Hot and frustrated by roach...again

Six-Island, Decoy, peg 14

This was a weekend club match, which took place on a very sunny, hot, day, though with a little bit of a cooling Westerly breeze. This lake in shaped like a capital L and peg 14 is on the bottom bank, one in from the corner of the L. I once took 175 lb from it, and have always had a soft spot for this swim, so was fairly happy with my draw, except that it was one of the pegs with very little ripple on it – the wind was mainly over my left shoulder across to peg 9 in the corner on the bank opposite to me, to my right. Got it?

Peg 1 here is top right corner of the L, with 4 in the inside corner, along to 9, then 10 to 15 along the botttom bank to the corner and 16 to 23 up the left hand bank, and 24 and 25 at the top end near the car park. Aerators were working around 23 and between 9 and 10, and I believe that helped on the day. But I was nowhere near one, and started on the bomb with corn with nothing, then at four pole sections in the deepest water, around four feet, still without a bite, then I put in some dead maggots at four sections to my left, near the margin, where there was a small hole, and found odd little carp and F 1s and a barbel or two which fought like demons.

My right hand margin was shallower and I opted to go out a metre into the deeper water, where I did manage to snare the odd carp on corn or dead maggots. I alternated between these two swims with just the very odd fish, including an 8 lb carp from the right which never took more than 2 feet of elastic from my pole tip but eventually ended in my landing net. Next drop in a fish screamed out to the right and I had to add sections...and it turned out to be a turbo-charged 2 lb F1.

Then came the roach, which seemed to prefer cat meat – as as happened at Lou’s. And I got very frustrated at having to keep replacing the cat meat which often lasted only seconds on the hook – despite the fact that it was original Coshida, which is very firm, and I had kept it in a cool bag with ice packs until I started using it. Occasionally a carp would take it, but the roach were amazingly persistent. At one time I tried the absolute margin on my left, which was about 14 inches deep, with a top two. Fish came in and swirled but nothing took my bait. Frustration!

I watched three anglers go for their third nets but my hopes that the final two hours would prove productive was wrong – I managed just 18 lb in my second net which I started at 2 o’clock.

At the weigh-in Dave on 7, who always uses a waggler, won yet again – he’s almost unbeatable this season – with 108 lb, all from the deepest water a few metres out on cat meat, followed by Matt in the corner over to my right with 107 lb, while Peter (who won the special handicap event attached to this match) took 90 lb. They had a bit of wind and were closer to the aerator at that end than me. Mel, on 24 at the top, also close to an aerator, was fourth. I was surprised to end eighth with 62 lb 6 oz.

There were a couple of things I should have tried - prawns, which would have defeated the most determined of roach and a bunch of worms, which may have tempted the carp, which I know were in my swims within seconds of feeding as I recognised the line bites they gave. I had prawns with me in the cool bag, and I breed my own worms, so goodness knows why I forgot to put some in a container before I left home - it takes only seconds to get dozens of them! That's the difference between me and a really good angler who leaves nothing to chance.

I think it may have been an advantage to be near the aerators and in the wind – but I’m not complaining (though non match-anglers may think I am). You’ve still got to catch the fish, and the best matchmen are those who take advantage of any luck coming their way. In that respect it’s like poker, which I play online. Get a bit of luck and keep the advantage it gives you. That’s what matchfishing entails; always has; always will. And – despite what some people may insist – we all get a bit of luck sometimes. Whether it’s a lucky fish or a good draw on the day.

A blur of disappointment

Lou’s Lake, Decoy, peg 4

This was a midweek club match...and, frankly, best forgotten. There are 15 pegs – 1 to 5 along one side, 6 to 9 across the back, and 10 to 15 down the pther side. The end pegs are always favourite, and the aerator was on here before the start; meanwhile 10 to 15 had a good ripple in the light breeze, but 1 to 5 were flat calm, with a bit of a scum in places, and not inviting. So my target was immediately reduced from winning to getting top weight of those five pegs.

Seconds before the match started I walked the 20 yards back to the car for a bottle of water, turned, and saw the match had started...and Terry next to me was already playing a fish on a feeder, while Peter was playing one on his pole! Things looked good! But things were soon to change...

I started with hair-rigged corn across to the far bank, without any result for three casts, and on my intended final cast still nothing – I flicked the bomb back several yards and cupped in some feed to the left margin, which dropped slowly from about two feet to four feet several metres out. As I finished cupping I saw my rod tip round – from a 2 lb carp which finished in the net. Another quick cast with nothing and I dropped in a piece of corn onto my feed.

