A hat-trick of failures

Peg 13, Jenny's, Tunnel Barn Farm
This was a 60-entry match at Tunnel Barn Farm, near Warwick, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Maggot Drowners internet angling forum, of which I am a member. And it was good to put faces to several of the members I had never met. I stopped over at a B&B the previous night, at a farmhouse I had stayed at before, with Martin Parker. I prefer B&Bs to hotels, as I can always tuck my van away behind something, so it can't be seen from the road. In this case you just have to avoid the chickens!

A Hobbit house
The place is like a Hobbbit house - built in the 1640s (the barn I parked near was built even earlier), with ceilings so low I doubt whether Peter Crouch could stand up straight in any of them, and doorways not much over five feet high. I bumped my head just once coming downstairs. In addition the floor boards are obviously all original - thick oak, with knotholes everywhere (no carpets in the bedroom), and they creak in places. Quite memorable...unlike the match.

The match
I had a long conversation with one angler on Canal lake the previous day. He had 88 lb on maggots fishing shallow, which is what most of the competitors would have been expecting, as the place is full of F1s. So, armed with four pints of maggots I drove to my peg on Jenneys, which is the lake I would have chosen as I've done well twice there in the past.

A local who is a very good angler spoke to me before the start, at which point a little breeze started blowing towards me, across the corner where I was pegged, giving me a little ripple. We both agreed that it was a good sign. Then the match began, and for an hour I never saw a fish caught. The breeze was quite cold, but I fed maggots out to the middle for two hours, in which time I had one F1 from my left margin on luncheon meat. I don't think the angler on my right had a fish.

The lake here was 13 metres across, so obviously I tried the far margin without a bite. Then it was on to the shallow swim...and there was nothing there! Slowly I realised that when the wind died down and the surface was flat calm I was gettng small liners, so the fish were obviously in my left margin, where there were reeds. But when the ripple came all liners stopped. The right margin was bare bank and horribly bobbly, and I never had a bite there.

Last hour was best
In the last two hours I had two or three F1s from the left margin on maggot, then went long to the next platform on the right where there was a small bunch of reeds, and had two or three there. I ended with seven F1s, a 3 lb carp, a small bream and a tiny perch for 20 lb, which was almost last on the lake, and the angler on my right had 14 lb for plumb last. 

I'm sure the cold wind, light thought it was, blowing straight into my margins, put the fish off. A match to forget.

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Spratts match, Willows, Decoy, Wed, May 6
I couldn't fish this match. Kev Lee won it with 165 lb 4 oz from peg 21, taking carp to 12 lb on cat meat, paste and mussels, from the margins. John Garner was second with 83 lb 7 oz, best fish 14 lb, also on cat meat and paste close in. Bob Walker, peg 25, was third, fishing cat meat, paste and corn, best fish 8 lb.

THE RESULT

1 Peter Harrison            71 lb 10 oz
3 Roy Whitwell             70 lb
5 Graham Ward             11 lb 10 oz
7 Mike Rawson             29 lb 12 oz
9 Peter Spriggs              68 lb 12 oz
11 Neil Paas                  75 lb 12 oz      4th
13 Trevor Cousins         22 lb
15 Dave Hobbs              30 lb 5 oz
17 Mick Ramm                5 lb 4 oz
19 Bob Barrett               42 lb 3 oz
21 Kevin Lee               165 lb 4 oz        1st
23 John Garner              83 lb 7 oz        2nd
25 Bob Walker              81 lb 6 oz         3rd

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Peg 9, Horseshoe, Decoy

Peg 9, with the wind cutting across from the right.

A Fenland Rods match, and Stinky in the shop said that earlier that morning the first three pegs had been black with fish. But I couldn't draw there, could I? No - pegs roughly from 6 round to 10 were right in the strong, cold NE wind, so of course I drew 9. which can be brilliant. BUT I had accidentally left my rods behind, and the margins here are so short, which matters not in Summer when the big carp come close in, but today was not Summer!

Again, this won't take long. 😞 Before the match started I had to go back to the van for an extra jumper, as it was bitterly cold in the wind. I found that my margins rolled down quickly from the bank, effectively giving me well over four feet at the bottom, though I found a small flat area near peg 8's platform (which was unoccupied) about three feet deep. But this meant fishing into the strong wind, which is never easy.

Only a few minutes in, and Dave Garner is playing a fish on his waggler rod.

