A bitterly cold Six-Island

Peg 13, Six-Island
Wednesday was the day when the wind blew, it was bitterly cold, and we had hail. Twelve of us fished this Spratts club match, and just three of the swims would have wind into the faces of the poor sods who were pegged there. Of course I was one of them, though it was the swim I'd had on Sunday, so everyone assumed I knew how to extract fish from it. I didn't, of course. BUT I was drawn as Golden Peg - much good that would do me, I thought..

Peg 13 is in the bottom bowl, which is always a likely good draw, though the longest walk. I left the umbrella in my van because with the NW wind into that bank from the left, at about 45 degrees, it would have been no help at all, even if I could get it up. So I set up a feeder rod, plus a 1gm float for  2+3, and a heavier margin float for cat meat.

The day was dull, though we had a very occasional flash of susnshine, but I was swaying about so much in the wind I didn't fancy getting any pictures in focus, so the phone stayed on my side tray all day.

Peter has an early fish
I put out a little hemp and casters to 2+3 and immediately went onto the feeder, and within minutes Peter Spriggs,to my right on 11, had a carp on his feeder rod. I gave it 25 minutes, with just two tiny liners, and tried the pole. That was interesting - with wind from the left the most comfortable position was facing to the right (obviously) because it was REALLY cold. But within half an hour the gusts had increased, and were hitting my pole absolutely sideways on, swinging it about, so I had to give that swim up.

It was easier fishing in front of me, or facing directly into the wind - I could hold the pole much better. But I knew I couldn't keep that up for many minutes because of the cold, so after another fruitless look on the feeder I came back to 2+2 on the pole, to the right. Nothing on expander or corn or double corn (which I hoped wopuld stay still in the turbulence). Not a touch. And then we welcomed hail for a few uncomfortable minutes. 

I had heavier rigs with me, to combat the wind, but I honestly believe that if there were fish down there interested in the bait I would have seen at least one bite or liner. So I didn't change. But I did have a look in the right margin, without feeling that it would produce...and it didn't.

Peter has more fish 😒
Three-and-a-half hours had gone and I was biteless. I'd seen Peter catch two carp out at about 2+2 (in fact when I walked up to him he said he had a total of four, so my goose was already cooked). To my left John Garner on 15 had lost three carp foulhooked, fishing to the corner; later he had a walk to get warm and said he had landed one about 8 lb.

Now I had another look on cat meat in the cut-out to my right, where I had had four fish on Sunday. The surface was really rough, and I think there was an undertow caused by water hitting the bank, and I wasn't really sure where casters would finish up. So I put in just half-a-dozen lumps of cat meat as well, hoping they would stay in the swim, and dropped in my rig. Nothing for 15 minutes, but then I started feeding a little more heavily with corn and hard pellet. 

Fish on; fish off
Within thirty seconds I had a bite; fish on; fish off; and a scale came fluttering back to me. But at least I knew now that there were carp down there, in about two feet of water. Soon after, I had another bite - not a dive-away, but the float seemed to move sideways. I struck and a big fish was on.

I was using my smaller, 18-inch net because the bigger Drennan 20-inch net is so difficult to hand in strong winds - the wind catches the net as you put it over the water. That was a wise move on my part; as was the decision to use short tops for this margin swim, with strong elastic. I chose the Matrix Slik 18-20 red, and it handled that big fish beautifully in the wind.

Within a minute the fish was circling my net, but I had to be certain of getting the head in first, of course. It was over the net but before I could lift it, the fish - around 10 lb - was blown just past it. I lifted the pole hoping to get it to drift back towards me, but it splashed on the surface, facing away from me, and I had to let it do another circuit so it went in headfirst, which it did.

Fouhooked? Not this one!
I mention this because afterwards Roy Whitwell, opposite on 5, said he thought I had foulhooked some of my fish. I can see why - a fish splashing while facing away from me probably looked as though it was hooked in the tail. And yes, I did catch more - four good carp, one of which was foulhooked in the pectoral fish (the only one foulhooked), followed by an F1. All took cat meat in roughly the same spot, which I could reach on the short top and short Number Three (though I added the Number Four to fish). I also lost one more.