Within a minute a 2 lb bream was in the net, followed immediately by another of 1 lb, a smaller one, and a couple of roach. Then nothing for half an hour. Meanwhile Terry had had about three or four fish which, after his incredible start, must have been very disappointing. I tried fishing shallow at 11 metres for an hour, without any fish, though roach seemed to be knocking my banded 4mm pellet every cast – one fell off but I didn’t land any. Then I got a carp or two around 2 lb fishing expander at full depth – about four feet – but there was no pattern. So it was back to the left margin, and the rest of the match passed in a blur of disappointment as the temperature rose until the heat was really debillitating. It was the hottest day of the year so far...and it felt it.

I alternated between the margin and 11 metres, having dropped my target to simply not finishing last in the match, with just occasional fish around 2-3 lb. The big bugbear was roach nibbling at cat meat – even two large lumps – until it was small enough to attempt to eat. I had virtually a bite every cast on cat meat and corn, with corn actually better at picking out odd carp.

Terry, on my immediate left, took the occasional fish on a feeder (not sure whether it was a pellet feeder or Method) and I reckon he fished a real blinder, with typically a fish in the margin, then one at 9 metres, then one on the rod, and he fished really hard. I managed just one from my right margin on a bunch of dead maggots over a pot of deads, and it was the best of the day at over 6 lb. A slight ripple came in the last half hour of the match, but it was too late to save me from having a poor catch for this water, which holds some really big specimens.

At the weigh-in the first two both weighed 27 lb-plus, then came Terry with 46 lb 6 oz and I was surprised that my meagre catch went 38 lb 3 oz. So at least I was not last! Peter and John took first and second from 7 and 6, fishing mainly down the edge, and John told me afterwards his best bait for the carp was double sweetcorn, which I had not tried. They both had roach problems.

Mick, on peg 5, to my right, is one of the most consistent anglers in the club, and finished with 27 lb, so objectively I had not done too badly from one of the swims no-one, looking at the water beforehand, would have chosen. So happier going home than I had been during the match. I’ve messaged Jon Whincup, who I know quite well, asking for a tuition day fishing shallow, though he’s probably out on some big matches and he hasn’t yet replied. But I have that to look forward to.

Two good days at the office

Beastie Lake, Decoy, peg 18

This was the first day of an invitational two-day event organised by Mellor, from Telford, Shropshire. He’s run similar events for several years, and half of the entry are from Telford, Sheffield, and other places in t' world where they talk funny; the rest are sort of local. Anyone who thinks matchfishing is ‘cliquey’ should see this lot – they’ll all talk to anybody...even me, and there’s a great atmosphere!

The matches are run as completely separate events, so a bad first day doesn’t depress you – there’s always Day Number Two. But I was happy with my draw on Day One – peg 18 has been mentioned in a previous report, and I don’t think I’ve ever fished it without winning something, though it doesn’t seem to produce for everybody. It’s beside the bridge leading onto the Spit, with a channel under the bridge that is a haven for big fish – if they get too far past the bridge into the open water behind, it’s Goodnight Vienna so far as your pole is concerned!

The big bugbear on this day was a massive wind, coming almost straight into this peg and threatening to blow poles everywhere. I had to get up several times to grab poles and tops blown off my rest and during the day I inexplicably lost two towels, which must have blown away but I never saw them go. Like most anglers I started with a leger, with banded pellet cast into the open water, but like most of the others I gave it up after 15 minutes without a touch and had a look in the margins. Over the next hour odd bream came to corn from the right margin, which tends not to be as good for carp as the dangerous left hand swim next to the bridge, and eventually, with about 10 lb of bream and the odd barbel I tried out in front, at three sections.

Within minutes I gave this up, as I had no idea where my corn was going in the underwater currents that are created here by the water building up in front of the channel. It shallows up as it runs under the bridge and creates a huge tow. Anyway, I then put a pot of pellet and corn put into the main channel and immediately took an 8 oz bream on cat meat. When the bream are around the carp tend to be absent, so that was my first and only drop in there. I put corn and pellet into the side of the channel, near the bridge supports, and went back to the right margin. Robert Edmondson was to my right and he seemed to be struggling, while Bob, out to my left on the other side of the channel was the same. So I thought I might be doing reasonably.

The odd F1 showed in the margin, plus a foulhooked barbel which must have stretched my Purple Hydro 20 yards before coming off, and odd bream to 2 lb, and a couple of 2 lb barbel, which felt like five-pounders in the wind. I had the occasional drop into the side of the channel with no result but with about 40 lb in my net and 75 minutes left I decided I had to concentrate to the left, right beside the scaffolding that holds the bridge, on top two but with Number Three attached as a precaution. Sure enough there were carp here now. But the wind was still horrendous, and almost all the anglers I could see had been fishing top two down the edge for the last two or three hours – even those with a backish wind.

