Three Spring matches (Oak, Raven, Elm)

I've had a burglar - one of my mouse traps was nicked from my garage the other day. Two had been set beside each other; one was there and the other  was gone. Then all was revealed - it was under some shelving, and in its jaws was a dead mouse. But how the hell did it pull that trap two yards  when it was dead? I had a hell of a job to get it out from under the shelf - I had to half open the trap to pull it out. However I found another trap nearby which held a mouse which was VERY dead - I lost that trap last summer!! I have now invited all the remaining mice in my garage and shed to enjoy the surrounding countryside in the sunshine which has just appeared. Bye-bye meeces.

Peg 25, Raven, Pidley, Wed Mar 8

This was the Over 60s Open on Raven and Magpie, with my peg 25 towards the end where there are often good catches. The water was flat calm most of the time, and the poor light meant the float was not easy to see. I've fished Raven only about four times, and never yet won anything. Nothing was to change...

Flat calm at peg 25.

Like most I decided to start dobbing bread over the far side margin, but after an hour hadn't had a touch. I'd been right along the bank, with 14.5 metres plus a half butt, which enabled mt to rach some reeds to my right, which looked reasonably inviting. I managed to avoid hooking them, but the angler on my right hooked some opposite him, and I saw him pulling; no idea whether he had to break.

Pretty if the sun is shining, but it wasn't; it
remained murky all day.

First drop with maggots saw a bite and an 8 lb carp came in, after a long fight, foulhooked in the base of a pectoral fin! But I never had another touch, in the far margin, the near margin, or in the deep water close to my own bank. 

Ninety minutes from the end I tried the deep water towards the far bank, where it was about six feet deep, with maggot. This brought a 3 lb carp and three small F1s. I lost one 4 lb carp right over the net when the hook pinged out just as I was about to lift, and another fish came off just as the whistle went.

I weighed in 18 lb 3 oz which was about average on the lake, but won nothing. I will try the deep water earlier next time!

Raven 1-22

Raven 23-29

Magpie 1-22

Magpie 23-36

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Peg 8, Elm

Only a light wind for this match on Elm, Decoy, but what there was was quite cool. Twenty-one of us fished this JV club match, with half on Elm and half on Cedar. Opposite me Ernie Lowbridge was soon into fish on a pole - roach at first, so I assumed he was fishing maggot; and then a couple of bigger fish. I started on a feeder, but after half an hour went on to the pole.

The angler on my left had an early fish on pole.
What is that truck doing there? I assume the
owner had permission to take it down the bank!

I had a nice spell fo half an hour, with a big carp and then three or four F1s, also on maggot. Not much seemed to be caught on my bank, but my good early spell failed to continue and I spent the next couple of hours fishless. Two hours before the end another big carp came in, on maggot, but that was the last fish I had. 

Ernie included a couple of barbel from peg 18. They must be 15 years old.

Now that fish is a real bruiser!

To my right John Knights hooked a carp about 8 lb a couple of minutes before the end, landing it after the whistle. When we weighed in I found that that fish had beaten me - John had 31 lb 12 oz to my 26 lb 15 oz. Our lake was won by Adie (don't know his name) just to Ernie's left, on the opposite bank with 51 lb 10 oz.

John Knights' last carp, landed after the match finished. That fish beat me!

 Cedar fished a little better all-round, won yet again on peg 1, where Andy Mitchell had 102 lb. My next match was due to be on Sunday on Oak, which has not been fishing particularly well by Decoy's high standards, but I couldn't fish it. Result below.

 

ELM

CEDAR

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Here's the result on a Spratts match on Oak I couldn't fish. I see it was won yet again from peg 21, which has always been a favoured draw. Well done Peter Spriggs on winning there with 139 lb 9 oz - that's a great performance, especially at this time of year. I'm due to fish there on Sunday with JV - looks like it could be a good day. Guess which peg I'd like! If not 21, then corner pegs 15 or 16, or 30. Roy Whitwell did well there I see. But strangely peg 1, opposite, is not as good in Winter, and I see Martin Parker struggled there.

In the money on Horseshoe and Willows

I'm late with this blog - had so much to do. The cold weather stayed with us after the particularly horrible match on Cedar, and though the next weekend, on Sunday Feb 22nd, saw better weather, the wind was still cold, and the water so cold it took ages to thaw out my frozen maggots.

