas took the lead with 154 lb 5 oz, all from close in on the pole. Then John Garner on corner peg 13 weighed in. He went 6 lb over in his first net, ending with 132 lb 2 oz, which I thought was about my weight.

I also went over in one net, by  about 5 lb, but ended with 136 lb 6 oz, putting me second, and John Garner must heve been rueing that 6 lb over weight on one net. For myself, I assume I must have missed clicking a big fish. 

 Kevin Lee with four big friends. 

Last to weigh, on peg 21, Kevin Lee totalled  143 lb 15 oz, pushing me down to third place. But that lost 5 lb on the scales, plus that lost fish that I nearly landed, would undoubtedly have given me second place.

Marks out of ten
I stayed far too long in the left margin at the start, and missed going back there with 90 minutes to go, just to have a look. But I was putting fish in the net, so I can't be too hard on myself. I caught on corn and cat meat, but didn't try paste, which was a mistake. Probably worth 7/10.

THE RESULT

East bank                                                       West bank

                                                                  2 Roy Whitwell     124 lb 12 oz       

21 Kevin Lee         143 lb 15 oz    2nd     4 Bob Barrett        65 lb 15 oz

19 Mike Rawson     34 lb 14 oz                6 Dave Hobbs        28 lb

17 Trevor Cousins     71 lb 8 oz                8 Neil Pasas        154 lb 5 oz        1st

15 Graham Ward        21 lb 8 oz             10 Mick Ramm    21 lb 14 oz

13 Mac Campbell     136 lb 6 oz    3rd   12 John Garner     132 lb 2 oz        4th 

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Peg 12, Six-Island, Decoy, Mon, June 1

Normally I would run (or hobble quickly) to peg 12, but on this day the wind was forecast to be SW, which would be back wind. And everyone knows how I love a Raspberry Ripple. Sure enough the wind was hacking down to the car park, and into the Northern bank, pegs 4 to 9.

Still, I had a job to do, and I had Neil Paas immdiately on my left. The trouble with leaving pegs vacant in a match is that you often can't see what they are doing, and you can't chat to them (at least I can't, with my hearing). So I was pleased to have Neil within spying distance, as he has been catching so well lately.

Neil Paas on 14 lands an early fish. We had back wind and  got
very little ripple all day - not ideal when the fish were finicky.

This is my favourite of the 11 lakes at Decoy, so I sort of expected to catch something early on. But I soon realised that it was going to be hard, as nobody had much early on. I had some really soft jelly pellets with me, given to me by Dick Warrener a few weeks ago, and I had a VERY intersting experience with them.

The very interesting lesson
First drop out at 2+3 and I lost a fish. Then I had a little knock which I couldn't strike at, and when I brought the rig back the pellet was gone. Next drop the same thing happened. And the next; and the next; and the next. They must have been F1s taking the pellet from the hook, as the bites were so delicate. So I learned something, and will try it again, because I now knew that fish were definitely interested in those soft pellets, and those knocks were not liners.

A proper pellet brought one fish, but hard pellet didn't get a bite. With fish on the surface I tried shallow, but never had a touch. So it was into the margins with corn for most of the rest of the match.

Neil had an F1 or two early on, and now I had a couple, but it took ages to get the bites. All came from the left margin - the right margin saw me hook a big fish which came off, possibly foulhooked. I also bumped two or three fish.

All F1s
The F1s were all 2 lb-plus, apart from one 5 lb common carp, and I had only about ten fish in my net with 20 minutes to go. Then suddenly I started getting bites more quickly and in that last 20 minutes I had four F1s and lost a really big fish, which I played for two or three minutes before, unaccountably, the 7 lb hook length broke for no apparent reason. It broke just above the hook, so perhaps it had rubbed on the hard lips of the fish, which looked to be over 10 lb when it came to the surface.

Graham Ward on peg 4 had F1s.

To my right Peter Harrison had had a few F1s from the end bank to the right of his peg 10, and he said that in that last 20 minutes he had 16 lb of F1s in his second net. I had clicked 35 lb.

The weigh in
Trevor started, with 50 lb from peg 3, and the weights opposite me, in the wind, from peg 4 to 9, seemed to be a bit better than Neil and I had. Top two were Rod Melnyk on 8 and Kev Lee on 9, both over 60 lb. Peter Harrison on corner peg 10 on my bank had 52 lb 2 oz, and I had 40 lb 5 oz. all except one being F1s. 