First fish here was a 4 lb mirror, which went into my second net, then two or three F1s before sport slowed and I put in a pot of dead maggots. First look with a bunch saw a 9 lb common in the net and I persevered here to the end of the match, putting 47 lb into the net in that last 75 minutes, mainly on cat meat on a three-gram rig, which helped steady everything in the wind. The fish seemed to move up and down the slope of the channel, and putting on two inches and moving just 12 inches farther out often brought a fish immediately – them moving back into three feet of water would pick up the next one. But I knew I had not won, as the angler two swims to my left had managed to pick up fish all day out in front, had gone for a fourth net by three o’clock, and had a great last hour down the edge. He had obviously won our three peg section.

Sure enough he won the lake with 166 lb. But I managed 94 lb 7 oz for fourth on the lake and a section win by default, which I was chuffed with as most of these blokes are in a different class to me.

Beastie Lake, peg 21
Second day and while the wind was still strong it was nothing like as bad as the previous day. I really did not fancy this area, which had fished the worst the previous day, though Tony Dawson had won his three-peg section on it with 65 lb 14 oz. He told me had had caught on top-two-plus-one, some shallow, and some at ten metres in the bay on the right. But I have fished here before and always caught to the left, about eight feet from the bank (there is stuff trailing into the margins here), so I kept throwing corn in there while I started at three sections, where Tony had fished, because when I had dropped my plummet in there fish were hitting the line.

First fish was a 1 lb bream after 30 seconds, followed by others, most smaller, and after 30 minutes I had about five, plus a roach, all on pellet. Corn produced the odd one, but I had to look to the left, where again there were a few bream to 2 lb. After more than two hours I had about 15 lb and could not buy a bite. The anglers to my left didn’t seem to be doing any better, and Kenny to my right appeared to be struggling as he had a quick look shallow before giving it up.

Eventually I decided I had to look at ten metres, where I had plumbed up (it was slightly shallower there than my front swim at three sections) and immediately, after putting a pot of corn in, I found bream. One after the other for half an hour. They ran to 2 lb, and in the middle was a solitary 3 lb F1. Then, unaccountably, they stopped and I put cat meat down on the left before having a look to the right at ten metres. It’s always awkward for a right-handed angler to fish long to the right, but I did get a bite or two which I missed, and then an F1 and a bream. Then I bumped something hard, and decided that as the 2 lb bream had not managed to pull any elastic from the tip I was probably over-gunned, so I put the rig onto a top with green Preston 13H, a very good alround elastic which is popular with some of the regulars here.

Sure enough that felt much better and I took a couple of F1s at nearly 4 lb each there before having a look to the left with cat meat. That brought some spasmodic action from F1s and the odd carp to 8 lb, but they seemed to move in and out all the time. The tow, even in the side, was dragging the meat along the bottom at times, and it was difficult to keep the rig still, and even thern it needed lifting an inch to induce a bite. With half an hour to go I dropped in with cat meat and within two seconds was playing a 2 lb-plus bream; then next drop in the same thing – nearly 5 lb in three minutes. But then the roach moved in and I had the last 25 minutes fishless except for one small roach which mibbled its way onto the hook.

By this time I was using the old Coshida cat meat, which I had kept in a cool bag to keep it firm. The lumps are bigger than all the other cat meats I can find locally and are ideal for the really big carp. I have a a few tins left, but when they run out I will be struggling to find anything as good. The new Coshida in blue tins all floats, of course, and is useless.

I spoke to several anglers afterwards and gained the impression that they all had a rotten last 20 minutes, with roach trouble. So perhaps I hadn’t done anything stupid. Meanwhile I knew Kenny had had a couple of good carp in the last hour, fishing shallow down the side – something which I had not tried. I know F1s tend to come off bottom all the time so I must think about this next time I fish. But you simply can’t do everything in a match of course...you have to concentrate heavily on something. But I should have put feed into the right-hand margin as a precaution, with half an hour to go, so I had somewhere different to drop into at the end. That probably cost me a fish or two.

Today the pegs 19 to 22 were the section here, so I had three to beat, and when I told Kenny I though I had about 60 lb he said: “It’s going to be tight, then, because I have got about 60 lb as well.” On peg 19 Bob, who had made the decision to fish only with leger or feeder, had put back six fish with 33 lb on his clicker, Garry had 44 lb 13 on 20 and I weighed 69 lb 15 oz. Then, while Dusty was taking a picture of me with a carp, Kenny weighed in but by the time I was back up the bank they were on to the next angler.

