I pick a flyer on Six-Island and...(wait for it)...

First I have to tell our Spratts members that Trevor and I attended dear old Ted Lloyd's funeral at Surfleet. Old he most certainly was, dying a few days before his 98th birthday. A lovely bloke, and we met his great-nephew, who introduced Ted to big-carp fishing by taking him to France. Apparently Ted loved it so much he went two months later, with his wife, and landed a fish around 50 lb.

Ted's spectacular wreath.

Ted fished with us for several years before the 'getting ready' bit at home proved too much for him, but Trevor used to ring him after every match and tell him the result, often resulting in Ted getting annoyed when told that the match was won from the early end peg we would have given him! Thanks for the memories, Ted.

The same day was the funeral for dear Terry Tribe, also a previous member of Spratts and |JV (and Division Four National Champion), until illness forced him to give up fishing. I didn't know about the funeral, but Trevor found out the previous evening, and went on after Ted's funeral. I had my wife with me, and we'd arranged to meet friends, so I didn't feel able to change the arrangements. I was sorry I didn't see Terry off, but I'm sure he would have understood. A real one-off was Terry, very knowledgeable and known for speaking his mind, no matter who was present. That gave us some laughs, I can tell you. Goodbye, old friend.

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SORRY ABOUT THE SEARCH WIDGET HIGHLIGHTING SOME WORDS. I'M TRYING TO GET RID OF IT!

Peg 11, Six Island, Sunday, Jan  18
Good to see a few more people in the Decoy cafe, fishing the Open to practice for the Angling Trust Winter League final on Sat, Feb 28. There will be 50 pegs there, 25 on Float Fish Farm, and 50 at Rookery. I will probably offer to help, again, at the weighing in at Decoy, and hopefully there will be  more locals turn up, as any further help will be very much appreciated. The ideal number is three per set of scales - two on the scales and one on the board. Karen would appreciate knowing if you may be available.

Now to the JV match - the first this year. Fished by just 9 stalwarts, as one or two were in the Open of the Kingsland EWintyer League.Yes - peg 11 stuck to my fingers. It has a bunch of irises to the right, and has a good record in Winter. There wasn't much wind, and it was fairly mild, though the light was a bit murky and I settled on a Cralusso 0.2 gm float as these have a thicker tip than my favourite Tuff Eye.

Flat calm and low light, but certainly not cold.

I started on a tiny Method feeder to the small island, which is about 18 metres out, but apart from one huge liner the tip remained still. And soon after the start Chris Saunders to my left on 13 started catching good-sized fish on a long pole, probably F1s. After he'd caught two I changed to a pole as well. 

A bit of a disaster
Chris had five in the first hour, and I think I had one, on double pinkie over a small amount of black groundbait (it's allowed here from November to the end of February). Then a second F1 came in and then a disaster when a big fish (possibly foulhooked) surged off, breaking the line at the hook. I'd whipped a strong Drennan size 18 carp hook to my 6 lb line, straight through, so I can't work out how the line broke.

After that there was a lull and I had a quick look near the irises, with not even a liner. Back out on the 11.5 metre line, and I tried double red maggot, which caught a fish. I'd been feeding pinkies and a tiny amount of groundbait, and now tried feeding loose red maggot. This was much better and I had a run of about seven fish in half an hour.

I admit to foulhookers
I heard Chris Saunders shout across to Eddie McIlroy on peg 6 that I was catching, but felt honour-bound to tell Chris that three of those fish, including a carp of around 8 lb, had been foulhooked! As soon as I felt that fish had spooked I rested that line, and had a look in the left margin, where I had one missed bite, and nothing more.

Out to the long line and two  nice carp- and two or three more F1s came in before I rested it again. One F1 was well over 3 lb. Then there was a bigger lull before another short good spell; and the last half hour saw one F1 and two carp around 5 lb.  I had no more foulhooked fish after the three early ones.