Peg 15 on Horseshoe in the JV club match was one I did not fancy - that side of the lake tends to fish worse than the lower numbers. Lee Kendall was on end peg 20 and said before the match that he didn't expect to catch much; he was correct in that! I didn't fancy my peg much, and spent the first 30 minutes on a maggot feeder with just a tiny liner or two. 

The West wind increased during the day, which made
presention  on a pole very  difficult. It died down a
 little for 20 minutes during the afternoon.

Eventually a cast of three-quarters of the way across brought a 2 lb F1. Then a change to a pole, fished at about five nmetres, which  was the longest I could fish with perfect presentation, because of the strong Westerly from my right, brought an instant response.

First drop on the pole with maggot bait saw my elastic stecth for a few seconds and then go slack. Possibhly foulhooked. Next drop and exactly the same thing happened - a fish came off within seconds. It took me almost an hour to get two more bites, which resulted in two more F1s.

Round to my right David Bates weighs
in 41 lb 7 oz for second place.

Back on the maggot feeder, and when I cast it to where I know there are lilly beds the hook came back with a green slime on, probably from the decaying lilly beds. So I cast around until the hook came back free of debris and two more bites brought another F1 and a carp of about 8 lb. Three hours had gone, two-and-a-half hours were left...and I never had another bite. To my left Pete Molesworth had two or three fish late, including a tench, but he didn't weigh them in as he said he knew I'd beaten him.

Ernie Lowbridge - winner with 77 lb 6 oz.

On peg 20 Lee Kendall had a few roach and then, towards the end of the match the wind died down a little for about 30 minutes. He went out to the far bank on a 16-metre pole, hooked two carp, and lost one. He weighed in 6 lb 7 oz; my fish went 19 lb 5 oz, and that was sufficient to win the three-peg section.  That meant I've fished five matches this year and picked up money in four of them. Improving!

Carl White, who does so much 
for the club, won his section
from peg 3 with 31 lb 7 oz.

Ernie Lowbridge won with 70 lb from peg 1, with some fish from the marginal reeds to his right. As I expected, the pegs on that bank, which had a nicer wind, caught better than our side. 

Part of the match was also on Lou's lake, and the weights here were better. Also, some fish were caught on cat meat - a sure sign that things are getting better! Next match on Sunday, March 1 on Willows and Lou's. 

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Peg 29, Willows, Sunday, March 1

Just 13 anglers turned out for the JV match, and we were all pegged on Willows. My peg 29 is known as a good-un, with an island in front, just to the left, and a big gap in front, where the channel runs down to famous peg 25. I know from previous experience that fishing close to the island is fraught with danger as it's so snaggy there. But I was happy enough, with Eddie McIlroy volunteering to help guide my trolley round one difficult sloping corner on the way to my peg (help is always on hand) .

That island looks so inviting, reachable on 13 metres.

 The wind was nasty, from the East to my left, and the sun was really annoying, low and in my eyes if I fished to the island. So I started on a hybrid feeder with maggot, and had just two tiny liners. Forty minutes after the start I changed to a pole, fished at about eight metres, but although I fished hard for an hour I never had a touch.

Nothing from the island
Next it was out to the island, and almost an hour there, fishing close to the island, and up to a few metres farther away, and fishing on the bottom and right up to two feet deep, I never had a touch. There were reeds and brambles waving under the surfacer which kept snagging the rig, but thank fully I always pulled free.

Next it was into the margins, which were well over three feet deep. The platform to my right looked nice, but the bottom shallowed right up there, so I stuck to the deeper water closer to me, on a top two, particularly to my right, where there has always been a deepish area - there used to be a bush overhanging, but that's been cut right back. I also put some dead maggots into the left margin.

Eventually an F1 came from the right deep hole on two red maggots, and then a much bigger fish which took me ages to land. Hardly surprising when I found it was hooked on the outside of the mouth!  And I reckon it was getting on for 15 lb.Then came a lull and I took a chance and put a rig baited with mussel into the lefthand margin. This was difficult fishing because the wind was hacking in there; but I had a definite bite which I missed. So I tried a mussel in the deep hole to the right.

A last-second loss
That move brought another big carp to mussel, and I changed to my special method with maggot, which brought a bite first drop but the fish came off. However one more big carp came to maggot, and with 90 minutes to go an F1 decided to visit my keepnet. I now had five fish...and I had no bites until seconds before the whistle, when I hooked a big fish which came off after 15 seconds, just as the whistle went.