Tuned in

The bites were all a bit 'iffy', but I felt I was tuned in to them, and had enough confidence to strike when I felt something was not normal, even though I couldn't describe exactly how the float had behaved. Then there was a lull, and I tried in the slightly deeper water, with no luck. But moving a metre towards the bush brought me another plump, hard-fighting F1. 

With 20 minutes to go I was a bit nervous going any closer to the bush, as its roots are obviously in the water, but I tried it, and had one more bite, which resulted in another fish almost 10 lb. I had to grit my teeth after hooking it, but using the technique taught to me by Ben Townsend I quickly had it under control But did take my time  actually getting it in to the net, as the wind was still so strong. That went into my second net, and was quickly followed by another F1.

I was hoping for another, with ten minutes left, but it never came, and I assumed that although I had about 35 lb in the first net and 12 lb in the second net, Peter Spriggs on 11 would have had more fish in the afternoon, and would definitely beat me. And of course I expected that the anglers with a kinder wind, behind them, would also have lots of fish. I wasn't unhappy to hear the final shout, as concentrating in cold like that is very wearing.

The weigh in

I didn't see much of the weigh in. I had three rigs (one was a light one for the margin which I didn't use)  to pack away, plus the rod and a load of baits - expanders, hard pellets, casters, hemp, corn and dead maggots to take home and re-freeze (I always do this).

Leaving my trolley halfway to the van I turned round and followed the scales back to my peg. On the way I was asked what I had, and I said possibly 50 lb. "You'll need that, as Graham Ward had 48 lb" said Roy Whitwell. I was surprised that was the biggest weight so far. Graham was on the opposite bank on peg 8 and I hadn't seen him catch anything, mainly because I was concentrating on my own swim! 

Peter Spriggs had weighed 37 lb 13 oz, so he had obviously had a difficult afternoon; and I weighed 50 lb 15 oz to lead the match. But pegs 17 to 25 were yet to weigh, and I expected fish to have come from there. In fact Trevor Cousins was top of those swims with 25 lb 3 oz from peg 24 and I was left as the winner. Graham Ward spoke to me as were were loading up and reminded me I was on the Golden Peg, which I had forgotten about. So extra shekels were paid out to me.

Marks out of ten

I'd give anybody 9/10 for just sticking it out in the face of that wind. Using cat meat definitely stopped the bait swinging about too much in the undertows. I perhaps should have tried sweetcorn in the margins (that's what Graham used for his 48 lb 1 oz) but didn't because I thought it would be a bit light. The best thing was that I didn't give up, though after three hours I definitely felt like going home. So I give myself 9.5 out of ten. I had a good peg and eventually, after foulhooking that first fish, had enough confidence to fish it hard. 

I realised eventually that I hadn't plumbed up that margin properly, and I felt that it started to get deeper farther along towards the bush. It was difficult to tell because it could have been the swell taking the float down. But next time in that swim I will plumb it better at the start. Next match is Sunday on Elm and probably Cedar; Then Thursday on Damson, where it will be interesting to see whether fish will come into the shallows, because the water there must be quite cold.

THE RESULT

6 Roy Whitwell               32 lb 8 oz        4th

8 Graham Ward               48 lb 1 oz        2nd

9 Mick Ramm                  6 lb 10 oz

11 Peter Spriggs             37 lb 13 oz      3rd

13 Mac Campbell           50 lb 15 oz       1st

15 John Garner               17 lb 1 oz

17 Bob Walker                  8 lb  

18 Dave Hobbs                DNW

20 Bob Barrett                  13 lb 9 oz

22 Peter Harrison               9 lb 5 oz

24 Trevor Cousins            25 lb 3 oz

25 Kevin Lee                      8 lb 2 oz 

The fish are moving about on Six Islands, Decoy

Just got to show you the Bargain Of The Winter. In December my local M&B store were selling off viola plants at 20p for 12. None were in flower, of course, and they looked a bit manky, so I lashed out and bought one pack. Last of the Big Spenders, that's me. Now, three months later, and transplanted to a big old pot that held something that had died (can't remember what), they are looking just splendid. So here's a picture, and a few others, of the plants that lift my heart on murky days when the wind is biting. 