Nowt in the margins
Several more short looks in the margins were fruitless except for the tiniest roach I've ever had on a maggot coming from the iris swim. I swear it was no bigger than one-twentieth of an ounce...

By the end I had about 16 F1s and five  or six better carp, and I thought I had probably 50 lb. Chris said he had caught only five more fish after that good first hour, and that Eddie on peg 6 had just three fish late on, on a feeder cast to the left of his island. The water at my end of that bit of the lake is definitely deeper than the other end, which probably accounts for why I caught fish.

One of my smaller F1s (the biggest one
was camera-shy and leapt out of my hands).

The weigh in
Round to me, Peter Harrison was top from peg 1 with 60 lb 2 oz. That's the peg where you can reach ohe old sunken island with a 14-metre pole, though I suspect that it's not much of a feature any more, and I have no idea whether Peter went out that far.

To my surprise my fish went 70 lb 11 oz and Chris was sure that would win. I asked him to take a photograph of my biggest F1, but it slipped out of my hands and went straight back. However I managed to hold a smaller specimen for the cameras. They are in super condition and fight like fury.

Some of these F1s in Decoy are now really big!

Chris (right) weighed in 
33 lb 13 oz, and was happy enough as he was sure that would give him the section by default. Then I saw a big old F1 in his net and he obliliged me by holding on to it for a photograph. I certainly went well over 4 lb.

There were more weights of 30 lb-plus, but indeed I ended as winner, with Peter second. A good start for 2026, wouldn't you say? 

Marks out of ten
I'll bring this section back because I made a special effort to do everything really carefully and correctly. So though I started on a 12 elastic I took the trouble to change to a lighter one (8-10) after losing the first big fish. That felt so much softer, and though I lost two more fish, which pulled off, I was very happy indeed with it. I also put on a size 16, as the bigger maggot covered more of the hook.

One red maggot and one pinkie made a nice change bait; but a single red didn't get a bite. That shows how important it can be to swap around if you're not getting bites. 

Even more important was changing depth by a tiny amount - my best spell came when the bait was just off bottom - I got several fish then.  If I didn't get a bite I would let it drift onto a tiny rise in the lake bed (to the left where it was fractionally shallower). The float would stop and started to pull down; I would lift it an inch; and a tiny amount more of the float would show as the bait was now just on the bottom. That was when I expected to get a bite, and lifting it another inch often induced one. Really nice fishing. 

The one thing I perhaps should have done (but didn't) was to briefly try worm, bread, or a 4mm expander. So I think I was worth just 8/10, despite winning, as I obviously had the best peg.

Next match is Sunday - not sure of the lake as it depends how many turn up for the Open. But wherever it is we expect to catch fish now the first really cold spell is over. 

THE RESULT

Some pictures from Six-Island

 Peg 12, Six-Isand - JV  mAatch, Sunday, Dec 14

Greeted by a magnificent sunrise. But I've gotta go - here are some pictures from the Fur and Feather, held on Beastie and Six-Island.

Roy Whitwell, on my left - his first fish, on feeder.

Six-Island winner, Shaun Coaten.

 

Six-Island

Beastie - well done Yammers (John Savage)

Willows in the wind and rain

Peg 3, Willows, Sunday, Dec 8
I must be getting old - I was hoping I'd get a back wind in the JV match on Sunday at Decoy,  because rain was forecast for the afternoon. Sensibly Chris Saunders, substituting for Roy Whincup who was oop North, took a quick vote on whether to fish Six-Island or Willows, and when I got there I was told that Willows was favourite so far. I was happy with that, because from about peg 8 round to 29 the South-Easterly would be at the anglers' backs, and from 30 to 35 the island gave some shelter from any head wind.

I was first to draw, and unfortunately peg 3 stuck to my fingers - the wind would be coming in to me from the right, and also to the poor sods who drew 5 and 7. They turned out to be Peter Harrison and Roy Whitwell. In addition I was on scales (though it's not a problem with this club, because someone will also volunteer to help). And now there's not a lot to report...

