Fenland Rods last match, on Cedar

Peg 8, Sun, Oct 25
Our final match of the season is usually on Damson, but with Storm Boelo howling, it would have been in out faces, so we were able to move it to Cedar, giving us a back wind. (Thanks, Decoy). Even so it was hairy, and before we'd all got to our swims Roy Whitwell's rod and pole holdall was blown in, though he and Kevin Lee managed to get it back before it sunk.

Trolleys had to be wedged securely on the bank, though Frank Snow's trolley decided to take a walk towards the water; I played the part of hero, and grabbed it, wheeled it back, and laid it on its side. But the persistent gale led me to decide to fish the rod all day as I've lost too many pole sections blown into the water to risk trying to use it in that wind. Roy Whitwell two swims my right felt the same - though in the event he needed only his rod to thrash us all.

A rubbish first five hours
I managed to hook two fish in the first three hours on a little Method feeder and a wafter, but both came off; one close to my bank, and the other after a few seconds. Roy, though, had a fish or two in that time. A change to a maggot feeder brought me a half-ounce roach, and with no more fish for the next two hours, with ten minutes to go that was all I had in my net.

It doesn't look rough, but it really was. This was Roy's first fish of the day.

The brick wall
But Roy picked up speed in the second half of the match, and started finding good carp right across, also on a Method feeder and wafter. It was as though there was a brick wall between us which the feeding fish would not cross. I did hook one carp, obviously foulhooked, in that second part of the match. I played it for several minutes and never got it to within 20 metres of me before it pulled off. 

  Another one for Roy towards the end of the match.  

Ten minutes to go, and suddenly the rod pulled round...not a lot...and a 2 lb bream came in. Two minutes later a 7 lb carp did the same thing and ended in my net. I looked round and Frank, to my left, was landing his first and only fish; and to his left Dave Garner was also landing a fish; meanwhile, Roy had also just landed another. The fish were just coming on! Then the match finished. The story of my life.

Allan Golightly, wrapped up against
the wind,  with his single carp.

The weigh in
We started at peg 13, where Allan Golightly had one carp; Callum Judge had none; and Mike Rawson won that section with three carp form 21 lb 9 oz, taken earlier in the match on a feeder with an 8mm Robin Red pellet. 

Dave Garner on 10 had had three fish, all in the last half hour (we finished at 3.30 pm) for 22 lb 8 oz and the section, Frank's fish weighed 7 lb 5 oz and my three (don't forget the half-ounce roach) were 9 lb 5 oz.

Section winner Mike Rawson.

Then the top three weighed in. Roy had a magnificent 90 lb 11 oz; Martin Parker had had occasional fish all match for his 39 lb 13 oz; and Kevin Lee had fished pole and feeder (though not together) and had all his 61 lb 8 oz on the pole and cat meat.

Finally, on end peg 2 Mel Lutkin had two for 7 lb 3 oz, winning his section by treble default. I had made the end section a four-man one, fully expecting the best weights to some towards that end. In the event the best anglers in the club drew them anyway.

Winner Roy Whitwell weighs in
one of his nets, all taken on feeder.

So ended our final match and we adjourned to the open-air cafe for our end-of-season presentations, having found previously that the JV anglers make so much noise in the cafe after their match that you can't hear yourself think. Sorry, lads, but it's the truth. See you next week when I start fishing your matches...be gentle with me.

Marks out of ten
Actually I think I fished my best match of the season. I rang lots of changes as far as bait were concerned, loaded the feeder perfectly every time, cast pretty accurately, often landing just inches from the far bank (which was where Roy picked up a lot of his fish), and managed to get the feeder almost under one of the platforms opposite. I felt I couldn't have done much more. In additon nothing blew in! That was a bonus. So as a parting shot I give myself 10/10. And that's a first.

Here's the result, followed by the season's winners.

THE RESULT

The Club Cup (first match of the season) went to Kevin Lee.