Twenty-pence worth of violas!

Pansies which survived the Winter.

Violas planted October!

An assortment

Peg 13, Six-Island
Roy Whincup looked at me in envy when I showed him my peg - 13 on Six-Island. Yet another flier! Very happy with that, and it was warm enough for me to leave my Imax jacket in the van when I trundled my trolley down, beside Four Islands, to the swim. The wind was very light, which meant that what ripple did come was only small. But the water felt sort of dead. Others in this JV match were on Horseshoe.

I had wondered whether to take my short tops or the long ones, as the depth here is rarely above four feet; in the end I compromised by putting in five short tops with assorted elastics. These would be for fishing the margins. I get nervous fishing short tops out at 10 metres or more if they have heavy elastics in (14 upwards) because a big lump can bottom you out in no time (especially if foulhooked), and that is when poles get broken. I've never broken my pole on a fish in 30 years of fishing commercials containing carp, and I don't want to start now.

Feeder then pole
So after putting out a small Method feeder for a couple of casts, and seeing Ernie get an early fish on the pole, I went tout to 13 metres, with 14-16 Matrix Slik through a long top. Much good that did me! Hardly anything was being caught, though on my left Ernie Lowbridge had two or three more F1s, and then mugged a big carp, while opposite me on peg 6 Ian Frith (who is better than I will ever be) had a few fish  out at 14 metres.

No matter if I couldn't catch - I could watch Ian Frith!

I hit one fish briefly on a 6mm pellet over micros; probably foulhooked. Then I tried in both margins. By now I think every angler I could see had looked in the margins, which is unusual because they are usually left for at least the first half of the match; so I knew everyone was probably struggling.

On to 4mm expander
I was certainly struggling - halfway through the match all I had was two small roach on maggot in the deep margin to my right. And now Ernie started to catch one or two more. So I started another line at 2+3, towards Ernie when the water was an inch or two shallower. I know that it gets shallower as you go left towards corner peg 15, and several big fish were splashing along that bank. Perhaps they were in the shallower water, I reasoned.

I put a 4mm expander on the hook. In all honesty they were not the best - they had been frozen and thawed several times, were small and soft,  and I had taken them to loosefeed, expecting to fish 6mm expanders. But I picked out one I managed to get onto the 16 hook (I should have used size 18), and first drop hooked, and landed, a very welcome 2 lb F1.

They came to the feed
I spent the next 90 minutes managing to catch five more F1s, all on the 4mm expander, while the 6mm never brought a bite. Meanwhile Ernie was catching some, and he told me later he had to feed EVERY cast to bring a bite. I also got that impression, but stupidly I didn't keep doing it. I just couldn't believe that, on a day when bites were so difficult to get, they wanted feed. 

Opposite, Ian Frith also moved to a new swim and started to catch, still in the deeper water. And Ernie also shouted out to someone that he had just mugged a fish; several had come by in the first half iof the match, all moving right to left towards the shallower water.

Mugging and dobbing
It's worth spelling out, here, the difference between mugging and dobbing. Mugging is targetting moving fish, when a shallow rig is dropped in, often with no shot down the line, in front of a moving fish.

Dobbing is fishing shallow, usually with a conventional rig, and usually a distance, and hanging a bait above the bottom (perhaps even in midwater) and waiting for a bite. In the depths of winter bread (if allowed) is a favoured bait, and no loose feed is used. If maggots are used on the hook a few may be pinged out; but the idea of that is to attract fish only, not to try to get them feeding. The hope is that one unsupecting fish will be curious, swim past, and absent-mindedly suck in your bait, which happens surprisingly often. Unfortunately in my Winter swims the fish are TOO absent-minded, and just swim past!