Over to my right on 33 Kevin Bell had been fishing long to the aerator on his left and hooked about three big fish in that last hour or two. I assumed he would beat me. To my left on 27 Dave Parson fished a feeder in the gap between the islands and lost five fish which broke him, bewcause you have to hold then so hard to stop them galloping into the brambles (it might have been seven that he lost - can't remember exactly).

Kevin Bell plays a carp on peg 33. The other angler is Eddie McIlroy.

Me with one of my big carp. I had three in total.

The weigh in
Dave Parson weighed about 15 lb and my five fish went 41 lb 7 oz, with Chris Saunders taking a picture of me with one of my carp. Kevin Bell was next to weigh - he told me he had lost seven, possibly foulhooked, and he totalled 38 lb 14 oz, to leave me second, behind Roy Whitwell who fished feeder on peg 25 for a wining 75 lb 1 oz. And Kev Bell came up and offered to take my weighty pole holdall back to my van; thanks, Kev. The exercise does me good, but that help after a match is so welcome.

That makes five placings or sections from six matches this year. Very happy with that. Next match possibly Wednesday at Pidley.

Horrendous conditions on Cedar

Peg 6, Cedar, Sun, Feb 15
Good to see 22 anglers in the Open at Decoy, including Alan Scotthorne, fishing Beastie and Six-Island and practicing for the Winter League Final on Sat, Feb 28. I spoke with Ben Townsend beforehand and suggested that pegs 10 to 14 on Six-Island would be good, especially since they would have back wind, and to my surprise he said: "In all the times I've fished at Decoy I've never yet drawn on that bank on Six-Island." So these top anglers CAN be unlucky at the draw after all (!).

I was in the JV club match, where Roy Whincup pegged the nine of us on the West bank of Cedar , which was probably marginally the best bank to put us on. The wind was a really strong Southerly, from right to left, meaning that if we put up an umbrella (and everyone did) it would be on our right, making it difficult for right-handers to use a pole. Actually that became immaterial for most of us, as it became clear that using a pole was a bit of a nightmare because of the rain and bitingly-cold wind. So most of us stuck to the rod and line virtually all day.

Happy, sort of
I was happy(ish) with peg six as on Cedar the best sport is often in the first five or six pegs, at the car park end. That differs from the other three strips at Decoy, where the bottom one-third of swims tend to produce the better weights much of the time. I had Roy Whincup on my right, but with the umbrella up it meant peering round the side of it, like a Peeping Tom, to see what he was doing.

What I, and doubtless everyone else, will remember is the weather. By the time we started tackling up, the wind had brought us rain and I had to keep stopping to warm my fingers. I took out four sections of pole, just in case the conditons altered, but my main attack would be maggot feeder baited with a red maggot hooked through the blunt end and a flouro pinkie hooked one-third of the way down from the pointy end. I've seen the Guru underwater video of bream fishing and was horrified (as were the presenters) to see how un-natural two maggots looked when hooked through the blunt ends. 

My bait looked sort of a lump with the pinkie not laying directly beside the big maggot, but it's started working for me recently.And within a few minutes of the start I had a bite and a double-figure carp was on its way towards my net.

In the net (eventually)
That fish plodded around for ages before I managed to get it to the net. I was using an 18-inch model and the fish went in head down, with its tail flapping away out of the top as I VERY gently pulled in the net. It wasn't easy, with freezing cold hands, to turn the fish so I could extract the hook, and I made a decision to change the net to a deeper 20-inch model, which I did as soon as that fish went into the keepnet.

I have to use a disgorger on virtually all of my fish now, as my fingers are too fumbly to pick a size 18 hook out of a fish. But I eventually managed to turn the fish so I could see its mouth, and the hook came straight out with the disgorger. No question of getting back into the swim immediately, as the cold wind over wet hands numbed them within 20 seconds. Everybody had that problem (at, least those who caught a fish).

On a roll
The next four casts also brought fish - three F1s and then a carp about 7 lb. By this time about 75 minutes had gone and I was very happy. In fact, although I didn't know it, Roy Wincup had also had fish, including some big carp. By now I had to do everything really slowly, which was made even slower by the fact that I couldn't put up my side tray on the left  because I needed that side of the platform to walk round to the box as the umbrella was right against the other side of my box.

Slow and steady to bait up
Baiting up saw me: 1) Open the red maggot box, bait up with one, put the lid back on and put it down on my holdall. 2) Pick up the pinkie box, take out one, hook it on, put the lid back, place it on the holdall. 3) Slide the maggot feeder down the line, hold it, pick up the red maggot box, carefully fill the maggot feeder, put the lid back, place the box down on the holdall. Now I was ready to cast, dry my hands on the towels I had, and try to warm them, hoping I didn't get a bite for a while. Some simple  'Hotties' - small hand warmer I held in mt hand, really helped. Towards the end of the match I added another pinkie on the hook, which seemed to work just as well.