Rod Melnyk, on the bank opposite
me also had mainly F1s.

I was amazed when Neil weighed in just 28 lb 9 oz, and he said, as I had guessed, that he had fished big baits for carp all day, but all his fish were F1s.

The weights got better then, and John Smith on 24 weighed in 102 lb 10 oz for a good win. His fish were all big carp, taken mainly from his right margin, one of which he landeed after the whistle. And it was noticeable that as the scales went round towards the high numbers more and more big carp were in the keepnets.

John Smith with one of the
best carp from his 102 lb 10 oz!

Marks out of ten
I finished nowhere, but actually I really enjoyed the match, fishing for just one fish at a time. And I give myself 8/10, because I think I had a decent weight from that swim on that day. Pity about that one big lost fish though! It shows how important that last half hour is, though - you must have rigs ready, set at the right depth, and a spare as well. My next match is Sunday on Yew, with the corners probably favourite.

THE RESULT

3 Trevor Cousins            50 lb

4 Graham Ward           47 lb 5 oz

6 John Garner            16 lb 2 oz

8 Rod Melnyk             66 lb 9 oz        4th

9 Kevin Lee                63 lb 3 oz        5th

10 Peter Harrison      52 lb 2 oz

12 Mac Campbell       40 lb 8 oz

13 Neil Paas                28 lb 9 oz

15 Mick Ramm           15 lb 10 oz

17 Martin Parker        49 lb 11 oz

18 Roy Whitwell        73 lb              3rd

20 Bob Walker          40 lb 6 oz

22 Peter Spriggs         86 lb 15 oz    2nd

24 John Smith          102 lb 10 oz    1st

25 Mike Rawson        58 lb 11 oz

Over £450 raised for Cancer Research at Decoy

John Garner's annual invitation match at Decoy, with £60 to the person who guessed nearest to the winning weight, had an amazing result on Six-Island Lake.

Bright sunshine greeted us as we drew from
John Garner's bag, and it was hot all day.

Karen Gracey at Decoy donated the £60 to the nearest guesser, and the 13 competitors raised £408 for Cancer Research from friends who made the guesses at £1 per guess.  The match was fished in bright sunshine with little wind, and temperatures did get quite high.

The match was won by Neil Paas on peg 26 with 141 lb 10 oz. He caught mainly F1s slowly, but steadily during the morning, but sport picked up in the last 90 minutes, with carp from the margins.

T-shirts for the winners

John had a Cancer Research T-shirt to give to the winner, and another for the correct guesser. Neil was presented with his T-shirt and John drove home to Whittlesey and went through the sheets filled in by the donors, to find the Winning Weight. Incredibly it had been submitted by Neil himself, at 141 lb 15 oz! What are the chances? Neil promptly gave the £60 back to John, so the total going to the charity will be £468.

A disaster for me
Well done, Neil. But it was a bit of a disaster for me on peg 3. I'd managed a few nice F1s, plus an 8 lb common carp foulhooked in the tail, all on corn in the margins. Them with 90 minutes to go big carp started showing themselves near the side and apparently dropping down on to my baited swims either side. I couldn't get bites but was certain they were going to feed.

I put casters and hemp out just a little farther than I had been fishing to the left, on a top four, fully expecting that any time now the big carp would feed. First drop with cat meat and I had a good bite from a big fish, which stripped many yards of elastic out.

I held the fish, expecting it to slowly come back, but it felt heavy, and it just didn't come back. I'm certain it wasn't foulhooked, though. I dipped my pole tip under the surface and hung on, and the pressure didn't get any less. Slowly the fish kited round in front of me, and suddenly I realised it had snagged me solidly, somewhere near the bottom, next to the island.

Roy Whitwell plays a fish on peg 18.   

Whoosh
Hoping to pull it free by altering the direction of pull, I added section Number Five and was just reaching behind me for section Number Six when...whoosh...the top four shot out of my Number Five and hurtled over to the island. The tip laid against the reeds and the pole, well out of reach floated for 20 minutes during which time the tiny breeze wafted it round until it was level with the island. Then it slowly sank!

I didn't fancy playing double-figure carp on just a top two and short Number Three, especially since at the moment all the fish are so frisky, so I decided to pack up (only the third time I have ever done that in my life). While I was taking stuff back to the van Neil said he had clicked 82 lb, but he was now landing fish after fish.