Into the margins (too late)
Ninety minutes to go and, after landing the sixth F1, I felt I had to look in the shallow margins. There are hardly any reeds in the side at peg 13 - it's mainly bare bank, which is not ideal on a windless day when the probablility is that the fish need cover to move into shallow water. But I put in some dead maggots to the right, and sure enough eventually I saw light clouds of mud come up. So I dropped in  metre from the ban, using the short top with heavy elastic (around 20), which I needed as there's a bush in the margin there. 

First fish was a 3lb F1 on cat meat, followed by a 7 lb common carp. Then another big fish came off, and I should have tried the left margin but went back to the right. Several minutes went by without a bite and I was about to move when I saw mud coming up right against the bank. Shallowing up with cat meat to 18 inches brought another F1, and a little later back at 2.5 feet, I landed another 7 lb carp.

The bush between me an Ernie obscured my view while we were fishing. So I
 stretched my legs for a minute, camera in hand, so see him enjoying himself!  😔

The last few minutes passed without any more fish. I really should have moved, whenever I hooked a fish, to the left margin. But I was sure fish were there; however there's a big difference between fish being there and being sufficiently confident to feed. 

A move to the left margin would, I am sure, have given me a chance to keep catching. I kept looking at the angler to my right on 11, but saw him catch only on small fish on a pole and one carp, late on, on a feeder. There was a bush between me and Ernie, so I couldn't see exactly what he was using or how he was fishing. He told me later his baits were pellet or corn.

The weigh in
That was when Ernie told me had had to feed every drop in, while Ian Frith told me later that he, like me, had caught on 4mm pellet (both hard and expanders). Ian was top weight to me with 71 lb 9 oz, but the weights fell away badly to his left. Eddie McIlroy on favoured beg 8 had 12 lb 6 oz while Peter Harrison in the corner did not weigh! I was told later he had a roach.

Opposite Peter Harrison was Peter Molesworth, and I had seen him fishing hard all day, mainly out at 14 metres or more, targetting the end bank. A good second half had seen him end with 52 lb 13 oz, but the angler on 11 did not weigh.

Ernie - 83 lb 1 oz on a difficult day.

My fish went 32 lb 6 oz, but Ernie had 83 lb 1 oz to win, with Dan Pettigrew on peg 25 second on 81 lb 7 oz. That end has not fished well all Winter, but did start to produce last Friday. So I ended 8th, and felt that I had not disgraced myself, but have to admit the peg was better than that, and I should have had a proper look in the margins earlier. 

Horseshoe produced three weights over 100 lb, won on peg 13 by Andy Kew with 45 lb on a feeder cast to the aerator followed by the rest after he had seen the marginal reeds to his left shaking. He went in there on a pole, a metre out, but I'm not sure what bait he used.  I'm back on Six-Islands on Wednesday, but the forecast is for high winds, so in some swims long poles may not be fishable. 

I trap bream, barbel and carp on Elm (and some mice)

Oh, those meeces. Steve Tilsley has been baring his soul on Facebook after mice apparently ate nearly everything in his garage, his car, and his garden. The only thing they didn't eat was his pole...and he's not been catching much on that anyway. 

So I thought I'd bring to his attention (and to that of anyone else who has had mice in their midst) the best mouse traps I've ever found. They work EVERY TIME and have three huge advantages over the old type. 1) To release the (dead) offender just hold the trap over the bin and press the back; the mouse falls straight down. 2) Baiting the trap doesn't involve any possible chance that your fingers could be damaged; the bait is is a small cup which is taken out from the bottom of the trap, baited up, and then screwed back into the bottom (you can  see the  yellow bait in the picture). 3) To set the trap put it down and press the back lever. That's all - it sets automatically.

And because the bait is IN the little cup the little mouse has to climb up to it and put its little head down to lick it out. BANG. Job done. I don't know the name of the trap - it's made in China, and they come 12 in a box. Go on the internet and look for the packaging. 10/10.

Trevor Cousins thought he was being amusing when he said he'd pull out peg 1 for me in my first Spratts match of the season, on Elm. He'd read my last blog and saw that was the one peg I wanted to avoid. So in went his hand, into the bag, had a rustle around, and his sticky fingers brought out... peg 1. Lots of laughter from the other 15 blokes  I used to consider as mates! I might mave moaned a bit.