The Bedford Cup (today's match, fished in hounour of Les Bedford, who actually died at Decoy after fishing a match) went to Roy Whitwell.

The Handicap medals (fished on Crow, at Pidley) went to Mel Lutkin (1st); Kevin Lee (2nd); Roy Whitwell (3rd) And that's the seventh placing for Mel in the seven years we've fished that match!

Shield for the biggest fish went to Dick Warrener, 19 lb 5 oz carp from Beastie.

And finally the Top Rod (our Champion) went to the Wizard Roy Whitwell for the second year in a row. Well done, indeed Roy. Kev Lee was runner-up, Callum third, and I was fourth.

L-r Roy Whitwell; Kevin Lee; Mel Lutkin; Dick Warrener.
The medals are the Handicap Match medals.

THANKS

No club continues to run without the members helping out. And although I do the bookings each year, and make occasional decisions, we rely on Kevin Lee, our treasurer, in particular. He takes the pools, pays them in, keeps the Golden Peg going, acts as our timekeper on the bank, and weighs in every match. Of course he gets help weighing in, always from Dick Warrener and Roy, and other members if needed.

Meanwhile Allan Golightly and Mel Lutkin are tasked with deciding which pegs we fish if we have a choice (today they decided to put all 13 pegs 1-13 in the bag). And we all abide by their decision. And Mel Lutkin is responsible for collating the results of every match and announcing the winner after the match match of the season. Thanks for that, Mel.

Most of all my thanks goes to all our members for turning up, and helping whenever they can. That's why it's such an easy-going, happy club. And we can accept more. If there are locals near Whittlesey or Peterborough who would like to try us out, contact me on 07941 291076. Mac Campbell.

We move the clocks back tonight!

 Just a reminder! ^^

Horrendous headwinds and rain greeted the Spratts anglers on Wednesday on Damson; I couldn't fish. Most of the fish were caught on feeder, or on pole in the deep water. Bad weights indeed. Here's the result:

4 Peter Harrison        14 lb 7 oz        4th
5 Mick Ramm        DNW
6 Martin Parker        25 lb 7 oz        1st
7 Kevin Lee            19 lb 2 oz        3rd
8 Graham Ward        DNW
9 Roy Whitwell        14 lb 6 oz        
10 John Garner        9 lb 9 oz
11 Trevor Cousins        7 lb 3 oz
12 Bob Barrett        DNW
13 Peter Spriggs        20 lb 9 oz        2nd

Tomorrow (Sunday) see Fenland Rods' last match, and the presentations. Rain is not, at the moment, forecast during the match hours, but the winds will be nasty on Damson. If the anglers wish, I will ask on the morning if we can move to one of the strips, with back wind.

I get bad wind on Six-Island

Peg 25, Tues, Oct 13
I was happy enough with peg 25 in this Spratts match, as at the draw it was obvious that it would have the wind blowing straight into it, giving me some raspberry ripple. BUT when we got fishing that wind was stronger than I had realised. To my right Martin Parker had a little shelter from the island in front of him, but by the end that didn't seem to have done him any good.

I started by fishing a straight bomb and wafter at about 20 metres, without a touch. The wind was now not particularly cold, and carp were showing on the surface in places, so I though a big weight might be on. I'd also found a nice hard bottom about 6 metres out, so after the bomb I went onto the pole, with five dead reds over hemp and dead reds.

Gudegeon!
That produced a gudgeon, then another, then another, then a tiny perch. All on five dead maggots on a 12. Then the rain started, and how it blew! It was back to a feeder as it would have been almost impossible to even see a float; I glanced across to Martin and he was like me - head down facing the howling rain, peering at the rod tip. But mine never budged.

Half an hour later it stopped and I went back to catching gudgeon, all the while expecting a carp to appear...but one never did. So it was now into the margins, and suddenly I foulhooked a 4 lb carp, which ended in my net. But the match was now halfway through and I took a walk along the bank. The wind was the same, but it seemed a little less along there.

