North-Easterly plays havoc on Oak

 Peg 9, Oak, Mon, July 13
That North-Easterly grew stronger overnight, and colder. To be honest it was a bit of a surprise how cold it was when I stepped out of my van at Decoy, for a Spratts match, and I was glad I'd brought a hoodie and my Goretex jacket, because I wore them both for much of the match as my peg 9  had a head wind, from the left.

Trevor kneels on his prayer mat and
meditates for a second before the draw.

Some legs were still on show amongst the assembled throng. I wear long trousers to prevent sun burn...but no hope of that today! It was grey and the fish felt in the same mood, as nothing seemed to be caught for ages, except that eventually Kevin Lee, on peg 26 with a slight back wind, started catching. His watercraft came to the fore as he elected to fish about 12 metres to his left, to a tiny group of reeds (the only ones near him). 

A moment in time in the heatwave - dull, grey, cold. After all, look on a map
of the UK  and you'll see there's nothing between Fenland and the North Pole!

Struggling

While I and Rod Melnyk, on peg 7 to my right, struggled for a bite, Kevin's elastic was seen stretching out a long way, His fish were obviously really big. Rod hooked three fish in the first half of the match, but one came off. I was out at 10 metres with expander and then corn, and eventually hooked a fish...for about one second...before it came off. Obviously foulhooked.

One F1 came to me in the first half of the match, after I put on an extra section, but nobody that I could see was doing much. So into the margins I came (I'd had a few quick looks earlier of course, and had tried feeder, but had nothing). My first drop now was into the left, with corn over a few grains, and seconds later the pole was almost wrenched from my hands and the elastic streamed out to the middle. Then...ping! A fish had foulhooked itself and then waved me goodbye.

Fish are there
A few minutes later I had what looked like a proper bite and this one stayed hooked for two seconds. But at least there were fish there. As they were, still, in Kev's swim!

I'd nothing better to do, so I got a shot of Kevin Lee in action 50 yards away!

So into my right margins, about a metre rom the tins, in slightly deeper water, and as I held the bait still the float dived down. Honestly. And another F1 charged all over the swim, as they have done this year on every water I've fished. But it ended in my net. Then a small piece of cat meat lured a bigger carp, about 8 lb. Meanwhile Rod might have lost another fish; but Kevin was still picking up fish, steadily.

Last half hour
Into the last half hour and a grain of corn fished over just four grains, and lifted an inch or so, picked up two more fish for me from the left, though another couple also came adrift. So at the end I had five fish and had lost four foulhooked. Rod also had a couple late, and I think he ended with four. I was a bit downcast, and expected to be near the bottom of the list, because there were better anglers than me round to my left.

One problem I have is that at Decoy there's so much reed growth that on many of the lakes I just can't see anyone else on the same bank. It's miles away from what some anglers disparagingly call 'a hole in the ground.' Of course it is - so's Rutland Water. But at this time of year it's really quite natural surroundings. I am reminded that fishing Damson the previous day I had trouble with my float going under...because damselflies kept insisting on perching on the top!

A big carp taken late boosted John Smith's
catch, from peg 18, to 13 lb 13 oz.

The weigh in
Just to rub things in the sun now came out. As it does. And the wind died down. As it does. Who organises all that???

Rod weighed first - 22 lb 4 oz, while my five fish went 25 lb 1 oz. Then I was astonished to see weights below mine. In the corner Neil Paas took 62 lb 3 oz to the scales to lead. Then the weights dropped again, right round to Kevin, who had not put a single piece of loosefeed into the swim all day. He'd just fished a mussel to the reeds and waited. His reward was a tench and about 15 carp for 133 lb 11 oz - a clear winner.

It was noticeable that most anglers had their best spell in the last half-hour. Roy Whitwell, who is almost unbeatable at the moment, had just one bite all match, in the last half hour.

The winner - Kev Lee never put any loosefeed
into his swim and ended with 133 lb 11 oz.

Marks out of ten
As Trevor Cousins walked past me at the end he said he wished he had brought a flask of hot coffee with him; actually that's excactly what I'd told my wife on the phone during the match. I always phone her - she worries so much, you know. She knows where the insurance policies are; if she didn't get the call at 1 o'clock I am sure she'd be rummaging through them, just in case.