Peg 1, Elm
Then someone said that peg 1 had won the Friday Old, Codgers match with 100 lb. Then Roy Whitwell said yes, it had - but hthe winner was casting to the far bank with a feeder for most of his fish, and I couldn't do that today because...Roy Whitwell would be sitting there. So I had to make do with what has been called by others 'the worst peg on the complex.' 

Then, blow me, when I got to the swim, pegs 1 and opposite on 24 were almost flat calm, and the sun was shining, while a couple of pegs down a lovely big wave was being churned up by the stiff South-Westerly wind. And everyone knows how I love a piece of raspberry ripple, especially in the sun.

Sun and calm water - not a good combination. That's Roy Whitwell sitting opposite.
My main swim was in the reflection of the aerator at nearly 13 metres.

Early bites on a feeder
I earmarked four pole swims - out at 13 metres towards the aerator; a shallow swim at 2+3 next to the end bank on my right; a simple 2+3 in front of me; and the deep water two metres from the bank to my left, where I remembered I had caught fish previously on this peg. 

But first I started on the feeder with three dead red maggots in a hybrid feeder with micros, cast to the middle. That made a nasty splash so after ten minutes without a knock I changed it for a medium-sized Method feeder, the Preston ICS system meaning it took only secons to change. That entered the water with a nice small 'plop.'

A big fish. Wey-hey
First cast and I had a bite, hooked what seemed like a small fish, and two seconds later it came off. Second cast and I hit a bigger fish which also came off immediately. Third cast and a big fish threatened to take me round the post holding the aerator; I hung on, gritted my teeth, and mercifully the fish missed the post. Several minutes later I landed a beautiful 9 lb common carp, best of the day. Off the mark! And I changed the 18-inch landing net for a larger 20-inch model, because in that wind getting it into the net had been a bit hairy.

Next fish was a chunky 3 lb F1, and then I had a long spell with nothing. Opposite me Roy couldn't get even a liner, and eventually, at exactly the same time, we tried the pole. I went out to almost 13 metres where I had put in sicros and corn, fishing a flattish area a little shallower than the deepest spot, hoping that there wouldn't be as much silt there. With a 0.75 Tuff-Eye float and corn on the hook I had a fish fairly quickly - a 2 lb bream.

I kept looking longingly to my left, where they all had a lovely Raspberry Ripple.

Hemp and caster
Then came a 2 lb barbel on the corn, and immediately I started putting in hemp and casters, which I know barbel love. I probably wasn't going to do any good catching just barbel, but a) they are better than nothing, and b) they are very active fish, and if they started to root around for the casters it could attract carp. The water was still almost flat calm, but putting bait out was difficult as the wind blew my pole around as I shipped it out in my big pot.

I changed the hook bait to a bunch of five dead red maggots on the size 12 hook. I hooked one up the hook,one through the blunt end, two through the middle, and one through the pointy end. It ended looking absolutely horrible - a mess - because I've seen what maggots hooked all through the blunt end look like. They are quite un-natural. Mine looked like a bit like small ragged piece of meat.

A mixed bag
Anyway, that bait worked for me. I foulhooked a barbel, being left with a tiny silver scale. Then I landed a three or four carp around 5 lb, plus a 4 lb barbel, and another two bream. I had to fish three or four inches overdepth and gently pull the bait towards me, wait 30 seconds, and pulll it another few inches until the float was only a pimple on the surface. Bites saw it only just disappear - they were tiny bites indeed. After a dead spell I had a look in the other three pole swims and never had a touch of any kind; nor anything back on the feeder.

 So it was back to the pole, where I hooked a huge bream which shot straight out of the water and promptly threw the hook. One more bream came from the original swim, and I went into the deeper water just two metres to the left, having changed the orange tip which showed up against the reflection of the aerator for a black one now I was fishing in open water.

That move saw another bream, about 4 lb, and two smallish carp in the last half hour. I estimated I had between 50 lb and 60 lb - more than I had expected when I sat down. I had seen an occasional fish landed by the anglers to my left on the opposite bank, and had no real idea whether my catch was good or bad. But I was happy.