                 How about that, then?                

A good start
I started on corn out at eight metres, in over five feet of water, and had a tench; then an F1; then a carassio, all very quickly. On my right Dave Garner had three nice carp on meat also quickly. Then bites stopped for both of us.

Meanwhile Kevin Lee on my left had a fish on feeder, then a carp or two in his left margin, then he started catching out at about eight metres, where he had four feet of water, while I had well over five feet on the same line, and couldn't get a bite.

Foulhooked?
In the next three or four hours I hooked a couple of fish in the left margin which were probably foulhooked, as they both came off; then with an hour to go a small carp took a bunch of maggots on the drop near platform 9. Facing the wind made it feel like Winter as the wind hurtled across the corner, and I eventually had to turn back and fish to my left.

With 20 minutes to go I hooked three carp out at eight metres on cat meat, losing two, which I clearly saw - one was about 6 lb and the other over 10 lb. I managed to land just one, about 6 lb.

  A good un for Allan Golightly, third
with 67 lb 1 oz from peg 1.

Thrashed!

Kevin, on my left,  had thrashed me with 75 lb, while the match was won by Roy Whitwell on peg 4, fishing  up to 2+2 out on a pole, and ending with 109 lb 2 oz. He had doubted the wisdom of pegging swim 14, as it's usually left out because of excessive lilly beds. But today round that side of the lake the temperature must have been at least 10 degrees warmer than in my corner, no lillies were showing except across the far side, and I wished I was there!

Mel Lutkin's 15 lb carp takes
the lead in our Big-Fish
competition.

Mike Rawson - 56 lb 9 oz.

 

I weighed in 17 lb 1 oz, for almost last, though yet again I beat the angler on my right, Dave Garner, who was next to last. Another match for me to forget.

Roy Whitwell used three nets.
It was like the Bahamas
on his side of the lake!

Roy took most of his fish
on the pole.



 

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Peg 3, Yew, Decoy

Yet again a strong Northerly put a big Raspberry Ripple on our lake. I would have wanted a peg towards the far end, or either of the two corner pegs 1 or 30...and I got peg 3. Roy Whitwell on 5 didn't fancy our chances of having a good catch, particularly since the far end was calm, sheltered by the end bank, and that half of the lake caught the wind much less than our end. The fish don't like  that cold wind on their backs at the moment. And it must be playing havoc with their spawning preparations.

I wad looked at the forecast and was in full Winter gear, wit thermal underwear and lots of layers, so I didn't feel really cold, but I put up my umbrella to my left, just in case the rain came as it had at home the previous day, when the temperature must have fallen ten degrees in ten seconds when the rain came. I can't ever remember seeing such a dramatic change in the weather. My fingers were numb in seconds.

There are still a few ide in the lake.

The match
A fish first cast for me! An F1 took a white wafter on my hybrid feeder, but it was almost three hours before I got my second... That was a carassio on a full Method feeder. The third fish was a 6 lb carp on a maggot feeder. To my left Roy Whitwell, "The Wizard with his Wod", had five fish halfway through, but added several very late on a pole in the margins. I also added some late on a pole in the margins - tiny perch and roach, followed by roach on maggots on a hybrid feeder.

Down towards the other end they had a lot of fish, including some close-in during that last hour. The threatened thunderstorms never arrived although it rained a few times, and the wind calmed down just as the match ended (as it does!).

Mick Ramm had one fish, 9 lb 4 oz, 
which was foulhooked in the last
half-hour!

On peg 30 I could see John Garner fishing really hard, taking one fish in his right margin and a few others fishing very long to his end bank. On my right Graham Ward, fishing mainly a feeder, had one carp in the last half hour.

It's Kevin again
The match was won by Kevin Lee on peg 15, fishing cat meat on 2+2 and then in his margins. Put Kevin on a peg where there are big carp and he always does the business. The top four spots went to the end four pegs on our bank, I finished with 10 lb 4 oz, and YET AGAIN beat the angler on my right, who this time came last.

Peter Harrison watches the 
scales as they weigh his
88 lb 13 oz, for third place.

Trevor Cousins managed to mug
 five big carp in his 91 lb 7 oz
second-placed catch.