Trevor Cousins mugged every one of his fish for
108 lb 9 oz and second place. This was one
of his double-figure carp.

My fish go back   
I had clicked 40 lb, but when I picked up the net to upend it and put the fish back I could hardly lift it - it felt like almost 50 lb. I nipped in to John Smith's house for a cuppa and went back for the weigh-in.

Neil said he'd had a great last 90 minutes, and when I saw the weights I reckoned I would have framed if I could have kept on fishing for that last 90 minutes, because 50 lb in my net at 2.30 pm was actually pretty good, and I felt certain that the big fish were coming on to feed. Oh well, there's always next time. 

I had a spare Number 3 and 4 at home (thank goodness). I've also got a broken 3 and a broken 4, which I have taken to Pete in the Tackle and Bates shop. They are difficult to get for my Xitan, so I hope I don't do that again!

Finally, although John thanked the anglers for supporting him and raising what is a good amount of money for the charity, I thank him, on behalf of of the anglers, for organising this most delightful match.

Peter Spriggs - 72 lb 14 oz.

Neil with some of his 141 lb 10 oz.

THE RESULT

3 Mac Campbell     DNW 😒
4 Allan Golightly    5 lb 13 oz         11th
6 John Garner         48 lb 1 oz           9th
7 Callum Judge       81 lb 13 oz        4th
9 Dave Garner         65 lb 7 oz          7th
10 Mike Rawson     70 lb                   6th
12 Kevin Beavis      39 lb 3 oz          10th
15 Kevin Lee           54 lb 7 oz           8th
17 Trevor Cousins  108 lb 9 oz    2nd
18 Roy Whitwell       95 lb 6 oz    3rd
22 Peter Spriggs        72 lb 14 oz       5th
24 Roland Butcher        DNW
25 Neil Paas            141 lb 10 oz   1st

I manage to catch some fish on Kingsland

Peg 2, Kingsland Small lake, Sun, May 18
Just nine of us were able to fish our Fenland Rods event on the small carp lake at Kingsland. Some of the platforms are obviously new, they are now numbered, and all have concrete steps down to them. Even so I have to take extra care going up and down them; but I was able to take my time setting up, and was ready well before the start, helped by the fact that I deliberately left my rods behind, intending to stick with the pole and enjoy myself.

I've been having some poor results recently but I love Kingsland, and was really looking forward to this match.

I was drawn on peg 2, Number One having been left out because it's close to the bank of reeds which is now running along about 12 metres in front of peg 17 on the end bank. I would have liked peg 1, but perhaps it would have been so good it would have been unfair. The lake appears to be about four feet deep maximum, and there was an occasional mid-sized carp visible before the start. However, even in the bright sun I saw only a couple more until the last hour.

Hot, with no wind, but fish still fed. This platform is obviously new. Note that
the reeds appear to have noved out from the end bank (or some have been cut).

Cat meat then maggots

As always I put out cat meat, to about 2+2, with no bait (this can attract small fish) and was surprised not to get a touch. Eventually I started throwing out maggots and fishing shallow, and bumped a couple of nice fish, causing me to change to a 13 hollow elastic. That brought me some small rudd, and one carp about 2 oz. So I fished the same swim at full depth, and it appeared that there were carp underneath the rudd as I had fish of 2 lb and 3 lb. 

But then I had only the occasional small rudd. So after nearly two hours I had about 6 lb in my net. But opposite on peg 15 Roy Whitwell was now landing fish after fish - every time I looked up his elastic was out. Two pegs to his left Kevin Lee had also landed some fish, fishing about three sections out. I then saw him fishing the margins, so I tried my left margin, putting in hemp and some groundbait with a few grains of corn.

That immediately produced carp around 2 lb and I had a good run for an hour or more on cat meat, all fighting like absolute demons, and taking me far too long to land them. Later I found out that Kevin had, in fact, had only two tiny carp, on paste, from the margins, and had gone back to 2+2 with cat meat, where he had all his fish. Roy was still bagging, and it was obvious they would beat me as they had already got a big start on me.

The sun now was really hot, with hardly any wind, and I started to enjoy it - sun has been a bit of a novelty recently.