     Bob Barrett - 29 lb 15 oz, from peg 18.     

The weigh in
I had four rigs to put away, plus the rod, and it was slow because there's a small step down to the platform here, and I have to be so careful when stepping down. So  I hadn't put everything away when the scales came to me, as first to weigh. The first net went 43 lb and the last three fish, in my second net, weighed 13 lb - totalling 57 lb 11 oz. I then put my trolley into the van and  missed the first half of the weigh in.

When I caught them up on the opposite bank I saw why I had missed so many weighs -  the catches were quite small, and I was actually winning! Then came Peter Spriggs, who won Spratts' first match last week...and today he did the same.  He caught 91 lb 2 oz from peg16 and won again, taking his fish mainly on 2+3 on cat meat in front of him. Very well done, Pete the Meat.

Peter Spriggs won with a cracking catch on
a difficult day - 91 lb  2 oz, on cat meat.

No-one else beat me, so I ended second and the other top-five weights came from the last few pegs on my bank, in the wind. I noted that the carp I saw being weighed tended to be bigger than mine were - typically averaging around 7 lb. 

Marks out of ten
I sort of scrapped around, never managing to get two carp quickly. And I am certain that the hemp and caster kept fish interested. Most of my fish came within minutes of putting in bait, which was quite hard work in the wind. Even so I used less than a pint of casters, and less than a tin of hemp, which was probably about right on a day when the fish were never queueing up to be caught. I give myself 9/10.

I perhaps should have tried mussel in the main swim, as it's a soft bait and I got the impression that the fish were feeding only half-heartedly, perhaps feeling the the bait before actually holding it between their lips. Every fish was hooked very lightly in the lip. Roy Whitwell opposite had three on a pole for 20 lb 12 oz, and I was chuffed to beat him.

Next two matches are on Six-Island or Four Island, and I am trying to decide whether I should start on my short tops on Six-Island as it's quite shallow. But will there be enough elastic if I hook double-figure fish? If the forecast is correct the water should be a lot warmer after several days of sun, so big weights could be on the cards. However Trevor has slyly suggested that if I say I don't want the pegs 21 and 23 in Wednesday's match, which are narrow, opposite islands, or 24 or 25, then he will again manage to ensure they are the ones I get.

OK - I don't want pegs 6 to 14!

THE RESULT

24 Roy Whitwell      20 lb 12 oz         1 Mac Campbell    57 lb 1 oz       2nd
22 Martin Parker      22 lb 8 oz           3 Dave Hobbs        DNW
21 Peter Harrison     37 lb 8 oz           4 Trevor Cousins    32 lb 15 oz
19 Kevin Lee            25 lb 12 oz         6 Neil Paas             24 lb 8 oz
18 Bob Barrett          29 lb 15 oz          7 John Garner        21 lb 8 oz
16 Peter Spriggs       91 lb 2 oz    1st    9 Mike Rawson     22 lb   
15 Graham Ward     44 lb 13 oz  5th    10 Dick Warrener    44 lb 15 oz  4th
13  Mick Ramm      27 lb 8 oz              12 Bob Walker         45 lb 7 oz    3rd

Big fish on Oak in a big wind

Peg 10, Oak, Decoy, Sun Mar 15
Some sun at last, as I drove to this match, and several partridges flew across in front of me - the first I have seen this year, though pheasants have been numerous. Happy with Oak peg 10, which Roy Whincup described as 'the flier' when I drew it. Half of this JV match were on Oak and half on Yew, and Roy had given us the West banks, which meant that the howling wind was slightly at our backs. And yes, I had to agree that Oak 10 can be be a flier, it's roughly opposite pegs 20 and 21, which have won so many matches on Decoy.

Biggest handicap was the wind
But the wind made things so difficult. It's a long time since I fished in such conditions, and within an hour or two it increased so much that I could feel it getting under my box and lifting me up slightly. You had to anchor everything down, and wedge any unused pole sections securely. And because it was also quite cold I wasn't surprised that after almost 45 minutes of my fishing the pole at 2+3 I hadn't had a fish and I'd seen only one fish caught, somewhere to my left.