The light was so dull I didn't take a picture of my swim, which was mainly water anyway...

A good start
We had a nice ripple, but at this time of year, even if the wind is not bitterly cold, it is churning the temperatures around, and the fish won't feed well - they make for where the water is undisturbed and the temperatures are at least fairly stable. Even so, I had a 3 lb mirror carp very quickly, at 13 metres on a single maggot on a 0.2 gm float, which is light for me!. That was followed by a small F1, and then I lost a decent fish. Leaves from the willow trees were a nuisance,as they often are here, but I can't say that they made a huge difference to my presentation.

By that time the wind had picked up, I'd had to put on my padded Imax jacket, and I came back to 11.5 metres, and had a look to my left, towards the aerator in about four feet of water. That brought a few roach, some up to 3 oz, and I scrapped around for the rest of the match, catching roach but hoping carp would turn up.

Who pulled the switch?
After three hours I had a really good spell on a top two in front of me, getting a roach or rudd most drops, and then there came a few spots of rain and the wind picked up a little. Those bites stopped as if someone had pulled a switch. Then the rain increased and I couldn't put up an umbrella because of the wind direction and strength. So like everyone else I got wet.

I'd seen Roy net a fish or two on a feeder cast across. I tried a maggot feeder and a small Method feeder, but had only a couple of roach. Peter was fishing a long pole and I saw him net a fish, but I didn't think he'd had a lot. I finished scrapping around all the swims but added only half a dozen fish in the last half hour, and I wasn't sure what weight I'd got. By the end the rain had pretty well stopped, but you could feel it in the air. 

The weigh in
I'd put out a feeder for the last 15 minutes, while I started putting away my excess bait and my pole tops. So for a change I had my stuff back in the van and was ready to weigh in before Peter Harrison, next to me, had put his trolley into his huge van; so I started at the far end of my weighing board. Apart from anything else, I prefer to carry the scales back towards my peg while weighing in, rather than make the long trek back carrying them after weighing. 

As I had expected, the better weights were where they had a backish wind, with first man I weighed, Eddie McIlroy (the self-appointed Kendall Killer) taking 30 lb 1 oz to the scales, which was top weight on my board. I think he used maggot all day. Shaun Coaten won our four-peg section from peg 9 on maggot, as I had guessed he might, with 21 lb 6 oz. And I was pleasantly suprised to beat Peter Harrison with my 9 lb 10 oz to his 6 lb 5 oz. 

The second board
Back at HQ the other board held all the top weights, with Lee Kendall winning with 39 lb 4 oz of carp from peg 25 - taken mainly on a bomb and bread cast to the island, with a couple on pole to the island on the right.  So the 'Kendall Killer' failed on this occasion, but I thought it best not to press the point because Eddie could eat me for breakfast! You can see from the sheet that the better weights were in the higher numbers.

Marks out of ten
I honestly don't think we had a chance of winning in our early-numbered pegs, so I give myself 8/10 because beating Peter Harrison on the next peg was, for me, a bit of a highlight. Next match is the JV Fur and Feather, with prizes for everybody, on the famous Beastie lake.

At this time of year I would not expect many carp from the Southern end of Beastie, including the famous pegs 29 and 30, nor from pegs 8 to 13 on the back of the spit, because the carp seem to stay in the main bowl. I like pegs 14 to 18 on the spit, but it's odds-on that they will have a head wind, and the match is likely to be won from 20 to 23. Why the fish should hang around those pegs no-one  knows. But they do.

THE RESULT

At least I caught fish on Cedar

 Peg 10, Cedar, Sun, Nov 30

Back wind and bright sun for most of the match.

Back to Cedar on Decoy for this JVmatch and the fishing was still difficult. But my peg 10 was close to where the action had been on Tuesday, and I had Ian Frith to my left, so I hoped I could watch and learn. There was a fair amount of sun, and in fact I didn't learn much early on - no bites on a bomb or feeder for hours. Then Pat (I don't know his other name), on my right, had a carp on a tiny piece of punch bread cast to the middle of the lake. 