Dick lands his last carp after the whistle (actually a shout).

Worm for me
Martin had what I think was an F1; Dick had two carp I think, and John on peg 20 had just landed his second, taking both on worm. So when I went back I put on worm, and stayed on it for most of the rest of the match, mainly in the left margin. But it wasn't until 2.30 that I had another fish, a near-10 lb carp. Then a five-pounder; then another big one foulhooked; and then another smaller one.

I catch an orphan carp
Presentation was a nightmare, with the wind still gusting very hard, and an undertow away from the bank and left to right. No fish came from right against the reeds, where there wre a lot of snags, while floating reeds coming into the swim made things even more difficult. But I did manage several more fish on the six-metre line, all on dead maggots on a size 12 hook, including one small carp, which must have been an orphan because the rest of his family never showed. By the end I thought I had about 32 lb.

The match ended and Dick was playing another carp on peg 22, taking just out on top two plus one. He had side wind, so that must have made things really difficult for him. I had no idea what the others had, but as always in Summer and Autumn I fancied peg 6 to so well, as it has magnificent margins.

Kevin Lee's best carp was probably over 15 lb.

The weigh in

I thought Mike Rawson had done well on peg 3 with 9 lb 14 oz, condsidering he had the wind whistling down between the bank and the island. But round the corner the weights soared, and Kevin Lee had 113 lb 15 oz on peg 6 despite also having a head wind. On the opposite bank Roy Whitwell winkled 93 lb 10 oz from peg 13 for second. I was last to weigh, with 1 lb 13 oz of the small stuff, total 34 lb 11 oz.

Marks out of ten
Actually I thought I had done well from that swim. And to rub salt into the wounds, as I was packing up the wind dropped for a minute or so, and I could see swirls of fish somewhere under the surface in the left margin swim I had been fishing! I give myself 8/10, although I finished nowhere. I actually don't think I had a chance of winning in that swim on that day.

THE RESULT

3 Mike Rawson        9 lb 14 oz
4 John Garner          24 lb 6 oz
6 Kevin Lee            113 lb 15 oz         1st
8 Bob Barrett           37 lb 8 oz
9 Trevor Cousins    78 lb 2 oz            3rd
11 Mick Ramm       37 lb 14 oz
13 Roy Whitwell     93 lb 10 oz        2nd
14 Peter Spriggs       55 lb 7 oz         4th
18 Graham Ward        3 lb 11 oz
20 John Smith            11 lb 10 oz
22 Dick Warrener      20 lb 8 oz
24 Martin Parker         DNW
25 Mac Campbell     34 lb 11 oz 

Leaqving it late on Cedar

Peg 2, Cedar, Sun, Oct 11
There was a cold wind blowing at the start of this Fenland Rods match, and some of the anglers preferred to fish back wind. Personally I would nearly always choose to fish the opposite bank of Yew lake, where the margins are better and the reed growth thicker. And especially if the ripple was over that side (which it was). But as chairman I made the decision to fish back wind; it's a club, and it's my job to satisfy as many people as I can.

That meant that we all set up with calm water in front of us, though most started on a feeder cast across into the ripple. With nothing coming on that, I ten went out into the shallowest water I could find at about 3 ft 6 in,  with a pole, as the wind was losing some of its bite, and I expected fish to be in shallower wateer. That, though, also yielded nothing. Pushing out the pole to 13 metres I found five feet of water...but still no bites.

I do an "Ivan Marks"
After a couple of hours, with nothing in my net, I did a walk along, and there were a very few fish caught towards the far end (the higher numbers). Dick Warrener was the nearest to me with a carp, on peg 5. I then managed to foulhook a four-pounder in my left margin, and that was all I had at the halfway point. 

As I walked back from the end peg Martin Parker hooked into his second fish.

Not huge, but very welcome on the day.