My next match is on Sunday on Kingsland small lake, with Fenland Rods. The new rules ban luncheon meat, and state that if there are fewer than 13 pegs booked they must be used consecutively, which will obviously apply on Sunday. I'm not bothered - I will fish any peg quite happily, even peg 1 which our club so often leaves out because there are reeds there. The forecast is for temperatures to rise. Yippee.

THE RESULT

East bank                                            West bank

30 John Garner     49 lb 13 oz        1 Graham Ward        8 lb 9 oz    
28 Bob Walker    22 lb 14 oz        3 Mac Campbell     10 lb 4 oz     
26 Bob Barrett      22 lb 5 oz         5 Roy Whitwell     28 lb 13 oz
24 Neil Paas        50 lb 7 oz           7 Mick Ramm        9 lb 3 oz
                                                       9 Peter Harrison  88 lb 13 oz    3rd
20 Peter Spriggs    24 lb 13 oz     11 Trevor Cousins    91 lb 7 oz 2nd
                                                     13 Dave Hobbs       58 lb 11 oz  4th
16 Mike Rawson   DNW             15 Kevin Lee        115 lb 3 oz    1st

  

Catching up

I've catching up to do after being away playing bowls at Potters' Five Lakes complex. For the third time in a row Margaret and myself reached the semi-finals, only to be beaten by the overall winners. But yet again we will be invited to enter December's  event to qualify for the Champion of Champions final, played at Hopton during the World Championship in January. The chances of our getting there are probably quite low!

I've also spent many hours tinkering with my new motorised trolley, and I think, that with Mike Rawson's help (he has a similar model) I'm ready to use it in anger. My next match is on Friday at Tunnel Barn Farm, Warwickshire, in a Maggot Drowner's 25th anniversary event, with 62 competing.

Incidentally, I now have my old motorised trolley for sale, which stopped working a week ago. It's a Preston barrow modified by the addition of a second-hand Powacaddy golf trolley. I've had it tested, and it just needs a new Speed Control box (cost £70). If anyone is interested in it at £100, get in touch.

Magpie peg 9, Sunday, Apr 25

Blazing sun all day, with virtually no wind, greeted us.

This was a Fenland Rods match held in extreme heat ten days ago. I had a good start with an 8 lb carp and an F1 on luncheon meat at 8 metres in the first 20 minutes, but then things got hard. On my right Roy Whitwell had an early fish on the feeder, and another two or three, until all bites dried up. When he eventually had another I went back to my van and took out my feder rod. By the time I'd got back, baited up, and cast to the island, Roy had had three more! I had one quite quickly; Callum on my left had one, and then all bites stopped again.

Roy Whitwell's first fish (probably the first taken in the match).

Caster fished shallow at 11.5 metres saw me hook six fish in an hour, but I landed only three. Then another came from the meat swim, and two late on on meat in the left margin. And that was my lot. Roy had some from his margin in the last hour and I finished up being well beaten on what had been a difficult day for everybody.

Callum beat me by 2 lb thanks to a last-minute carp landed after the whistle. 😡😡

The weigh in
The pegs from 3 to 11 took the top places, with Roy Whitwell wining with 83 lb 7 oz, and my eight fish going 32 lb 1 oz for fifth (beaten by Callum who had a last-minute carp which he landed after the whistle). The sudden boost in temperature that day must have been the reason for the relatively-poor sport (over 300 lb had won from peg 16 ten days earlier, with 100 lb bags common).

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Here are two Spratts results from matches I was unable to fish:

Beastie, Mon, April 20:

3 Dave Hobbs            67 lb 15 oz

4 Trevor Cousins        35 lb 4 oz

5 Roy Whitwell          84 lb 8 oz        4th

7 Rod Melnyk            17 lb 15 oz

13 Graham Ward        32 lb 9 oz

15 Neil Paas               48 lb 14 oz

17 Mick Ramm            9 lb 8 oz

18 Peter Spriggs       102 lb 12 oz    2nd

21 Mike Rawson        33 lb 13 oz

22 Bob Walker            37 lb 6 oz

23 Peter Harrison        140 lb 4 oz    1st

24 Kevin Lee            93 lb 11 oz      5th

29 John Garner        94 lb 13 oz      3rd   

Peter Harrison took mainly F1s and a few carp on 2+2 with meat. Peter Spriggs also had mainly F1s, and skimmers, close-in on paste and meat (not together).  John Garner also fished close in with meat and paste, taking F1s, and carp to 8 lb.