Pat, on peg 9, lands his only fish.

I'd been casting mainly to the far side with various feeders and baits, so tried shorter, still with no response.Meanwhile Ian Frith had a smallish fish on his pole, then a couple on the Method feeder cast right across. Then he came back on the pole and caught a couple of big carp. I had changed, by now, to the pole with maggot and eventually, not knowing what else to do, put on a lighter rig, still fished at 13 metres, with a single red maggot on a size 18 Kaizan hook, which is very light,. First drop, and I had a bite and landed a carp about 2 lb. Success!

Ian Frith carefully plays a carp on his pole.

That was followed by a three-pounder, and then I lost a fish halfway in, so changed to a lighter Preston 13 green elastic. That resulted in one more bite - from a carp almost 5 lb. But there was no pattern to the bites, except that they came just after the bait had hit bottom. I finished with three.

Ian on white Hydro
Ian meanwhile, using white Hydro elastic which he uses all Winter, had five or six more, bigger than mine, plus an ide, and he had some more after my last fish.

...in she comes!

He told me later that while some bites had come 'out of the blue' when the bait had been stationary for some time, others had come as the bait hit bottom, or even on the drop. I guessed he had at least 50 lb.

To Ian's left, in corner peg 13, John Knights had hd a fish or two early on, and at the end said he had around 40 lb. I guessed my three fish went about 10 lb, but I hadn't seen Pat catch any more. On his right Chris Saunders didn't weigh in.

The weigh in

Ian had some good carp in his winning catch.

There were good double-figure weights in the first few pegs, while the middle swims were poor, just as they had been on the previous Tuesday. Pat's 5 lb 3 oz next to me consisted of that single fish he'd caught mid-match. My three went 10 lb 15 oz, while Ian won the lake with 55 lb 12 oz, just beating Eddie McIlroy on peg 5, by 8 oz. John in the corner had 41 lb 1 oz. 

Roy Whincup won Elm lake on peg 1, which was a surprise to me because I (and others) have in the past rated that swim as one of the worst on the complex. But I remember that on the drains it was often the swims rated as terrible in the Summer which produced in Winter Leagues. What do we know? It says something for the fishery when you get results like that - confirmation that on Decoy, one of the fairest match fisheries in the country, any peg can win.

My next match is with JV on Sunday, probably on Six-Island, but Roy Whincup is away so we are left in the capable hands on Ernie Lowbridge, who will  make the decision as to where we fish. Very happy with that - I'll happily fish anywhere on Decoy.

THE RESULT

In full Winter mode on Cedar

Spratts Christmas Match
This is the highlight of the Spratts year - prizes for everyone, and team events where everyone wins a share of the money prizes. All made possible thanks to the efforts of Trevor Cousins, who does such a brilliant job all year organising us rabble into a coherent fighting force on the bank. Such a pity that Christmas comes in Winter, when the fish are on holiday, probably ski-ing somewhere...

Twelve of us fished on Cedar, and I was on peg 5. The wind was a strong Northerly, and there was a big ripple on our end of the lake and Roy Whitwell, peg 2, said it would probably be dire in the lower numbers. However this lake often fishes better in the low numbers, near the car park, so I thought that with a nice cold raspberry ripple the fish might play ball.

Fishing in the Bahamas
Roy was still adamant that he fancied the high numbers and before the match started I walked up to Martin Parker on end peg 13, who was in my three-man team, together with John Garner, peg 9. Blimey - it was like the Bahamas up there! The high bank shielded those end pegs from the wind, and with the sun shining you didn't need a top jacket on, while at our end it was perishing. 

The surface up there was flat, and that brought to mind a recent comment I've seen on You Tube, I think from Jamie Hughes, that in these conditions carp will move up to where the surface is flat because there the temperature is more constant, and not being affected by the cold wind. 