Fish in my swim!
It was not until well past two o'clock that I started getting touches on my Special method, so at least I knew that there were fish in the swim. In went some dead maggots and with four or five deads on the hook I managed to winkle out four more carp - two of them around 10 lb - before the end of the match, also losing two foulhooked.

And although that first fish had come from the left margin, which I kept looking in, all the rest came from the right, and all on dead maggots. Meat and mussel didn't get a touch, though I admit I didn't try them for long. And by the end the temperature had gone right up, so the opposite bank would have been very nice to fish, with a ripple.

To my right Callum had four late fish, and I thought that he had probably beaten me (I actually thought I saw him playing five - perhaps he lost one).

Nice to see a tench, caught by Callum.

The weigh in

The word from the anglers walking past me to their cars was that Mike Rawson had several big fish, with the first possibly near 20 lb. But Callum was first to weigh, and to my astonishment  had only 10 lb 3 oz, which included two small tench. I'd assumed his fish were all bigger than mine. My five fish went 31 lb 11 oz; Allan Golightly hadn't had a single fish; but Dick Warrener had 40 lb 6 oz, all taken on a feeder, mainloy in the second half. So I knew that unless he finished in the top three I hadn't won the four-peg section.

    Mel Lutkin on peg 7 caught a common    
we weighed at over 17 lb.

As I followed the scales it appeared that there were a few more fish willing to bite towards the far end, where the water seemed to be shallower. Mike hadn't got a fish near 20 lb, but weighed in 64 lb 7 oz, to lead at that point. However on end peg 14 Roy Whitwell beat him by the equivalent of one fish, taking 67 lb 1 oz to the scales for a very hard-earned win, taken on feeder early on and in the margins late.

  Mike Rawson had just eight carp on  
 pole for 64 lb 7 oz.

Several anglers took all, or almost all of their fish, in that last hour. And I suppose that's what will happen now, as temperatures fall. However, it was generally agreed that we would have caught more from the opposite bank.

Marks out of ten
Actually I felt I had winkled out as much as I could on a difiuclt day, so I give myself 9/10 because I didn't make any stupid mistakes. I didn't overfeed, and felt that I felt just enough to draw fish in without making them suspicious. Who knows?

THE RESULT

A big catchup

I'm a bit behind, lads. Partly due to my last fortnight being concentrated on my lung cancer radiation, which has gone according to plan. So here are the bare details of the matches I have missed:

Sept 25, Spratts match on Elm, Decoy.
Kevin Lee won with 153 lb 12 oz - meat at ten metres and them close in, with carp to 9 lb. Trevor Cousins was second with fish to 8 lb in the margins, also on cat meat, and Martin Parker was third with fish on bomb and pellet, followed by some in the margins.

THE RESULT

East bank                                                        West bank     

23 Bob Barrett          47 lb7 oz        4th       2 Martin Parker      60 lb 10 oz  3rd
21 Mick Ramm         12 lb 11 oz                4 John Garner          17 lb
19 Kevin Lee            153 lb 12 oz   1st      6  Graham Ward      12 lb 7 oz
17 Trevor Cousins      63 lb 5 oz    2nd      8 Dick Warrener     10 lb
15 Neil Paas               42 lb 1 oz                 10 John Smith         32 lb 14 oz
13 Mike Rawson        DNW                       12 Roy Whitwell     38 lb 14 oz

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Sept 27, Fenland Rods, Beastie (Rover)

I made this a rover, on pegs 1 to 18 because those pegs include the 17 on the spit, plus 18, all of which have fairly flat banks behind them; most of the other pegs on Beastie have steps down, and that cause difficulty for aome of our members (including me).

So I had decided to fish pegs 18, 2 or 14 if I had the chance - all pegs I have done well off, and nice platforms. I had a handicap, though - a bad right foot. I've had hot toes there for years, but suddenly the whole of the front of that foot started to hurt, and overnight my big toe swelled up, went red, and also hurt. Typical gout. I Googled it and found that radiation can exacerbate it, which is what I suspect happened. 