A better fish
To rest the left margin I dropped on on a top two, to my right margin close to the platform, where there was a big drop-off about 12 inches deep, and the best fish of the day came there - about 7 lb, to a mussel. It felt really heavy during the short fight, and when I came to take the hook out it had thrashed about so much that it appeared to be lassoed around the body, and it took me a minute or two to untangle it. I never did see whether it was hooked in the mouth, as by that time the hook had come out.

I probably spent too long to the right (although it also produced a fish of 5 lb) and when I went back to the left sport had slowed. Out to the long line, and all I did was foulhook a carp that came off. Now I also started losing fish from both margins - I probably lost 25 or 30 , some of which, I am sure, were properly hooked. But I kept putting the occasional fish in the net, best no more than 3 lb, while to my right Mike Rawson seemed to be catching better fish than me, on meat out at 2+2. 

Shallow and short for a time
Then I started to see fish swimming along near the margins, and I started feeding maggots to the left margin, hoping the carp might come shallow. In fact they did, and I hooked and landed  four or five before hitting a bigger fish that gave me a real run-around. I started to get fed up playing it (Roy told me afterwards that he was so frustrated that he started hitting fish and immediately stripping the elastic right back with the side puller, risking pulling out. At the end he said his arm really ached). My big fish suddenly made for the little cut out to my right where there was a bit of rubbish sticking up; and it snagged me!

A minute later it was still visible, flapping about on the surface, so I gingerly made my way up past the building site I had created with my gear, and went up the bank to get my 12-foot long hook. But by the time I had fished about in the water with it the fish had gone and I got back my rig minus the size 16 hook. Back in the shallow swim and the fish had now gone.

A better finish
The last 30 minutes was better, in fact I started a third net, just to see what I could catch. Corn in the right margin was the method now, and I had about nine fish which weighed 17 lb, still losing the odd one. I am sure hemp got the fish feeding; and if they hadn't fought so hard I could have had a lot more. I can't remember fish of that size fighting so hard - they must be getting ready to spawn. 

Dave Garner had 69 lb 8 oz on a waggler.

The weigh in

I was first to weigh - 91 lb 3 oz, which I thought would be well down the list, as there are clearly a lot of carp  in the lake, and conditions were not bad. But I was slow packing away in the heat and I didn't catch up with the scales until they were weighing Roy.  A look at the sheet made me blink in astonishment - I was in fact top on my bank. But Kevin had weighed 180 lb, with every fish taken on cat meat. Roy totalled 144 lb 13 oz, although losing 6 lb over two of his nets as the limit on Kingsland is 50 lb. And when last man Dave Garner weighed 69 lb 8 oz I realised I had done much better than I thought, and was third overall.

Marks out of ten
It sounds strange, but I haven't been used to aiming for big catches recently, and it was a bit of a surprise that I was getting a lot of touches at times. Lots were liners, but on the whole I managed to wait intil I sensed that the fish had taken the bait properly. So although a better angler would have had nore fish, I give myself 7/10, and will be more positive in the weeks to come. I perhaps should have used bugger lumps of cat meat - most were taken on the small lumps from the Co-op cat meat satchets, but na big lump did work well when I put one on. 

I should have gone into my magin much earlier - a lesson I must remember from now on. Interestingly the two best fish came in more quickly than the two-pounders. So if I'd managed to find the better fish I could have ended with double my weight.

Dick Warrener

Good to see Dick Warrener come down to watch the weigh in - he's been experimenting by trying to cut his finger nails with an electric saw. The experiment was not a success. But he hopes to be back on the bank in the next couple of weeks.

My next match is Friday on Elm at Decoy, with temperatures forecast to be up to 28. No idea how I will fish.  I'd like the East bank around peg 15 or 16.

MUSSELS
Just seen a photograph of frozen cooked mussels on Facebook posted by Woodside Fishery (wherever that is), stating that mussels are banned, that lots of them in the water may rot, and stating that uncooked mussels may hold bacteria harmful to freshwater fisheries.

Now any fishery can make whatever rules it likes, but I have never heard of anyone putting in large numbers of mussels as loose-feed, as that obviously reduces your chances of a fish taking your bait. I tend to fish half a mussel and just put in the other half, as do all the anglers I know, with many not putting in any mussls at all.

In addition, who would want to fish with uncooked mussels when cooked are so easily available from Tescos, and so much firmer? Did the fishery realise that the photo was of cooked mussels?

THE RESULT