Nothing to report
Back at my peg it now became obvious to me that the fish didn't like the cold water being pushed up to our end. A strong undertow confirmed that there was a lot of movement. And I sat there for four hours without a fish... And I'd forgotten my camera so when Dick Warrener on my left caught a nice carp halfway through, on a Method feeder and wafter, I had to just look and admire. A minute later Bob Barrett obn my right landed a carp, taken on a 6mm pellet, and my admiration turned to jealousy. 

Forty-five minutes from the end I had a determined look down in the deep margin with maggot and caught three tiny roach! In true Winter League mode I wanted to catch something for the team. And I was glad when I'd had enough and the match ended.

The weigh in
We started at the car park end. Roy Whitwell had two fish I think, Bob Barrett one, Dick Warrener one, Neil Paas three (or was it two?), the last at three minutes to three. Peter Spriggs two (or was it three?), Kevin Lee about seven for 29 lb 10 oz on a feeder to the far bank, and Martin Parker about six big fish for 44 lb 4 oz also on a feeder, those two being the two end pegs in the Bahamas.  And that was better overall than last year when only two caught fish. Oh, and my three weighed a magnificent 4 oz.

The prize distribution

Before the prizes, it was great to see Wendy and Joe Bedford turn up to see us - they haven't fished recently. Then the result was announced of the team event. And Martin had won it for my team on his own. So he didn't need my meagre 4 oz. Who cares? A healthy £25 found it way into my back pocket.  

And remember that Martin has only one eye. I tried doing some of the intricate stuff we do, like joining loop-to-loop, and whipping a spade end, and it's incredibly difficult with one eye closed. Respect (as they now say)!

Martin (left) inspcts the prizes before choosing.

I think Martin, as winner, chose the new Preston pole support, and I was eighth and chose a 9 ft Guru A-Class feeder rod. Eighth and I win a great rod. Yippee! Next day I set it up with the Preston ICM system (the small size) so now it is part of my three-rod Winter gear: bomb (with sliding stop to alter the drop length), the ICS, and now the ICM.

A happy Martin Parker, team money in his hand, about to choose his prize.

All the members contributed to a thank-you for Trevor. He does a fantastic job. And it was all rounded off with Karen's famous hot roast potatoes and sausages. I'm coeliac (non-gluten), so I made an unashamed pig of myself with the roast potatoes. And it ended a memorable day, with Roy taking pictures for me at the end. See you all next year!

THE MATCH RESULT

2 Roy Whitwell            23 lb 3 oz       3rd
3 Mike Rawson            DNW             9th =
4 Bob Barrett                6 lb 11 oz       6th
5 Mac Campbell                4 oz   😢   8th 😊
6 Dick Warrener           8 lb 3 oz         5th
7 Neil Paas              10 lb 15 oz          4th
8 Trevor Cousins            DNW            9th =
9 John Garner                DNW             9th =
10 Peter Spriggs            5 lb 9 oz         7th
11 Mick Ramm             DNW             9th =
12 Kevin Lee              29 lb 10 oz       2nd
13 Martin Parker        44 lb 4 oz         1st

TEAM RESULT

Antiques Roadshow update

 I've just been told that my appearance at the Antiques Roadshow will be included in the programme to be broadcast this Sunday, Nov 30th at 8pm.

It's beastly cold on Beastie

Peg 15, Beastie
Strange how life will suddenly turn a corner, either for good or bad. Because after a long string of drawing pegs I didn't fancy - in many cases the very last swim I would have chosen - things have brightened up. The mice in my garage and shed have started throwing themselves onto my traps, I've started playing great bowls (my last game resulted in the opponents withdrawing after ten ends with the score 28-0 in our favour), and now I'm getting some pegs I really fancy in my fishing matches.