But it was cold. I should have taken a flask - 1 point deducted for failing to prepare. However I stuck at it and didn't start filling it in, as the fish obviously just weren't feeding. It was a case of hoping that a carp took a bite at something which was annoying it, like salmon do when they come up the rivers to spawn. They don't eat, they take stuff out of habit. 

But I finished third, so I give myself 7.5 out of ten. Second frame in a row. Next match Saturday on Crow at Pidley, when luncheon meat is likely to be my main bait.

THE RESULT

East bank                                            West bank

26 Kevin Lee        133 lb 11 oz  1st

24 Bob Barrett        17 lb 10 oz          7 Rod Melnyk       22 lb 3 oz     4th

22 Graham Ward        DNW                9 Mac Campbell    25 lb 1 oz     3rd
20 Mick Ramm        7 lb 13 oz            11 Trevor Cousins  19 lb 2 oz
18 John Smith        13 lb 13 oz            13 Peter Spriggs       7 lb 14 oz
16 Roy Whitwell      4 lb 11 oz            15 Neil Paas            62 lb 3 oz    2nd

The fish play Hide-and-seek on Damson

Peg 8, Damson, Decoy
Thirteen of us lined up for this Fenland Rods match, and I began to wonder whether we had been unlucky. Because the wind had turned round to the North East, and fish at Decoy tend to dislike a cool North-Easterly on their backs. Actually the wind wasn't really cool. and it was only light, so perhaps we would get away with it.

With three of us on the end bank I made that one section, and split the others so that blank peg 9 was between two other sections. Kevin Lee was Golden Peg and definitely one of the favourites to win, as all three on the end bank, pegs 14, 15 and 16, are capable of winning.

I quite liked my peg, which had reeds growing in front of the platform. I intended to fish the shallows - within a metre of the bank - as long as I could, and hoped the fish would gravitate towards cover as the morning went on. 

 I loved the reeds in front of the platform; but we had sun all day, and only a little ripple on our bank - not the best conditions.

'Here he is, lads'
When I took water out with my pole cup to wet my micros not a fish had shown itself, which is unusual here. But a minute or two later, in the came, to have a look at where Mac Campbell was sitting. I spoke nicely to them, and promised them a feast.

Whistle time, and I dropped in with a shallow rig and banded 4mm pellet over micros, just to my left, and within a minute or two I had my first F1, a little under 2 lb. I kept on with that and after 25 minutes I had ten - averaging about 40 lb an hour. But I hoped that bigger fish would come eventually. Top my left Frank Snow hit fish immediately on his feeder, but soon I stopped seeing his rod bending.

Down to the bottom
Inevitably the fish moved away from that first swim and I went down onto the bottom with corn to find them, with the best spot right in the reeds on a top two. The fish weren't going mad, and I had to induce the bites, but after a total of three hours I estimated I had around  65 lb. Then they went completely.

Frank Snow on my left has a really good start on a feeder.

On the end bank Kevin estimated he had 100 lb after two hours, but then he really struggled. But on peg 16 Roy Whitwell kept steadily catching fish on a feeder and 6mm pellet  cast right across to the island. 

With the match half over I tried a new swim to my right, having to break off a lot of reeds so I could see my float. It was a lot of work, but I managed about three small carp there before they shut up shop completely. 

The last two hours I kept looking along the line on my bank and hardly saw any elastic out. I spent nearly half-an-hour our in the deep water, but never had a touch there. In fact I had just one fish in that last two hours - with tehn minutes to go I put in three grains of corn a little farther to my left than I had fished before, dropped in my rig, and sure enough a 3 lb carp obligingly took the bait. That was my lot! Yet again the Damson fish had successfully played Hide-And-Seek with us.

The weigh in

John Smith on peg 2 had thrashed the first two sections at that end with 59 lb 8 oz, taking all his fish within inches of the bank, and he led up to me. I managed 73 lb 15 oz, but I'd seen Mark Ramm (son of my old schoolboy companion Mick Ramm) catch fish and thought he might have whupped me. No - Mark had 62 lb 2 oz. Mel Lutkin had 50 lb 6 oz, almost all from the deep water. Then we went to the end bank.

Mark Ramm - 62 lb 2 oz.

Mel Lutkin - 50 lb 6 oz.