Any way, I hobbled about, walking stick in hand, and insisted the members come to me for the section pools. And while in the car park Tony Evans told me he had recently won off peg 7 on Beastie, and he told me where he fished. I know, however, that it's a bit of a climb down there - the last thing I needed with a dodgy foot.

So why, when I picked out peg 1 from the bag, giving me first choice, did I do something as stupid as a stupid Member of Parliament (of which there are many) with an Honours Degree in Stupidity at the University of Incompetence? I chose peg 7!

And yes, it was a nightmare getting down there and back up a dozen times as I assembled my gear. And no, it wasn't really worth it, as I ended with 39 lb 4 oz for eighth place out of ten. All I could catch were bream and the occasional F1 on corn, plus one 3 lb carp from the left margin, which was where Tony Evans had won his match. 

The wind was all wrong - a really stiff left to right, and it wasn't until 20 minutes from the end that I started to feel I was going to catch well. In that last 20 minutes Roy Whitwell on my left had three big carp and lost one, to completely overtake me. I had three or four late F1s and was playing a big fish when the match ended, only for it to snag me solid in the margin. I had to break the rig.

 Dick's 19 lb 5 oz carp - a fish to remember.

Dick Warrener has almost certainly won our club award for the biggest fish with a 19 lb 5 oz whopper he landed on peg 14. I took no pictures as that last fish put me behind packing up, and the gout slowed me right up packing away, and climbing up and down the bank, as you can imagine. My own fault - I could have had the pick of any of the pegs and undoubtedly picked the hardest one to navigate. Roy took a picture just of the big carp; thanks, Roy. 

Dave Garner won from peg 13, on the back of the spit with over 100 lb. It's not been the best of seasons for Dave, so I was delighted he won it, using his usual waggler tactics.

THE RESULT

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Sat, Sept 3, Fenland Rods on Horseshoe lake, Float Fish Farm

A depleted turn-out of six , partly due to the fact that the fishing is different to Decoy - not as many big fish, and generally smaller weights, and meat and mussel are not allowed (although I was told by local matchman that they do, in fact, use mussel there). It's not being able to use a big sinking bait to attract those big margin fish that has caused several to not come to this venue. Paste is a static bait, whereas often the better fish need the stimulant of a bait moved or twitched.

Halfway through the match Callum on
 peg 3 found a 5 lb carp in the margins.

However I don't mind the difference - more bites from smaller fish. I picked out peg 1, which is the 'flier'. There was no ripple, though - flat calm on the three pegs on our side of the lake. Hardly a fish was taken on feeder or bomb ( I never had a touch for nearly an hour), and I found the little carp, recently stocked, on a pole near the reeds on very small pieces of corn, and then on expander. 

A multi-coloured Koi

My fish were mainly from 4 oz to 6 oz, with the ocasional carp to 2 lb coming late. I also had a cracking multi-coloured mirror, which I had the greatest difficulty in netting as I had my 18-inch landing net up, and the fish was really too big for it. On about the seventh attempt I managed to get its head in, and jiggle it down, though even then its tail was laying over the rim. It was somewhere around double figures.

Callum with the carp.  He later had another
which was somewhere around 10 lb.  

That brought my catch up to 33 lb 10 oz for third out of the six of us. Mark Ramm won with a similar catch to mine - small carp plus the occasional better fish - with 37 lb 1 oz. So it was fairly tight at the top. I wasted a lot of time trying to catch carp which I knew were in my left margin - I foulhooked two and lost them. If I had carried on catching the smaller fish I would definitely have won. Decisions, decisions.

The good news was that, in winning, Mark stopped Kevin Lee picking up the Golden Peg money; Kev finished second just 1 lb 4 oz behind Mark. A low weight day, but I really enjoyed the match. And I now definitely know that there are big fish there.