Oak, Tues, April 28

The match started in sun, and as soon as the whistle went a bitterly-cold wind blew up. Peter Harrison won from peg 1 with just eight carp, best 14 lb, weighing 80 lb 5 oz, on pole and meat against the end bank.

Roy 'The Wizard' Whitwell was second with 79 lb 1 oz from peg 9, taking his fish on his favourite feeder and wafter and then on pole at 2+2 with meat.

Peter Spriggs was third from peg 30, opposite Peter Harrison, with 62 lb 7 oz, taking carp to 12 lb close in on meat and paste.

Neil Paas tried a different aproach, using mussel, and apparently targetting  mallard. He failed, but one managed to pull off halfway along Yew, which was strange because the match was on Oak. 

I leave it late on Cedar; and the Beastie result

Peg 3, Cedar, Decoy
I was happy enough with peg 3 in this Fenland Rods match, until I cast out to clip up to the far bank, and realised it was all bare bank over there. I would rather have had reeds, giving cover to those big ole carp I was hoping to catch, but there you are...

Martin Parker plays his first fish. The wind was cool and from the North,
but later turned round a little to the East.

About 8 lb, and into the net. That was Martin's biggest fish.

Martin Parker on my left was casting to within inches of the reeds opposite him, and had a carp within the first hour; and Whitwell the Wizard on my right had a couple, I think, in the first two hours. I had nothing until I cast several metres away from the far bank, and caught a 2 lb-plus bream on an orange wafter. An hour or two later another bream came in, but Roy Whitwell had another two or three.

Nowt on the pole
A spell on the pole at about 10 metres using pellet saw not a bite for me, but Roy was now catching occasionally. In the deep margin two more bream came to my corn, and I lost a couple of big fish, possibly foulhooked, and had some liners I was sure were from carp. I wasted too much time there, and with a little over an hour to go, with just those four bream in the net, I tried the 10-metre swim again. To my amazement I had another bream, and then a carp of 8 lb. 

 Roy Whitwell had a slow start casting to the 
far-bank reeds, but caught better
 when he shortened his cast.

The bites out at 10 metres were tiny, but more followed and I netted about four smaller carp and an F1. Meanwhile Roy had more carp, now casting often only halfway. I think he ended up using hard pellet in his hybrid feeder. But he had peg 1 vacant to his right, giving him plenty of water, and had been able to go a fair way towards the platform opposite on 26. I think he ended on the pole in the margins.

Almost last?
That last hour was by far my best and I wondered if they would have been there if I'd gone bacl onto the l9ine earlier. Martin had only the occasional fish in the second half. And I had no idea what any of the others had. I guessed I would probably be almost last, as Roy obviously had over 100 lb and I estimated mine at 30 lb.

Carp in one of Roy Whitwell's three nets.

The weigh in

Sure enough, Roy had 108 lb 7 oz, which easily won. The rumour was that Mike Rawson had caught an 18 lb carp. I weighed in 34 lb 6 oz, with Martin having just 15 lb 15 oz. Weights were much less than I had imagined, and that big carp by Mike weighed 12 lb 1 oz - funny how everbody else's seems bigger! It's now in the lead for the Biggest Fish  cup we award at the end of our season. Callum Judge fishing on 13, in the corner, was second with 44 lb 12 oz.

Mike Rawson carefully picks out his best fish.

Here it is - 12 lb 1 oz and heading our Big Fish trophy list.

Marks out of ten
I can't blame myself for expecting to catch carp in the margin, as I am sure they were coming in at times. I was just pleased that I could spot those tiny bites out in the waves, and as a consolation for coming sixth out of 12 I won my four-peg section by default. I give myself 6/10.

One thing I experienced was that the Sonubaits expanders that don't need pumping  were not as nice to put on the hook as the Spotted Fin ones whhich I tried (pinching them underwater to get them to sink).

Next match is Saturday on Magpie, Pidley. I wonder whether I can catch shallow now that the water is a little warmer? Otherwise it's probably small cubes of luncheon meat.

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Here's Monday's Spratts result from Beastie lake - I see weights are definitely picking up, and the carp appear to be moving all over the lake now (though those pegs from 22 to 24 seem to hold fish all year ropund). I had to miss this to play a bowls match. We played the league leaders, who have lost only three games out of nearly 30,  losing by just two shots - a good result for my team. I have signed up for Summer bowls again - no leagues, we just draw for teams each time we play.

