What did I do wrong?

Over 60s, Magpie Lake, Pidley, peg 11

It’s been difficult for everybody in February, because of the weather, and I’ve been no exception.  The same pegs had been dominating on Magpie, and 11 had not been doing much, though I was told someone had had four carp from it, on a straight lead cast to the reeds.

Conditions were good, with only a light breeze, but it was cold. Despite trying corn on a straight lead, my main pole attack with expander pellet at 13 metres, and a maggot swim in deep water near the right-hand margin, where I managed just two roach on maggot. Once when I lifted the rig up at 13 metres I foulhooked a carp about 18 inches off the bottom, but it came off after a few seconds. I plugged away there for the next 90 minutes with not even a liner.

Alan, on 13, to my left, managed three carp for 13 lb in the last hour and a half, for fifth. Opposite on 35 there was 35 lb for second, and it was won on 31 with 39 lb, fishing only about 8 metres out. I don’t know what else I could have done.

Open, Decoy, Yew peg 16

This was the last Sunday Open before the commercial part of the Winter League final, and there were 80 entered from all over the country. I managed a good draw in the far corner of Yew, with a strong breeze into me from the left. I put out a few grains of corn and some expanders in a cup at 13 metres and started on a straight lead with corn. Soon the angler opposite had a couple of carp to his left, into the end bank, and the angler on my left had one long – probably at 14 metres. Meanwhile I had not had a touch so I changed to the pole with an expander at 13 metres, which proved fruitless . Then after about 90 minutes I had a 4 lb carp on maggot close to the end reeds just off bottom. But no more followed, so it was back to expander pellet at 13 metres, and after another hour or so a 5 lb carp was in the net. Then it was a case of changing around, with two more carp from my righthand swim, as I got gradually colder and colder.

I tried a margin swim to my right on and off, but apart from one tiny touch – probably a liner – it produced nothing. Then I had two fish briefly pricked on the main maggot rig. In the last hour I lost three carp in succession – one long and the other two on the maggot rig. One of those was at least 7 lb, and none seemed foulhooked. I have to assume they were just hooked very lightly, as happens in cold water when they are just mouthing the bait.

Not happy, but it would have made no difference as my four fish went 22 lb 10 oz, for almost last on the lake. The other five anglers in my section – three opposite and two to my left – all weighed between 60 lb and 80 lb. Andy Geldart won my lake – and the Open – with 154 lb from a swim five to my left, opposite the bird hide. The swims on all four strips which are in line with the hide or just past it, tend to have an edge. Put a superstar like Andy on one of these when fish are willing to feed, and he’s always in with a good chance.

I was once told that a narrow strip of gravel runs through all the strips here, so that could be the reason fish like it. The whole area is littered with gravel pits, so it’s quite possible that explanation holds water.

Again, I don’t know what I did wrongly. My left margin was difficult, into the wind, and I didn’t fish it seriously. Perhaps I should have targeted it properly in the last hour. The angler on my left told me had had four fish late on in the margins. But when you’re cold making these big decisions is always difficult. I know this is rated as a good summer swim, and with the breeze into the corner I was hopeful at the start. I’ve never managed to draw it before, so at least I now have some idea of the layout.

I can’t beat myself up about coming last in my section – I just still feel privileged to be able to take part in a match with that class of angler.

Back in the old routine

After a few weeks of getting up in the morning to see the whole world covered in frost, an operation, and some follow-up treatment, I found a window in the Arctic conditions – according to the internet Sunday would see it up to 6 degrees, or 4 in the North-East wind. Bravely I checked my tackle on Saturday night, and took some dead maggots out of the freezer ready for a trip to Decoy. Unfortunately I forgot to take the live maggots from my fridge, so was going to have to buy half a pint at Decoy.

At Decoy by 8.30 am, and the Open already had 49 anglers in it – I was the fiftieth. It felt good to get back into a match atmosphere, meeting familiar faces from Wisbech, my old stamping ground, and seeing the Great and the Good preparing for the forthcoming Winter League Final (which will see half the competitors on Fen Drains and half at Decoy – 34 teams of 10 in total). They included some faces I knew but had never met, including Jon Arthur and Lee Kerry, who makes some extremely good You Tube videos in his garage telling about his latest matches. Then there was a good sprinkling of others practising for the Final – a high standard but I was just happy to be there.

The match was on Damson, Cedar, Oak and Yew, with five anglers in a section. I drew Oak 9, towards the slightly favoured end. I have been told in the past that that a strip of gravel runs across these strips about two-thirds of the way down, so I was near it (there are 15 pegs down each side of Oak).

Start was at 10.30 and I started, as I frequently do in Winter, with a straight leger and hair-rigged sweetcorn on a PR36 with quickstop. After the first cast, which produced just a few tiny liners – a mere twitch of the tip as fish off the bottom flicked the line – I put in a small amount of dead maggot, half-a-dozen pieces of corn, and a pinch of hemp at 13 metres. Another fruitless cast on sweetcorn and I went onto the pole line, using a 1 gm Tuff-Eye float and a piece of corn. Just a couple of tiny dips, which were obviously liners, so I changed to two maggots on a size 16 PR 478 hook.