When the sun came out at the start, before the wind was at its worst,
the conditions were almost tolerable. Here's Peter Harrison in action.

So it was on to the feeder just as Peter Harrison, on my left, changed from feeder to pole. And he caught a nice carp! Then the angler on my right had one, and it was well over an hour after the start when I had my first wrap-round. That turned out to be a near-5 lb golden common which fought like a tiger. But at least I had a fish.

Somewhat unprepared for a bite
The next couple of hours saw me take four carp around 8 lb on my hybrid feeder with hair-rigged sweetcorn. I had to leave the rig in for 20-plus minutes most of the time, and one came while I was unprepared. I had to get up to grab some pole sections before they were blown in, and thought that while I was off my box I'd have a pee. I'd just unzipped my trousers when I saw my rod being pulled right round...the pee would have to wait! 

That fish came in, so no harm done. I might try that again instead of pouring out some coffee!

But in the meantime Peter Harrison, having had a couple more fish on the feeder, suddenly had a purple patch on the pole - three big carp in about 20 minutes, and a fourth one was lost. He was well out at about 2+4, and (I don't know how he was managing to hold his pole out in that wind; perhaps it's slightly thinner than my Browning Xitan).

If this video works you can see just how the wind was rattling the top lid of my side tray. And later the wind was worse.

Just one on mussel
Peter took another two or three on the pole while I managed just one, on mussel, on 2+2. Cat meat, which has been catching carp here recently, didn't bring me a fish, though I thought I had one or two touches. 

The 2 gm float with heavy wire stem, looked great in the waves, which now reminded me of what it used to be like fishing the Great Ouse Relief Channel. And I was sure the presentation was OK - I could hold the rig steady, or just left it go with the fierce undertow left to right. Then the rain started - steady but not heavy, and the temperature dropped again.

Ten minutes left and...
Ten minutes before the end I hit another good fish on feeder which I played to within a few metres of the bank before the hook pulled out! When the whistle went I picked up the rod, wound in a few turns...and promptly found myself playing another big fish, which also came off very quickly. So carp were obviously now gathering in that area. And Sod's Law dictated that now the wind had started to drop. I ended with six, and Peter had nine, with all his pole-caaught fish on cat meat. The angler on my right had three.

The weigh in
It was still raining as we weighed in, and I wasn't going to ask anyone to pose with their fish - I think after the battering we had taken we all wanted to get back into our vehicles and peruse the results. The first three anglers, I am told, never had a bite or a liner between them. Andy Mitchell had 63 lb, and Roy Whitwell on peg 8 had eight, I think, mainly on a medium-sized Method feeder with various-coloured pellets, for 76 lb 10 oz.

The three fish caught by angler on my right weighed 35 lb 11 oz  and my six went 48 lb 12 oz, which was sixth out of ten; Peter Harrison's nine went 82 lb 7 oz and he was second on the lake, won by Matt Martin on corner peg 15. This was his first match with JV, and he had three on the pole and nine on a hybrid feeder and dead reds, for a total on 108 lb 4 oz; well done indeed, Matt.

Marks out of ten
If I'd landed that fish which came off I would have proably had around 60 lb, so I can't beat myself up about not winning from a 'flier.; I'm actually happy I managed to get a respectable weight in those conditions, with those good anglers, so I award myself an easy 7/10.

Yew lake fished not quite so well. My next match is Tuesday on Elm, and the only peg I'd like to miss is peg 1, which can be poor, but on Decoy anything can happen. I have got used to fishing the feeder this Winter, which has often been the only viable method to use, so I have a lot more confidence in it even though I prefer the pole.

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!

 

John Knights with his 31 lb 12 oz.

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 the next day 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 which 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 opposite on 9, or corner pegs 15 or 16, or 30. Roy Whitwell did well on 30 I see, and top weight on Oak in the Winter Leeague was on 30. But strangely peg 1, opposite, is not as good in Winter, and I see Martin Parker struggled there in  this Spratts match.

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.