Kevin Lee weighs his 130 lb 6 oz. Some
prize-winning legs were on view at the end.

Sure enough Kev had three nets of fish for 130 lb 6 oz and it looked as if the Golden Peg money would vanish into his shorts. Next door Martin Parker said he 'cocked it up' (his own words) by fishing for the F1s with an overshotted float at the start. He said he would have been better concentrating on the margins at that time.

Then Roy Whitwell weighed in his four nets, which went 148 lb 11 oz for the well-deserved win, and he'd saved us the Golden Peg.

Roy takes a net to the scales. He
took all his feeder-caught fish
from the mud bank you can
 see in the background.

Part of Roy's winning catch.
Most came to feeder but he ended 
fishing a pole in the margins.

Marks out of ten

I ended in third place, thought when the match had finished that I'd done enough to earn myself 8/10, and when I saw I was top weight on that bank I was happy enough. I don't think I made any stupid mistakes, and I can't remember losing a single fish. My 'edge' on the day was to have four different margin rigs made up, because I found that it was often essential to just get the bait touching bottom, and then to lift it an inch. That put a few fish into my net that would probably not have taken the bait.

My next match was the next day on Oak lake, where Smug Smalley had had 248 lb a day or two previously. But he caught them mugging, and you need the right conditions to do that. The North Easterly was still forecast; I just hoped it was not cold and strong.

THE RESULT

In the heat on Jay

Peg 18, Jay, Wed, July 8
I made a Tuesday-evening decision to book into the Over 60s at Pidley. Everybody was on Jay,  and I picked out 18. Never fished that peg before, but I knew where it was - basically facing North West, which meant that the island would be shading me from any ripple, but not from the sun. That started on my ledt and finished up bang in front of me, which was the hottest part of the day.

Sure enough, there was no ripple, but I could occasionally see a little moving along the two stretches to my let and right. I couldn't see anyone to the right, but there was an angler on 21, round the corner to my left, so I had bags of room. I dobbed across with a small cube of luncheon meat at 11.5 metres plus a half-butt, but had no offers. 

Lovely huge platforms at Pidley. The ripples here were aused by ducks!

So I put in a pot of meat and hemp and at that moment fish started moving in the shallow water across, and I soon had a bite on luncheon meat fished on the bottom in the shallow water. That was a 7 lb carp; next drop and I had one of 3 lb; next drop I hooked a fish which came off. And after that I never had another bite across. Over 2 hours had passed.

Splashing from afar
Then there was splashing and I looked round to see the angler on 21 landing fish. He appeared to be fishing the deep water just off his platform. I hd put in some bait on the edge of the reed bed to my right, so had a look there. After a liner or two I managed two or three F1s about 2 lb, which fought like tigers but ended in my net, and him on 21 was hammering fish now. 

Soon I saw he had moved to fish right in the margina, though he seemed to be nearly four feet deep, and my margins weren't that deep. Still, I had a look there, and started to get bites on corn. From then to the end of the match I stayed in the margins, both left and right, mainly using my special method, and every ten minutes I'd pick up a nice carp of 5 lb-plus, with the best round 9 lb. I lad a good look at 21 and guessed he was using paste. That caught me just one fish - the corn, or a small piece of cat meat were better. I also had just one on mussel.

I quite enjoyed the last hour or two, though the fish mever went mad. But by the end the sun was blazing hot, with virtually no wind. The forecast was for 33C but that's in the shade, of course. I guess it was approching 50 in the sun. However, I didn't feel ill. I'd plastered my face and hands with sun cream kept my cap on, and regularly drank from my cold bottle of orange juice, ending with five carp in each of my three nets. 

The weigh in
Alex came along after a fair while, and a look at the sheet showed me that my 89 lb 12 oz would be well down. In the end the peg to my right, 14, and the two to my left, 21 and 22, all beat me with  well over 100 lb. Steve Tilsley won off 22 with 161 lb 2 oz and I finished 11th out of the 30 anglers, which I was quite happy with as it's a year or two since I fished on Jay, and most of the others fish it regularly in the Wednesday Open.

Afterwards, like several more of the anglers, I sat in the back of the van to cool off and decided that my 89 lb wasn't too bad at all - a good day's fishing. Which is the best we can hope for. And I gave myself 8/10. Mission accomplished. The full result was, as usual, put onto Facebook by Chris Saunders, who puts up the full result of all the matches he fishes the same evening. A lot of work for him. So thanks, Chris.