Decisions

I now have to decide whether I should book matches there in 2028 if so few are willing to fish there. I estimate that about eight or nine is the maximum that will go (some of those were away for this one). I could probably book Trev's lake at Head Fen, but then some will refuse to travel. That's disappointing, especially as Mike Rawson takes the best part of an hour to travel from St Neots to our matches at Decoy.

My beautiful ten-pounder.

Kevin Lee with two of his bream.

THE RESULT

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Spratts match on Yew, Decoy

Another match I had to miss, as I was playing two bowls matches. It was won by Kevin Lee, yet again, who fished mainly meat close in. Peter The Paste was second, taking some fish on his favourite bait, plus some on meat, while Neil Paas had some om pellet and others on meat.

My next match is also on Yew, and with rain forecast before then there's the possibility that it will stir things up a bit. At least on Yew you know you are targetting mainly big fish, so the priority is not to lose those you do hook.

East bank                                                West bank

26 Trevor Cousins  28 lb 6 oz                 3 Graham Ward    40 lb 11 oz 4th
24 Neil Paas        41 lb 6 oz      3rd        5 Dick Warrener        DNW
22 Mike Rawson      DNW                     7 Roy Whitwell    33 lb 13 oz
20 Bob Barrett        24 lb 7 oz                9 Kevin Lee        100 lb 15 oz 1st
18 Peter Spriggs    70 lb 2 oz   2nd       11 Peter Harrison    30 lb 4 oz
16 Bob Walker        38 lb 8 oz              13 Mick Ramm    DNW
                                                              15 John Garner    39 lb 1 oz

Oak and Kingsland

Spratts on Oak

Thursday, Sept 17 saw a Spratts match on Oak which I wasn't able to fish. Yet again Roy Whitwell led the field, with 122 lb 13 oz from peg 7, using his usual Method feeder and pellet. Organiser Trevor Cousins also used Method, with a wafter for his 104 lb 12 oz runner-up catch, with Martin Parker third, also taken on feeder.

All-round it looks like a nice result for them - there are still, obviously, plenty of fish willing to feed in Decoy. Fishing right across to the far bank apparently paid off for the top three, but John Smith told me that towards the end he found carp right against the bunch of reeds to his left, on peg 9. Let's hope the first frosts hold up for a few weeks.

THE RESULT

2 Martin Parker            90 lb 2 oz         3rd
3 Kevin Lee                    68 lb 7 oz        5th
4 Dick Warrener            44 lb 15 oz     10th
5 Graham Ward            6 lb 5 oz         15th
6 Neil Paas                    64 lb 13 oz      7th
7 Roy Whitwell         122 lb 13 oz        1st
8 Bob Barrett                15 lb 5 oz       12th
9 John Smith                66 lb 15 oz        6th
10 Bob Walker            71 lb 1 oz            4th
11 Mick Ramm            20 lb                 11th
12 Mike Rawson        49 lb 2 oz            8th
13 Dave Hobbs            DNW
14 Trevor Cousins        104 lb 12 oz    2nd
15 Peter Spriggs            45 lb 8 oz        9th

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Peg 3, Kingsland small carp lake

Fenland Rods went to Kingsland, to fish the small carp lake - our first visit since Heidi and Dominic took over. Nice new keepnets were given to us, and the 13 of us started in bright sunshine with a bit of a breeze, while all over the lake we could see carp hanging just under the surface.

There was no ripple on our side, and as the sun went round, our  swims started to be in the shade; while opposite I actually saw Kevin Lee taking off his jumper as he basked in the sun.

But as we half-expected, the better carp didn't want to feed. I started in just a grain of corn, with two or three potted in about six metres out, and eventually I had some knocks. It took half an hour to get my first fish, a carp of about 1 lb. Three more followed, plus some very small fish a few ounces each, and then a real elastic-stretcher which turned out to be a 5 lb carp foulhooked. But it ended in the correct place - my keepnet.