I had plumbed up in front of me and was delighted to see that over a distance of about five yards going to my right the bottom shallowed up by about three inches. So I fished in front of me just off bottom, was at dead depth a little to the right, and could lay on to my far right. All of which produced nothing for 90 minutes. To make a change I swopped to a half-gram Tuff-Eye, but it made no difference.  So I stuck on the 14.5-metre section and two put-ins later had a proper bite, which resulted in a 5 lb mirror carp. I had not put in any more bait, but risked putting a bit more in at 13 metres with a bait-dropper, ensuring it got to the bottom. Then, after a fruitless half-hour here and at 14.5 metres I went back to the leger with two maggots.

Within five minutes a 3 lb carp took it – or so I thought, because it was actually hooked under the chin, but they all count! Meanwhile the angler to my right had had three carp, I think, on a pole at about 14 metres. Over the next hour or so he tried legering, and had a look in the side, as I did, but nothing was forthcoming there.

Then to my left on peg 11 Robert Edmondson started hitting fish – carp around 5lb or 6 lb - on a straight leger with a tail of about a foot – the same as me. I couldn’t see what he was using as bait – it looked white, so I thought it might have been a pop-up. But after an hour, during which time I tried fishing up to a foot off bottom with no result, I had another fish, at 13 metres, a 5 lb golden mirror  which I think was foulhooked somewhere at the back-end, on two white maggots, but in the net the hook fell out so I couldn’t see exactly where it had been. They don’t fight as much as in the summer, but the clear water meant they shy away from the landing net, and I was glad I recently purchased a long, slim, light Matrix handle which meant I could reach right out to them.

At this point I started shivering violently, because the North-Easterly, though not much more than a stiff breeze, was bitterly cold. Everyone I could see had their hoods up and were clearly suffering – not a word was being bandied about. That forecasted 4 degrees had been decidedly optimistic! I had managed to remember to bring a flask of boiling water, and a hot cup of beefy drink definitely revived me slightly. Then I just gritted my teeth for the next hour, and had a look in the side, where the tow was against the wind and enabled me to drag two maggots along the bottom or hold them still – but not a bite!

Almost opposite Robert, Bob Bates, from Wisbech, on peg 22, next to the bird hide, started hitting fish on a pole, fishing towards his right (away from me), while Robert also kept on catching every 10 or 15 minutes. With half-an-hour to go I put on a hair-rigged pop-up, set about a foot from the bottom, and almost immediately was playing a 3 lb carp. The bite was not a real wrap-round – the tip pulled round a little, jumped back, then pulled round a little more and I waited another two or three seconds before I struck. A very half-hearted bite, but I had cracked it! There was time for another three or four fish.

Err, actually, not for the first time, I hadn’t, and there wasn’t. No more fish for me. I was thinking: “I don’t believe it!”  Then the match ended. In club matches I am always the very last to pack up and leave the bank, but in Opens I get back to the car at roughly the same time as most of the others, which I quite enjoy. And it was so on this occasion. I still don’t know how club men manage to get everything away in the car while I’m still packing my holdall!

Along came the scales and my two five-pounders and two three-pounders went 24 lb! Obviously I should have gone to Specsavers; but I know I always under-estimate the weight of fish. Then I saw that the first three in my section had weighed 13 lb, 16 lb and DNW. Robert weighed in 91 lb, and reckoned that it should be good enough to frame (top five) so I might take the section by default.

Robert told me that he was using sweetcorn, and said: “The fish were just there. I didn’t do anything special. They don’t move at this time of year.” An honest assessment from man I have known for years. But you’ve still got to catch them! And Robert is a much better angler than he likes to make out. It was interesting that neither he, nor me, nor the angler on my right had a touch of any sort in the side.

Back at the car, Jon Whincup, on end peg 28 on Cedar, told me he had fish alongside the end bank, at about 12 metres, and near the side on both sides of him. The wind was blowing down towards his end at the car park, but it was so cold I hadn’t imagined it gave any advantage. In the end he was catching his fish a foot off bottom, on maggot, and estimated he had 85 lb. I fact he weighed in 91 lb 8 oz for fourth. Robert was fifth, so I took my section by default – a very pleasing outcome, especially in that sort of company.

The fish were well spread – first and third were on Damson, second on Yew 18, with Jon fourth and Robert fifth. Bob Bates, who sat opposite, to my left, ended with 71 lb on maggot. And there were good weights all round – I think I was in one of the worst sections. The standard of fishing there was just awesome. I know I am not in their league – but I like to think I can give them a run for their money!  It’s good to be back in the old routine.

Two and a half lessons learned

At the beginning of December there appeared a three-day mild spell, with temperatures up to a heady 8 degrees C, so I went to fish a Decoy Open. It was held on Elm and Cedar, with about 10 or 12 on each. My peg was Cedar, 22.

I can’t remember the exact details of the match, but three incidents stick in my mind. Firstly – I put out a straight leger with a soft piece of sweetcorn first cast and after five minutes or so a 2 lb F1 nearly took the rod in. I had set the clutch to give, so I picked up the rod, waited a second or two until I had gauged the size of the fish, and tightened down the clutch, flicking off the anti-reverse. Playing fish on the clutch brings terrible line twist, so I prefer to play them by backwinding.