Willows at its worst

Peg 3, Sun, July 5
Fourteen of us turned out for this Fenland Rods match, and with half of Willows occupied by the JV club we fished pegs 1 to 14. The warm wind was definitely North-Westerly, which was behind me, giving a little ripple occasionally to the pegs from about 7 along to 14, yet it was blowing into my face much of the time. It must have been hitting the island and coming back to me. 

The water level was well down on normal, and I could see that all round the island opposite the bank is undercut. I suspect that most stillwaters holding numbers of carp will eventually be like that.

Overcast
With the start being overcast Mike Rawson said to me that the conditions were pretty good, and I agreed. My peg 3 has an aerator to the left, but I started on a feeder across towards the far bank and within five minutes I was playing an F1.  A very good start for me, especially as I was the first Golden Peg (which tends to be the Kiss of Death for me). As I played it I saw that Frank Snow, to my right, was already netting a fish. A good start all-round, then.

Frank Snow plays one of his early fish to the net, taken on a feeder.

Frank had two more in the next 20 minutes, at which point I got my second F1; but in the next half hour I had no more, while Frank had a couple more. I was already behind and my chances of winning the Golden Peg were disappearing. 

A look to the aerator with corn eventually saw me hook a fish which dived straight underneath it and broke my hooklength. Half  an hour later I hooked another, but this one stuck, though not before diving under the aerator. I watched as my line lifted a rope up atrtached to the aerator; yet the fish stayed on. A carp of 2 lb. Next drop I hooked a big fish briefly, which came off.

Out to 11 metres
It must have ben an hour later, after another look on the Method, that I went out to 11 metres and hooked three fish in three drops on corn; the first was a small bream; the second a 2 lb F1; and the third came off. 

Next I put on one of my special rigs, which showed me that there were occasional fish in both margin swims, about a metre from the bank. One more F1 and about four small carp came in the last couple of hours, and I pricked another two, so I know fish were hanging about in those swims.

Sport was so slow
Things were deathly slow everywhere, but I expected that there would be fish round in the higher numbers, where 11 and 13 had produced catches of 70 lb and 90 lb two days earlier in our Spratts match. 

Two swims to my right our first-time guest Tony Brooks had three or four fish on a feeder early on, cast right to the reeds on the far side. Then I saw him swapping around - a couple slapping; one out at 2+2; then fishing the margins; then back to the feeder. And he did this all day, very occasionally catching a fish. I suspected he would be top at our end of the lake. 

I expect a walloping
I guessed I had 13 lb-plus, but as much chance of winning the Golden Peg as the BBC have of saying something nice about Nigel Farage. Because to my left I'd seen Kevin Lee land three nice fish and I know he played another one or two, so I expected he had walloped me (as he usually does). By the end the temperature had gone right up, which saps one's energy, and I took a long time packing everything away, so I didn't follow the scales round, though it never felt dangerously uncomfortable.

The weigh in
On peg 1 I felt really sorry for Mike Rawson. It tends to be good, but it was just his luck to draw it on a day when fishing had obviously been extremely difficult. (I remember the first time I drew it was on a Winter's day when frost covered the grass and not much was caught anywhere). Even so he weighed 7 lb 15 oz. To my amazement Kevin weighed only 13 lb 13 oz, having lost several, while mine went 15 lb 9 oz, so a small feather in my cap.

Frank Snow - second in the match.

On my right Frank, another guest who has fished with us several times,  pipped me with 15 lb 14 oz. But on his right Tony  Brooks  took  24 lb 3 oz to the scales. 

Then things got worse, not better. In the last nine pegs the best weight was from Roy Whitwell's 12 lb 7 oz. That left Tony as the winner; Frank second; and me a surprised third. It's the weather, you know - no two days exactly the same. However, our members must have fished really hard to get the weights they did on this extraordinarily-difficult day when every single fish was a highlight. I give myself 8/10 for winkling out a few towards the end using my special method, which takes massive concentration.

The JV club had much better weights on the higher numbered pegs, though I believe they had five DNWs and sport was patchy.