3 Dave Hobbs            67 lb 15 oz

4 Trevor Cousins        35 lb 4 oz

5 Roy Whitwell          84 lb 8 oz      5th

7 Rod Melnyk            17 lb 15 oz

13 Graham Ward        32 lb 9 oz

15 Neil Paas                48 lb 14 oz

17 Mick Ramm             9 lb 8 oz

18 Peter Spriggs        102 lb 12 oz    2nd

21 Mike Rawson         33 lb 13 oz

22 Bob Walker            37 lb 6 oz

23 Peter Harrison      140 lb 4 oz        1st

24 Kevin Lee              93 lb 11 oz       4th

29 John Garner           94 lb 13 oz       3rd

30 Bob Barrett            27 lb 13 oz

Two matches to forget on Cedar and Six-Island

The weather has really been confusing the fish...and me. Cold and windy, then hot and calm, then cold and windy again. I'm now going and expecting to still be fishless after the first three hours.

Peg 6 on Cedar was my office for the day (again) in Thursday's Spratts match. I'd drawn peg 5 in a recent JV match and also remembered drawing 6 a few weeks ago, when I'd had a bream on the inside. Both of those matches saw the four pegs towards either end fish a bit better than the middle. The platform on peg 8, which has been leaning over, had been quickly repaired - Karen is doing a great job keeping up to date with these things.

Lots of sun, with the cold wind at the start warming up,
and allround it was quite a pleasant day.

When asked, at the draw, which peg I'd like I said peg 7, because I know there's a nice shallow shelf to the right, and hoped that after recent sun, the fish might move in  their in the last hour. But I had Martin Parker there. And neither of us had much in the first three hours, though I think Martin had one on a feeder; I had nothing. Kevin Lee on 8 was the first to catch a fish, after about ten minutes...and he never had another one all match!!

Martin Parker had a fish fairly early on a feeder cast to the far bank.

The fish were  frisky, but into the net it went, eventually.

There wasn't much ripple, though the backish wind was fairly strong, and there was lots of sun, and the water was very cold.  A feeder produced nothing for me, then a look inside to the left, in the deep water, which had produce dbream previously, saw me catch a bream, and then a 4 lb carp, and a then smaller one on cat meat. 

The last 90 minutes saw three more bream come in, all around 3 lb-plus, and a bigger carp abouy 8 lb, and I was playing another bream when the match ended. But Martin had suddenly found some carp out on 2+2, and had a good finish. And that lovely shallow area I had fancied didn't produce even a bite. So what do I know?

Martin's second-placed catch of 41 lb 5 oz.

The weigh in
Roy Whitwell found fish on his feeder yet agin - he should be known as Whitwell the Wizard! And he added a few towards the end on a pole, to win with 47 lb 12 oz. Martin was second with 41 lb 5 oz. Roy said he thought I had won - probably because he saw me landing those bream and assumed they would be carp. 

I ended with 32 lb 5 oz for fifth, which would have been more if I hadn't lost a bream which jumped well clear of the surface when I hooked it and looked to be well over 4 lb!

The Wizard weighs his winning catch.

Marks out of ten

I thought I had done OK - at least I caught some fish. I know that there were carp in the swim towards the end. They came in when I fed micros and hemp, and I saw some definite liners. It's not my fault they didn't take my bait!! 

I was probably worth 7/10, with Martin doing exceptionally well to frame from his middle peg. Next match is Fenland Rods first of the year. The motor has gone on my trolley so I will take even longer than usual to set up and leave the bank. 

THE RESULT

1 Neil Paas             37 lb 10 oz      3rd

2  Graham Ward       6 lb 5 oz

3 Trevor Cousins    35 lb 8 oz        4th

4 Bob Barrett          29 lb 2 oz

5 John Smith           16 lb 10 oz

6 Mac Campbell      30 lb 5 oz

7 Martin Parker       41 lb 5 oz      2nd

8 Kevin Lee                DNW

9 Roy Whitwell       47 lb 12 oz    1st

10 Bob Walker            DNW

11 Mike Rawson      15 lb 3 oz

12 Dick Warrener     21 lb 11 oz

13 Mick Ramm        8 lb 2 oz

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Peg 13, Six Island (yet again) for me in Fenland Rods' match. I've done well from it several times recently, but always with bigger carp in the last hour and always close in on my right hand side, on a top two, because there's a bush a few feet farther long the bank. But honestly, I would prefer almost any of the other pegs on that short stretch of bank, because all of them have a reasonable stretch of reeds somewhere along the margin, while peg 13 has mainly bare bank, and in shallow water at this time of year the fish are reluctant to come in close into shallow water without that reed cover.