Of course the weather holds the trump card at the moment, but I'm managing to avoid the really dodgy areas at Decoy. After drawing pegs 12 and 11 on Six-Island in the JV club matches, the latest one saw me on peg 15 on Beastie. It's in the main bowl of the lake, at a time when the ends - from 25 round to peg 3, and the back of the spit (8 to 13) - are currently the spots to avoid drawing. There are fish there, but rarely enough to win.

The day started dull and cold, and it was easy to see where we were casting.
Pegs 15, 16 and 17 can cast to the island, but 16 was left out.

The coldest swims
I had Pete Molesworth next to me on 17, and without doubt these were the coldest two swims on the lake, with the cold SW wind blowing into us from the right. I started on a small Method feeder cast to the island - 37 turns of my reel to retrieve if you're interested - but had nothing for over an hour, while Pete had two on a feeder.

I took another look at Pete's rig, which I had thought was a small Method feeder, but now saw that his bait was hanging free when he cast. I the realised it was probably a maggot feeder, so I changed. Within minutes I had a drop-back bite on two reds, and a 2 lb F1 came to my net, followed by  two more in the next half-hour. 

When the clouds blew over the wind became stronger, and the sun was in our eyes, and we were casting blind, unable to see our feeders as they went out.
 Here Pete Molesworth on peg 17 nets an F1, taken on maggot feeder.

At that point Chris Saunders, over on peg 20, started catching on a pole. I didn't see it, but I had a quick chat with Roy Whitwell on 13 and he told me; he also knew I had some fish. How the hell did he know? He was sitting with his back to both Chris and myself!

Nowt on pole
Pete now put out a pole and had two fairly quick fish and then a blank spell. I tried a pole very briefly, long and against the platform at 16, but I had no offers, so stuck with the maggot feeder, which brought six more F1s and two small bream while Pete added another on his feeder rig. The last hour, though, was fishless for both of us I think. I had been leaving the rig out for 20 minutes, and while two took within seconds of the feeder hitting the water, some took after that 20 minutes.

Round to my left I had seen Lee Kendall catch fish on a feeder cast to the island, and he later changed to pole and had some fish. But behind me, on the back of the spot, sport was terrible. The match finished with Pete and I both cold, and behind me Shaun Coaten said he had just three F1s - and Shaun has been framing  a lot recently so it must have been been bad.

The weigh in
Before the scales got to us Pete said I must have enjoyed myself, and I replied: "Beating Pete Molesworth on the next peg - yes I have!" In fact I'm happy not to come last in JV matches, as the standard is high, and they fish Decoy every week.

Lee Kendall was leading with 28 lb 2 oz from peg 5, but poor Dave Parsons on 8 told me he never had even a liner, and Russell Gray on 9 never had a fish either. My 21 lb 14 oz beat everyone else on the spit, and brought me just a section win, as the top three places came from the fancied pegs in the 20s - pegs 20, 22 and 23. Then, as happens often in the Winter, the famous pegs of 25, 26, 29 and 30 produced no big weights.

Then we were back to the warmth of the cafe and a hot coffee before the presentations. And we all agreed that the sudden drop in temperatures over the last two nights - down to freezing - had their inevitable effect. I expect things to be better by the time the Winter League final is fished here in late February - two full sections (approx 40 pegs) on Decoy, two on Rookery, and one on Float Fish Farm (plus five sections on the drains).

Marks out of ten
There's still a lot of luck in these Winter matches, but I felt I took a good advantage of finding a few fish. My casting was pretty good, especially considering that the low sun was in our faces, and both Pete and myself were, at times, quite unable to see our  feeders as they were flying out to the island.

Basically we were often casting blind, and with an overhanging bush right in front of me I had to hit the clip nicely and bring the rod back to just the right spot to avoid hitting that bush, I managed that, never missed a bite, and never lost a fish - so I give myself 8/10. I perhaps should have realised sooner what Pete had his first two fish on and changed.

Next match was the Spratts Christmas match, the last of the year, moved to Cedar, which is where the next JV match is scheduled.

THE RESULT