My next match was on Jay, in the Wednesday Over 60s at Pidley, with the weather forecast to be even higher. I've not fished it for ages and expected to struggle against those who fish Pidley every Wednesday. But it's a day fishing; what's not to like?

THE RESULT

I fall just short on Willows

 Peg 31, Fri, July 5
Happy enough with peg 31 on Willows in this Spratts match, fished by 14, and using peg 1 and then 11 to 35 using just the odd numbers. I had Kev Lee on my left on 29 and Neil Paas on 33. Not much Raspberry Ripple, though, as this end of the lake is sheltered by a high bank behind and the island in front. 

The carp look me up
Before the start I was fascinated to see carp literally in front of my platform, drifting about right next to the bank, even though it's no more than eight inches deep there. And I didn't dare put a net in, because that would have spooked them. They were still there at the start and a grain of corn dropped into the slightly deeper water eventually brought...a tiny rudd. So I had to put a net in, but as far to the right as I could, where there was a little more water. 

I spent time making sure the net was well out, ready to receive lots of lovely carp which would follow, in a procession. Not! I fed pellets and hemp into 18 inches of water to my left and the carp went and had a look and I saw lots and lost of rolling clouds of mud, but no fish in my net. And I spent almost 90 minutes trying to catch just one, in vain. Stupid of me.

Calm most of the day in the high numbers, and in my swim ducks became a problem.

Out to eight metres 

Kevin had a fish or two out on a pole on hard pellet, and the Neil started to catch, also about 8 metres out. So although my fish were still coming in I reluctantly went out to about eight metres with corn and in the next couple of hours managed half a dozen big F1s, while a couple of better carp, probably foulhooked, pulled off. The F1s fought incredibly hard, just refusing to come to the net. I also kept pulling up twigs, from the willows no doubt.

The next couple of hours saw me manage to catch just four or five carp from the deep margin to my left, on a small piece of cat meat, as they gradually started to feed. And they were much easier to net than the smaller F1s.

Duck problems
I was hampered badly by a family of ducklings - a mallard and six babies, who shot into my swim every time I put in bait, or even just moved my pole. They were incredibly quick at snatching at anything going into the water, and I was getting very frustrated as I had to stop feeding, even with a pot, as they always moved in.

Kevin was now hitting a lot of big fish, though he told me later he pulled out of 12! Neil was catching steadily on mussel, still well out from the bank. I should have gone about ten metres to my left, into a deepish hole I had found next to platform 30, but instead I had a brainstorm and put dead maggots just short of that, where two carp obliged me. 

A nasty incident
Then came a near-very-disaster. I went to the maggot swim, got a tremble on the float and struck. A fish was on. It wasn't very big and  I gradually broke the pole down until within a minute I was down to my short top and short Number three (for some reason still called a short Number Four).

I had the landing net ready but suddenly the fish turned on the boosters and shot out towards the island. I was on an 18-20 elastic in the short top, which stre-e-e-e-tched until there must have been 20 yards out, and I couldn't immediately add sections because I had the landing net in my left hand.

The inevitable ending
I couldn't get the pole tip under the surface because of the power generated by the fish. Then the inevitable happened and I closed my eyes before everything went slack. When I opened them there was blood running down both hands and I assumed the float had come back and hit me. But no. The whole rig was gone. So it must have been the connector which flew back.

I then assumed that the fish was foulhooked, but it hadn't felt like a big carp as I played it, and if it was an F1 it must have been VERY big.

Injured but not retired
One of the fingers on my left hand had a small hole - it looked as though someone had fired a single BB shot into it, and something had skimmed across the top of my left hand, breaking the skin. I guess I was lucky. A visit to the van saw me put plasters on both cuts and I was able to resume, none the worse for wear except that I was one rig less, and had lost several minutes of fishing time just when the carp were feeding.

The last hour or so saw another F1 or two, plus another couple of nice carp come to a small piece of cat meat, and as so often happens. But there was never a time when I had a good session - all the fish came out of the blue, with no pattern.

The exciting weigh in
Neil Paas weighed in 96 lb 2 oz, and I had 70 lb 8 oz. Then it was quite exciting, because Neil Paas was Golden Peg and would win a small fortune if he had won. Then Kevin Lee 's weights were added up and checked, and announced as...97 lb 4 oz, to take the lead by 1 lb 2 oz and save the Golden Peg for us all.