Yet again a strong cool wimd, though it was over my left shoulder.

One peg I would almost always always go for, in any conditions, is opposite on 6, which has really nice margins, offering some shallow water. But Martin Parker drew that, and also the Golden Peg. I fancied he might do well. I had to push my motorless trolley, and was knackered by the time I'd got everything to my swim, and didn't fancy putting out a feeder, so I fished pole all day.

Foulhookers early

Bare bank and grass in my right margin. That's
Dave Garner on peg 12, who had just one fish.

Yet again I sat there fishless after three hours. I'd lost two good fish early on fishing pellet out at 2+3,and I asssume both were foulhooked. A look to the right in my margin saw me not get even a knock; then a switch towards the bush on my left saw me catch a fish! An F1 about 2 lb. The wind was really strong, from the left and slightly behind me, and good presentation was not easy.

I was sure that I saw an occasional shiver of the float as something brushed against the line; and when I struck at one of these I hit a big fish, probably foulhooked, which came off after 15 seconds. Annoying, because there's always the chance of landing a foulhooked fish, whetever the size, and I really needed something else  to put in the net.

The left margin looks nicer, but it meant fishing into
the wind, which was quite strong for most of the match.
That's Mark Ramm, fishing his first match with us.

Roach

A short spell with maggot saw me catch about 1 lb of roach (always hoping F1s would muscle in on them), but the thought of the bigger fish saw me drop back, with corn, to the left margin. Then a 3 lb F1 did come in, and I 

wasted more time there, fishless. Nothing in the right margin, though I had several big liners, showing me that there were carp there.

With 15 minutes left and the wind having dropped a little I went out almost to my original line, at just over 2+2 and an 8 lb  carp obliged very quickly, but nothing in the last ten minutes. I'd no idea what others had caught, except that Callum on peg 11 had defnitely had fish on both feeder and pole. To my right Dave Garner, former club champion, had one 3 lb carp. It really was dire!

The weigh in

Three wheels on my wagon

 (remember the New Christy Minstrels, in 1965?)

I missed following the scales because of having no motor to help me along the bank. Even that was better than John Smith, who had a wheel fall off his trolley when halfway back to his car. He cobbled something together, but had to drive his car back towards the heap of luggage he'd left on the bank of Four-Island lake. Allan Golightly generously took the wheel home to put it together.

Kevin Lee on 17 found carp, mainly in his left margin, in the second half of the match, and won convincingly with 72 lb 13 oz, with Whitwell The Wizard second on peg 9, which has been fishing quite badly, with 40 lb mainly on feeder. And Martin Parker was third, 38 lb 13 oz from peg 6, including fish from the shallow margins.

My meagre effort was 12 lb 12 oz, which amazingly was eighth out of 13. I tried worm, but didn't try 6mm expander in the margins, nor mussel, which did tempt fish for one or two of the other anglers. So I give myself 4/10, partly down to mental fatigue brought on by old age. That's my excuse, anyway! Next match Sunday on Cedar, where I would like a peg towards one of the ends, please.

PS. My trolley trouble is caused by failure of the electronics box, about which I know as much as I do about splitting the atom. Unfortunately the man who was going to have a go at mending it suddenly went down with severe back trouble, so I'm left high and dry and motorless at the moment. But the extra physical exertion is good for warding off diabetes, I am assured.

Some undeserved luck for me on Beastie

Peg 17, Beastie, Sun, Apr 5

I fancy Roy Whincup tut-tutted and shook his head when he saw I had drawn peg 17, on the spit, in this JV club match. Roy had sat there on Friday and won the lake with a little over 100 lb, but he was good enough to tell me how he had fished - a feeder to the aerator then into the left margin. Next thing, when I am at my peg, Roy walks down to me - he had drawn next door on 18, next to the bridge.

The wind was already strong, but Roy said it had been worse than that on Friday (a day when Lee Kendall lost three Number fours, two of which were blown in). During the day it did get distinctly stronger, coming from the front/right, and it was very difficult to get decent presentation on a pole rig to the right.