They wus frit

Every time I flicked a grain of corn to one of the many fish hanging in my swim they took fright and turned away. I expected that they would start feeding at some time in the day, so determined to keep looking in the margins; I spent a minute or two there. but still had only knocks from tiny fish, some of which were foulhooked. There must be millions there.

Bright sun, but no ripple on our side, greeted us. Mel Lutkin, 
opposite on 15, said his swim was black with carp just under the surface.
Spoiler: Mel ended with only 1 lb 13 oz - mainly small stuff.

I walked up to John Smith after an hour or so, to see that there was hardy a fish caught between me and him; yet John said he had about 25 lb. You could have knocked me down with a feather. What he didn't tell me (and he told me after the match) was that he had mugged these nice fish of 5 lb-plus with mussel.

He was plopping the mussel in and dragging it  along under the surface and if the fish showed interest he let it fall and the fish went down and took the bait. Why hadn't I done that?

S-l-o-w sport

Back to my swim and nothing better happened - I would get a 1 lb-plus carp every 20 minutes, but at least I was catching comething. To my left Stephen Thompson was struggling for a fish. Then a 3 lb carp took a grain, but that was my only 'better' fish.

Two hours to go and Stephen packed up, but I soldiered on, fully expecting the bigger carp to come in and feed. I noticed that as they drifted around they were coming closer to the bank, and with half an hour to go one actually swam along the margin and under my platform. But in the side I still got only those little tiddlers knocking the bait, and the occasional 1 lb fish.

The better fish never did start feeding. I tried paste, and funnily enough I didn't get even the little knocks on that. Cat meat and mussel were gradually  nippled away to nothing. Corn was the only bait I caught on. Perhaps should have put on a hard pellet, but I took the view that the better fish just didn't want to feed.

The weigh in

I was first to weigh my measly 27 lb 15 oz, as Stephen on peg 2 had long gone. I assumed I would probably be last of the rest, but to my amazement the next three managed only 16 lb 8 oz between them! Then John, last on our bank, took 40 lb 8 oz to the scales; obviously he hadn't had many more fish after I had visited.

The winner was Kevin on peg 11. He had had a good last hour or two mugging those bgetter fish with cat meat. He would drop in, fishing about 18 inches deep, and sometimes the fish would go down and snaffle the cat meat. Sometimes they wouldn't, but enough did to enable Kev to weigh in a winning 70 lb 11 oz.

The results show how difficult it was, especially at my end of the lake. So I was content with winning my section of four. The funny thing was that I could actually see some of those fish sucking in tiny pinpoints of something just under the surface. No idea what it was, or whether they spat it out again. But they never went for any of the floating leaves or other stuff actually on the surface. Surface fishing is banned now, so I didn't get a chance to try floating pellet, which used to take fish, sometimes.

Next match is our Fenland Rods rover on Beastie, where I hope to include pegs 1 to 18, as they offer nice platforms, with no steps, on the spit. I've been trying to ring Karen to check that, but no reply so far.

THE RESULT

I was not on another end peg! I was on peg 3, with Stephen on 2.
 Honestly. You can't get the staff now, you know...

Two matches on Willows

Peg 23, Willows, Wed, Sep 9
For a change, in this Spratts match I was given the one peg I really fancied. Peg 23 is often not put in, but it has an aerator to the right and the only time I ever fished there I won with fish from next to it. I remember, though, that it was very snaggy and every few casts I retrieved various-sized twigs and branches. It was the same this time, but there were fish there again.

The first minor problem was that there was a breeze coming in from the right, so perfect presentation was difficult. I used a 0.5 gm float, but afterwards I thought that a 1 gm rig would have enabled me to hold it in place more easily. 

A nice breeze at the start, but I needed to keep the bait close to that aerator.