However, Kenny came towards me with a huge smile on his face and hand outstretched and said: “Well done.” He had weighed 65 lb 3 oz and I had won the section. More bad news for him a little later as he spent ten minutes in the water looking for a Number Four section which had slid in. Stupidly I didn’t think about taking a picture for your delight, but my excuse was that, like all the anglers, I was pretty knackered and after loading up the car just wanted to sit down and wait for the scales. More bad news – he never found the section!

So two section wins and I I’ve already had an invitation to fish the next two-dayer in August, alongside these anglers who speak funny...

On a roll!

Magpie Lake, Pidley, peg 33

This was an Over-60s match which took place the day following the gale-force winds and constant heavy rain which we endured in the Peterborough area. And it was obvious it would have affected the fish in some way. The day itself was very windy, though with no rain, and though the forecast was for Westerlies all day while we were setting up it moved round from West to almost Northerly. So instead of me having a wind over my left shoulder it was almost a side wind, from left to right.

Peg 33 has no features which can be reached with a pole, except the margin, and to the right this was a row of boards round to peg 35, where Will Hadley was situated. I was pleased to be able to see another angler clearly, so I could judge how I was faring – so often it’s impossible to see the next-door angler. Ron Clark was to my left and he was set up, in the strong wind, to fish just the margins.

I asked Kevin Peacock before the match how he would fish it, and he said simply: “Out in front of you.” And in the absence of any other obvious tactic that is what I did. Five sections, with the pole wedged on my Octbox bump bar was the farthest I could fish properly, and when I started, on expander pellet after putting in a quarter-pot of corn and pellets, all I got was a couple of line bites.

I then saw Will catch three fish fairly quickly, while fishing a long pole – he had more of a back wind. So I was a bit deflated, and had a look in the left margin, near some reeds, without result. Then back to the long line, with a 1gm float, and I caught just one 2 lb carp on a 4mm expander. An hour gone, and I felt I was really struggling because the wind was not cold, and it felt as if fish should feed.

After 90 minutes I decided to put out a bait-dropper with dead maggots, and while it was sinking the pole was almost wrenched out of my hands – presumably a line by a big fish, or something actually attacking the bait-dropper! I left it a few minutes and came back inside, after putting in a few cubes of luncheon meat, then I moved from the shallow margin down the shelf into about four feet of water, and suddenly I got a bite – from a 4 lb carp. Game on!

Around this time I saw Will get another fish, and guessed that as I had seen him land four, he’d probably got eight. In fact he told me afterwards that it was just the four. I also considered going shallow, as odd fish were turning on the surface, but saw Will try it a couple of times and he didn’t stick at it long so I assumed it hadn’t worked for him.

So with two fish I went back out on the long line after putting some dead maggots and luncheon meat in the side. Corn on the long line brought two more fish, and I started alternating both lines, catching perhaps one fish every ten minutes, almost all from 3 lb to 5 lb. And I found I had to put bait in before every fish to have the best chance of a bite.

That went on for the rest of the match with me concentrating more on the margin until, with an hour to go bites slowed. I hadn’t put any feed in the right margin, where it was about two-and-a-half feet against the boards, so I put in a pot of dead maggots and within three minutes was playing a five-pounder whish took a bunch of ten deads. At this point I saw Will taking several fish, and I assumed he was still ahead of me.

Last few minutes and I winkled out two more fish from the left margin, after inducing a bite by just lifting the bait an inch or so. I find this almost invariably better than lifting it higher – the fish respond immediately if they are going to respond at all.

I’d no idea what anyone else had caught, but Will reckoned he had 60 lb (I thought it must be 80 lb from what I had seen and guessed) and I thought I might have 70lb. I always think the other angler has more than they actually have – I think this applies to almost everyone. It’s more difficult to estimate weight at Pidley than other waters as the rule is you have three nets and split the fish as evenly as you can – so no need to click.

The scales showed me to have 92 lb 12 oz, top weight round to me – I had just over 30 lb in each net. Will weighed 77 lb 15 oz, and I was mighty pleased to beat him, as he is a class act locally. And the good news was that I ended as the winner. That’s two firsts and a second in the last three Over 60s matches, and they are almost all former National Championship team men who know what they are doing. So a boost for my confidence.

Blimey, that was difficult

Head Fen, Snake Lake, peg 13

I was quite happy to draw this swim as it was here a couple of years ago I probably broke the water record with over 200 lb, only to have two nets disqualified and another knocked back, giving me 61 lb, which was next to last in the club match! The wind was gusty, from the North-west, though there wasn’t much ripple on my swim, and it was sunny for some of the time, and the threatened in held off. I had a big patch of lillies to my left, where I found a small hole deeper than any other part of the swim. Normally that's because fish have been used to feeding there, so I was rubbing my hands.