A bit rough for those of us facing the wind!

I started on a maggot feeder towards the aerator, and within a few minutes a plump 2 lb F1 was nestling in my net; I had chosen to use the small net because of the wind. In the next hour just two gudgeon came to that tactic, so I had a look on the pole, using a 1.5 gram rig. I gave up fishing to the right very quickly, and had a look in the left margin, where it was about five feet deep, but with a nice hard bottom two metres out.

Two bream

That margin swim brought two bream and and a 3 lb F1 in the next hour, but then I went almost three hours, fishing a small piece of cat meat or a grain of corn, with nothing except two gudgeon, foulhooked on the cat meat! I also went on the feeder, with a hybrid and wafter without result - not even a liner.  However I was sure that there were fish around as every few minutes when I was on the pole the float would dip, and even in the big waves I was sure it was a bite, or a liner.

I was using short tops, which definitely stiffened the pole in the wind, and I made a mental note of that for future reference. 

A swim farther out

I'd seen Roy catch on both feeder and pole, fishing to his right margin, where I fancied there was just a little shelter from the very worst of the wind. To my left Peter Harrison had struggled, but then he had three or four fish fairly quickly, fishing farther out than I had been doing. So I had a look out at four sections, and first drop with a small piece of cat meat (in silver sachets from the Co-op), the float slid under and I was playing a common about 9 lb.

 I hadn't bothered to add the short Number Four, and actually ended holding just the short top to land the fish. With five feet of rig it wasn't ideal, but I got away with it. I didn't fancy moving to get my short top out of my holdall in the wind, as it was so easy to dislodge the gear behind me, which was wedged down to stop anything blowing away, so I carried on regardless (now there's a good name for a film!)

I try a bigger piece of cat meat

No more came from that swim, though, so I went into the left margin again. But I was never sure exactly where my hemp and corn was finishing up, as the wind was so strong. Still, I fancied I could see occasional movement on the float, and I wondered if the wind was creating an undercurrent  next to the bank and moving my bait around.  So in something approaching desperation I put on a really big piece of cat meat, sure that this would hold bottom, though not confident at all, and Wad'y'know, I had a bite!

That turned out to be another carp, about 8 lb, and now there were just about ten minutes left. On went another big piece of cat meat and I missed what looked like a good bite even before it hit bottom. Next drop saw another bite and another good fish on; seconds later the match ended. 

It was several minutes before that fish was in the net, played on 14-16 Matrix Slik, and its tail was hanging over the edge as I pulled the net in. It must have been at least 12 lb.

The weigh in

Playing that fish had made me even later than usual packing my stuff away, and I had no idea what anyone had weighed when they weighed me (or rather my fish) at 39 lb 12 oz. Then Roy told me he had over 70 lb. And it wasn't until the money was paid out that I found I had won my five-peg section by default, as Roy ended second and I had beaten Peter Harrison (pleased  about that) and the two to Roy's right. Kev Bell won the lake from peg 30 with 78 lb 15 oz.

Nine fished Horseshoe, won by Ian Frith on 13, fishing to the bank on his right! That's unusual, as it's a very short stretch of bank, but peg 12 wasn't it. He used casters and took all but three of his fish there. Chris Saunders weighed two carp for 25 lb 13 oz, and the biggest was weighed at 17 lb 13 oz!

Marks out of ten

I was pleased, afterwards, as although I finished well down the list, I feel that anyything won in a JV match is a feather in my proverbial cap. But later I realised that I was lucky in that I hadn't thought about the underwater turbulance enough. I could have used paste, and I should certainly have tried heavier lumps of cat meat earlier. I didn't try worm, either, nor a bunch of maggots - anything would have been worth trying. I did try mussel, which was probably too light, and it never brought me a bite.

My excuse is that in these high winds, when the platform is over the water, it takes time to stand, turn round, and carefully walk back, over pole sections, landing net handles, and assorted bags, to get stuff, and it wasn't possible for me to have everything with easy reach. But at least I had two rods made up, and several top kits, so I had done my best before the match started to give myself several options.

Bearing in mind the conditions I have to give myself 5/10, and say I was lucky to look around and pick up that first big lump of cat meat. But everybody has luck at some time (even when it's perhaps not deserved). Next match Friday on Cedar when I think I will concentrate on my short tops sgain (though I always have a few long tops with me as well).