Even casting was a problem, as it had to be done righthanded over my left shoulder. Not difficult at the start as I used a 30 gm feeder, but when I changed it for a lighter one (which felt better) the wind tended to blow it to my left, and all my fish came when the feeder went towards Roy on the right. And casting that awkward way meant I did have some casts which fell short, and meant I had to rewind, refill the feeder, and try again. 

Big liners
Most of my fish came more than three-quarters of the way across, at intervals of about 15 minutes. I used to be ready to retrieve and recast when the rod would suddenly wrench round with a bite, though I also had several liners which also pulled it round so far that I felt I had to strike; in every case when I missed the 'bite' I'm convinced they were just liners, and the bait was untouched. To my left Dave Parsons muct have thought there was a brick wall under the surface, as he had just one F1 all day.

Rain, snow and sleet...plus a biting cold wind! Not a day I would like to see again.

Soon after the start sleet came down with the rain, and then it was rain and snow together. You couldn't see the rain, but you could hear it on the umbrella. And while the snow tended to melt when it hit ground, on my tackle the snowflakes turned to big, round, thin, patches of ice. I can't remember weather like that in recent years - in the 1960s a lot of Winter League matches saw similar weather, and I didn't like it then!

It didn't help that I suddenly started to get cramp in my right leg. Massaging it was difficult through four layers of clothing, so I had to stand for about 15 minutes, until it had gone. That meant exposing my head to the wind - just as well I had a cap, two hoodies and the Imax jacket on!

The rain stops!
Chris Saunders came along the bank, and I said I had about 20 lb; he said Roy had 30 lb. Then Chris vanished, went back to his swim, and no doubt spent the next 20 minutes shivering, before eventually giving it best - he posted later that this has been the worst Winter he's ever had on the bank. And indeed it was horrendous. Then the rain stopped and it was just snow, but still the wind blew and even though I managed another four F1s, a barbel, a 3 lb carp and a tiny roach, I felt I would be glad when I'd had enough. 😒

With one hour to go the snow stopped and I put out a pole. To be honest, I could fish OK at four sections, but I couldn't be certain when my maggots were ending up, as a half-submerged reed showed me there was a definite tow towards the right in the margins, but it didn't show on my pole rig. In addition that wind kept my hands so cold, even tucked in behind the umbrella, that I gave up after 15 minutes. The last 45 minutes on the feeder saw two more F1s come in, and I finished with two nice carp, a smaller one, nine F1s, the roach, and the barbel, for around 40 lb.

Roy included four carp probably into
double figures in his winning 56 lb 11 oz.

The weigh in

Pete Molesworth on the scales  thought I had won - probably because I had more fish than Roy Whincup. My fish went 39 lb 12 oz, but Roy had four double-figure fish in his net, and totalled 56 lb 11 oz for the win, leavng me second. Roy agreed that the cold had been just so piercing; and I was just glad I had survived. Then we trudged back along the bank, through was was now a paddy field, to the vehicles.

After I had loaded the van I turned round only to see that the wind had died right down and the lake surface was like a mill pool, with just a lovely light ripple in places. Someone Up There was teasing us! I found out later that almost every fish had been caught on a bomb or feeder. 

Remarkably, the Open had yielded some really good weights considering the conditions. The full results are on the Decoy Lakes Facebook page.

Marks out of ten
I'll bring this back because I felt I had fished a proper match. You had to keep everything so simple, as just going to your holdall, even behind the unbrella, meant exposing your hands, and then having to warm them up, as even with fingerless mitts the tips of your fingers felt numb so quickly after exposing them. Frankly everybody deserved 10/10 for not just sticking it out, but for fishing properly. So I get 10/10 as well! Clever, eh?

My next match is on Beastie. The conditions can't be any worse so, given reasonable weather, peg 17 will do me fine.

PS. I have now obtained the ultimate, cheap accessory to combat the cold hands - a muff, in which you can place, or hold, hand warmers. Ideal when you are fishing the bomb or feeder.

 

Well done to all, I say.