I started out a metre from the aerator with a 6mm expander over micros and had a few knocks, eventually bringing in a nice roach. A shift right up to the pole holding the aerator saw a bite and the elastic shot out under the aerator; but with the pole dipped down well under the surface the 2 lb F1 came straight back, and into my waiting landing net.

My opponents were catching...
To my left there was splashing from both Neil Paas' and John Garner's swims, and the fish seemed to be bigger than mine. In fact they probably weren't, but the other bloke's fish always look bigger, don't they?

Over the next hour or so another half-dozen F1s up to 3 lb took corn but then there was a bit of a lull. Moving back out away from the aerator  and then back right to its edge saw one or two more, but mid-match I must have gone 90 minutes with only the occasional roach. Then bites started again, but it was slow work.

Hard work
I really enjoyed fishing for that one bite; lifting or dragging the bait to induce a take; and after a lot of work a fish would eventually come in. I didn't lose any, which was very satisfying, although those F1s were turbocharged.

In the last hour I saw swirls from 'proper' carp near the margins where I had put in a little corn and hemp. A couple of times I hit fish on cat meat, only to come back with a scale. Then a 3 lb mirror, hooked in the mouth (only just) came in, and I almost wish it hadn't, because I wasted more time trying for another. Without success. That was my only proper carp, but I lost another couple, foulhooked.

A late flurry
The last few minutes saw me go back to corn near the aerator and two more F1s were my reward. I wish I hadn't gone into the margins, because although the bites were finicky, I reckon I could have had another six or eight F1s fishing to the aerator. 

Peter Harrison had a mixture of 
sizes in his first net. The second
held three carp for 31 lb.

I thought I had about 40 lb. Right at the end Neil Paas had landed a fish which was definitely bigger than any of mine; about 5 lb. It was only afterwards that he told me it had been foulhooked. I guessed both he and John had beaten me.

The weigh in
Peter Spriggs had 57 lb from peg 1, which included some proper carp. Then Peter Harrison on peg 3 brought in his nets, and there were some good fish there - his last net held three for 31 lb; total 77 lb 6 oz. 

Next was Graham Ward on 15, who had feedered his way to 55 lb 3 oz, and they turned out to be the top three. As we moved round towards the higher numbers there were precious few carp - most were F1s.

Graham Ward's 55 lb 3 oz
was taken mainly on feeder.

To my amazement my 44 lb 4 oz beat both Neil and John, and Roy Whitwell on 29 was the only other person to beat me, with 47 lb 5 oz. So I ended fifth out of 12, and I think I could have finished an easy second if I hadn't wasted time in the margins.

Marks out of ten
Although I didn't frame I had managed to winkle out F1s among the twigs and branches. So I had made the right decisions, but should have carried on putting the occasional fish in the net. I wasn't to know that, of course; usually I can add bigger fish in that last hour. So I give myself 8/10 as I had put myself in the positon of actually coming second.

I have to miss the next couple of Spratts matches as I am in a bowls match for the next one, and radiation on my lung is beginning on Sept 21st for two weeks.

THE RESULT

1 Peter Spriggs            57 lb                2nd
3 Peter Harrison          77 lb 6 oz        1st
15 Graham Ward         55 lb 3 oz        3rd
19 John Garner           31 lb 6 oz
21 Neil Paas               42 lb 3 oz
23 Mac Campbell       44 lb 4 oz
25 Mick Ramm            8 lb 12 oz
27 Bob Barrett           20 lb 5 oz
29 Roy Whitwell        47 lb 5 oz        4th
31 Mike Rawson        16 lb 15 oz
33 Trevor Cousins      42 lb 15 oz
35 Kevin Lee             37 lb 3 oz

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

FENLAND RODS RESULT

Here's the result from a Fenland Rods match I had to miss.

After the Spratts match I thought there was a very good chance that some big weights might come from the first half of the lake, as that had held all the better carp.

Yet again Roy Whitwell showed everyone else a clean pair of heels from peg 14. But I don't have any details.