I was still packing up and got round just in time to see Roy Whitwell on 11 weigh 73 lb 1 oz. Just before him, on peg 13, Dave Hobbs had totalled 91 lb 3 oz, pushing Roy down to fourth, and I ended fifth.

Our Fenland Rods match on Sunday was due to be on pegs 1-15, so those last two weights gave me hope that we would get some decent weights, although they often can't compete with the higher numbers.

Marks out of ten
I really shouldn't have kept concentrating on the fish near me for so long. I should have known that if you're going to catch a carp which is coming to your feed you're going to do it in a few minutes. After that I thought I fished quite well, putting in feed with a big pot every drop and then using a cad pot every cast as well. But all-round I am worth 5/10 because I lost so much time at the start; and the disaster didn't help. Could I have asked for injury time to be added?

Next match is on the Willows low numbers.

THE RESULT

1   Mick Ramm           30 lb 14 oz

11 Roy Whitwell         73 lb 1 oz        4th
13 Dave Hobbs            91 lb 3 oz      3rd

15 Trevor Cousins       20 lb 8 oz

17 Mike Rawson         13 lb 4 oz

19 Bob Barrett            DNW

21 Martin Parker         51 lb 15 oz

23 Graham Ward         21 lb 4 oz

25 Bob Walker            38 lb 12 oz

27 John Garner           31 lb 3 oz

29 Kevin Lee              97 lb 4 oz        1st

31 Mac Campbell       70 lb 8 oz

33 Neil Paas                96 lb 2 oz        2nd    

35 Dick Warrener        56 lb 4 oz    

Beastie is beastly to me

 Peg 13, Thurs, June 25
Twelve of us fished this Spratts match, and I was happy with peg 13, which has produced two very big catches to Tony Evans recently. It'a peg I've won from in the past, and is one of the best swims on the lake. but a nasty North-Easterly was hacking into me from the right as I tackled up.

This was a day when warnings were out about the heat, yet after a trip down to the swim with my holdalls, I picked up a hoodie from the van on my next trip because I though I might need it eventually - the temperature in the wind was no more than warm. At the styart I could see big carp under the surface against the reeds about 30 years away, but I am sure that a pellet waggler plopped in their midst would have spoked them, so it remained in the holdall.

The wind got up at the start, making presentation to the right very difficult.
Three days later Ben Townsend had several big carp casting right
across to the far corner to the platform on peg 8.

That was about the most excitement I had. Nothing on the long pole (ten metres maximum because of the wind); one F1 on the pole in the left deep margin; and nothing (not even a liner) on the feeder. The match was now half over, and all I managed in the next two-and-a-half hours were four bream on cat meat, and a load of roach on maggot, in the shallow margin, which kept me amused for 45 minutes.

With half an hour to go the wind dropped slightly and at last I hit a carp on cat meat and it ended up in my net. About 6 lb. A nice 3 lb bream followed that, and even as I slipped it into my keepnet the wind got up again and I never had another bite. 

The weigh in
Five packed up early without weighing, and I finished last of the seven who weighed, with 20 lb 1 oz. But look at the weights. I can only put it down to that sudden North-Easterly. Trevor won easily, mugging 15 carp for 112 lb. The island gave his swim 24 a little shelter, and the water was calm enough for some of the time for him to see fish within pole distance. But a superb performance from him, and from Peter Harrison and Roy Whitwell, while all the rest of us struggled.

My next match is Friday on Willows. Peg 1, 5, or 16 onwards for me, please.

THE RESULT

3 Mick Ramm                DNW
5 Mike Rawson            DNW
13 Mac Campbell      20 lb 1 oz
15 Neil Paas              33 lb 9 oz          4th
17 Peter Harrison      64 lb 14 oz        2nd
18 Graham Ward        DNW
21 Roy Whitwell       50 lb 11 oz      3rd
22 Peter Spriggs        28 lb 10 oz
23 Kevin Lee            27 lb 2 oz
24 Trevor Cousins  112 lb                1st
29 Bob Barrett           DNW
30 Bob Walker           DNW

Here is the result of the Fenland Rods match on Sat, June 28 on Raven, Pidley

    

I scrape in on Yew

 Peg 19, Cedar, Wed, June 17
Sixteen turned out for this Spratts match, so we used both banks on Cedar. 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