Nasty winds at Pidley and Decoy

 Why, oh why can't I pick a peg with back wind? Chris Saunders blames his bad pegs on getting someone else to draw for him; I normally draw my own. Perhaps I should change hands? Whatever the reason I'm resigned to having to pull my hood over my head, hunch over my box, and grit my teeth as I watch my quivertip or float. I thought that after winning my first match of the year my luck had, perhaps, changed. Well, it sort of did for the second match of the year. Here's what happened...

Feb 5, peg 21 on Crow, Pidley

My first visit to the Wednesday Old people's Open for yonks, on Magpie and Crow, and I draw peg 21. Happy with that as it's towards the deeper end.The wind was forecast to be SSE, which is roughly in our faces, and for the first hour or so it was only light. But the sky was grey and horrible almost all day. 

I started on a pole at 13 metres, because I knew almost everyone else would be starting on feeders or bombs, and if there were fish willing to feed within pole distance Iwanted to be the one catching them.

Plan B
Err, it didn't work out like that. No bites for an hour anywhere within 13 metres, although not much else seemed to be caught. The angler on my left had one F1 or small carp on a bomb, and I changed to a maggot feeder cast right to the far bank. Immediately I had some liners so I dropped short. Nothing. So back out to the far bank; followed by another look on the pole line with maggot, but by now the wind had increased and it became quite cold.

Then I saw Roy Whitwell, several pegs to my right, net a fish on his usual feeder. I watched him recast to a little over halfway and immediately did that myself with my maggot feeder.

Yes!
Suddenly the tip wrenched round and I was playing an F1...very carefully, as my hook was a light, Drennan red, size 18 to 3 lb line. I was taking a chance, but within an hour I had three more on that gear. Then the fifth fish broke me - my own fault as I had forgotten to adjust the clutch on the reel to 'very light', and although I had the fish on for several seconds a sudden jerk broke the hooklength. A jerk on one and and a jerk on the other!

On went a stronger size 18 LWG Guru hook to 4 lb and a small carp and three more F!s came before the match ended. My bait for every fish was a red maggot hooked in the blunt and followed by a flouro pinkie hopoked in the pointy end, so they lay nicely together, not splayed out.  

A big ripple
I tried the pole again but gave up after ten minutes as the wind had increased considerably and moved North, and there was a big  ripple on straight down the lake, which made it diffult to preent a rig properly even at eight metres, though strangely the wind suddenly became less cold.

The angler on my right had some fish right in the side in the last hour, and one of them looked to be 3 lb-plus. I wasted 20 minutes there without a sign, and in fact the last hour was fishless. 

My eight fish weighed 16 lb 11 oz, giving me third place out of the 12 on Crow, and a section envelope. Magpie  saw better weights with top weight of 38 lb 12 oz from peg 7, where they had a nice back wind for most of the match!

Crow 1-13

Crow 14-25

Magpie 1-22

Magpie 23-26

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Horseshoe 13 - oh dear!

This won't take long. Horseshoe 13 at Decoy is a flier. It's on a corner with an aerator opposite and a nice deep left-hand margin, where lillies grow in Summer. 

Peg 13 - a lovely swim. This was before the wind got up.

Roy Whincup had about four fish in the first two hours on peg 7, behind me, casting a feeder to the far bank; then Peter Harrison on peg 4 had his first bite, on maggot on a pole at 14 metres. Next to him Andy Mitchell was also catching fish. Roy changed to casting his feeder down the track and started catching F1s and carp.

Next to me Kevin Bell had an occasional roach and then a carp on a pole at about six metres, and added an odd fish or two after that, with no pattern; though he did catch a carp on a feeder and lost another when it snagged him.

Kevin Bell's first carp. That smug smile didn't make me feel any better!

Me? I managed one roach about a quarter of an ounce from deep water to my right, and lost two more tiny fish when they dropped off. I had no liners on a feeder, and no other bites on a pole, even though I tried all the lines to the left margin from right against the reeds out to 13 metres over where the lilly bed would be. Nothing! Zilch! 

The wind didn't help - right across the corner into me from the left, and it was very cold after an hour or two. The top three came from those pegs 4, 5 and 7, who had back wind. Five-and-a-half hours of my life I will never get back (though I did have some nice bites on a piece of stem ginger cake I brought with me).

Roy Whincup included some carassios (the silver fish in the
 foreground) in his second-placed 55 lb 13 oz. 

The other half of the club fished on Lou's Lake, where they had better all-round weights (and more shelter from the wind!)

Next match is Decoy on Sunday, where Elm awaits. All I want is a back wind! (And a peg from 8 round to about 16).

Horseshoe

Lou's

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