Next cast, with another piece of sweetcorn, which had been frozen and thawed so it was very soft, the same thing happened – rod round, I pick it up, and…bang! I had forgotten to re-set the clutch and this fish, which felt really big, took off before I could do anything. Hooklength  gone. One lesson learned.  I laid the rod down and had a look on the pole, which gave me a few fish to 8 lb, fishing at 13 metres, in the next couple of hours.

Next incident came after I put an 18-inch hooklength back on the leger gear, thinking it would give a slower fall, which might be more appetising to a fish cruising off the bottom . Another wrap-round found me attached to a big fish, for at least ten minutes! I have to assume it was foulhooked, as after ten minutes I was nowhere near to seeing it start to tire.  I kept putting the rod tip under the water and holding it, so gradually it would come in towards me; but then it would be off again.

The crunch came when it was close to me, but started moving again to my left, about ten feet out and parallel to the bank. Rod tip was in the water, and the fish was dangerously close to the next platform; so I plunged the rod right down and held. I felt it stop, and then start to drift back towards me an inch or two. Suddenly, with no effort on the fish’s part, the line went slack. The hooklength had parted about halfway along.

Afterwards I think I worked out what happened. The fish was probably foulhooked somewhere on the right side of the mouth or head; it was moving to my left, so pushing the rod down would have brought the line, under tension, across it back. I suspect it then caught on the hook of the front spine of the dorsal fin and as the fish turned the line was cut as if it had been sliced with a razor blade. Half a lesson learned, I reckon – I will stick with my normal short hooklengths, so in the same scenario it will be the tough Maxima reel line which comes across the back of the fish. Half a lesson learned.

Finally, after three hours and a bit I reckoned I had a little over 30 lb, mainly on the pole, which was looking good because I hadn’t seen much else being caught; then my left-hand neighbour had a purple patch, landing about four good fish, probably 5 lb each, while I sat biteless. So with half-an-hour to go I got up, went to my holdall, and got out my 14.5-metre section. I can’t fish over 13 metres for a whole match, as I’m no longer young and the muscles give up eventually, but on it went to 14.5 metres (a true length as this is a Browning Z12). First put-in I got a 2 lb F1.

Next put-in a missed bite, then a better carp. And then another carp. All without my having put any feed in on the line at all! I weighed in 45 lb, which was top weight along the far bank and to my right; but my left-hand neighbour put 48 lb on the scales. Those two lost fish had cost me top weight on Cedar. So second on the lake…and I picked up not a penny! Elm produced the top five or six weights, topped by 128 lb, with several over 50 lb, and my neighbour won my section. No complaints – I’d had a good result, for me, and had an interesting day.

The third lesson was the most important. I will be more ready to push the boat (sorry, pole) out in future. But I will still probably leave 16 metres for fishing to a feature. If there’s plenty of bank behind, two rollers make it reasonably easy to fish 16 metres, but on most fisheries I go to  there is not that amount of room behind – and certainly not on the strips at Decoy, where it would be overhanging the lake behind.  Breaking the pole down twice, or even halfway , is a real pain at 16 metres, so I do it as little as possible.

Soft sweetcorn

I throw very little bait away, and always freeze unused sweetcorn after use. In a club match on Horseshoe, Decoy (peg 20) in November I found it was the only bait I could get proper bites on. A hard piece resulted only in a foulhooked F1, so I tried a soft piece and picked up odd fish all day, fishing at about 10 metres close to the lillies (which were still showing there in November, before the first freeze). Maggot brought a couple of tiny roach so I stuck with the corn, managing 40 lb, which was enough to win the match.

It sinks more slowly than hard corn, but whether it’s that which attracts the carp, or the fact that it is soft, I have no idea.  It worked, so I used it!

Was it the rig?

In the middle of the freeze I had a pleasure session at Rookery Waters,  Pidley, dobbing bread ie: no loose feed or groundbait – just suspending bread somewhere above bottom. Matches are being won doing that, picking off carp moving around off bottom.

I dropped in peg 1, and put out a small piece of bread punch at 10 metres near the lillies. Within a minute a 2 lb carp was on its way in. Now readers will think I’m strange, but at this point I had done what I wanted to do – prove to myself that it worked! Just to give me confidence. So I walked round to see an angler on peg 20 (nice swim with an overhanging tree) and another on peg 38 (which has been the most consistent peg this winter). I got back about 20 minutes later, put out the rig, and immediately got another carp.

At this point I do what I usually do when pleasuring – I took off the rig and put it in my box, knowing it worked. Then I put on another similar rig, except that this one had a lighter hooklength instead of being straight through. In the next 90 minutes I never had another bite on bread, though just before leaving I tried a couple of maggots and hooked two small roach on the bottom, and a rudd  fishing about a foot deep.

After two fish in two casts on the first rig I must assume that something on the second rig wasn’t right; but it’s still a mystery. Anyway, if I get back there and want to fish the same method the original rig will go back on.