I started really slowly, unable to get a bite except just one 4 lb fish in the first three hours, on a piece of bread punch hung about a foot deep across the far side, at 13 metres. At this point I had a walk along the other 14 anglers, to find that those in the last five pegs, behind me (the snake winds back and forth) all had several fish, while Bill, to my right had just one, and all the rest to my left and round the first bend were struggling – three fish was the maximum. Kevin, who consistently wins the Club Championship, still had not had a bite.

This lake almost always starts off slow, but this was ridiculous – and I could see fish swimming around under the surface. Tony Nisbet behind me on 18 was getting a bite on pellet every put-in, down the track, so I went and tried the same. Over the next three hours this produced just five more fish – with a 6 mm expander getting bites when a 4 mm didn’t. A couple of fish, probably foulhooked, came off, and another – certainly foulhooked – broke me when it shot into the far-side weed before I could blink.
Left: Dave

I love margin fishing here, but in the whole six hours, though I kept putting in a few cubes of luncheon meat, I never had any sort of indication in the side. Never known it before!

The upshot was that Tony won the match with just over 100 lb, Mel on 21 had 90 lb-plus for second, and Dave on 15 was third with around 88 lb. I forgot to photograph the final list so the weights are only approximate. Five of the top six were in the last five pegs. And I think I was eighth with my measly 18 lb 13 oz. Normally this lake produces fish galore, but I must agree with another member who caught some fish with spawn in, who said he thought the fish were about to spawn, but that the wind had kept the temperature down. This lake is open to Northerly and Easterly winds, which could well do that, even though fish in Decoy, 20 miles away, spawned the previous week.

I know that sometimes when carp are spawning, or about to do so, other carp tend to move away, and I suspect that happened this day. But there’s always a winner, and some good fish came out...which I remembered to photograph!
Left: John

I am taught a lesson

Horseshoe Lake, Decoy, peg 5

A midweek club match and there had been lots of rain a couple of days previous, so hopefully this would have stopped the carp attempting to spawn. But the weather was still warm, with a breeze from left to right.

I made the unusual decision to start shallow, because it felt right, though I also put a small pot of pellets out on this swim, at 11.5 metres, and some corn down my left margin, where it was about four feet. I got occasional takes on my banded pellet, but hit just one carp, which came off after half a second. And after almost an hour of putting out half-a-dozen pellets every 30 seconds, with no fish, I had to try inside. And just at this point Terry Tribe, former national Div 4 National Champion, who was on my right, and who had had a few fish on my line deep, decided to go shallow...and he made a much better fist of it than I did!

For the next five hours he put on a real Masterclass of smooth shallow fishing, taking mainly fish to a little over 2 lb in spurts – something most anglers find when fishing shallow. Meanwhile I had found fish in my left margin on corn, mainly F1s to nearly 4 lb. But I could not catch tight to the grass - I had to go our about a metre. Then a switch out to a swim in front of me at three sections brought a quick burst of about seven fish on corn, including the odd mirror to 4 lb. When that died I came inside, with cat meat, and when that eventually died I started a new swim to my right, where it was considerably shallower, and there I found the odd four-pounder mixed in with the F1s.

The strange thing was that I had a lot of very cautious bites and knocks which looked as if they were roach, but if I hooked a fish it almost always turned out to be a carp or, in some cases a bream, which went to 3 lb. I also hooked two or three on the outside of the mouth, so they were definitely playing with the bait, sometimes for 30 seconds before taking it.

One fish, annoyingly, snagged me under the platform when I thought it was beaten – probably a big barbel, as I did have one of 4 lb. Sometimes meat was best, and when that slowed, corn almost always got another fish or two. At one point I tried shallow again, but just could not buy a take, and I have to admit that though I have won matches fishing shallow it’s not my strong point. Terry told me later he was fishing an 18 hook to 0.13mm nylon, which was finer than I had on. So when I got home I made up a similar rig.

With an hour to go, Terry had taken his third net an hour peviously and I went for my third. While picking it up I saw Rob Goodson, also picking up a net for his match on the strips, and he asked where I was. “Fish a big bunch of dead maggots in the margin” he said, when I told him my peg. I had already had some on dead maggot, but when I got back I put on ten dead maggots – red and white – and sure enough first drop in the right margin saw an 8 lb mirror come to my net!

That last hour saw me add 25 lb, and during it Mick Raby, two pegs to my left, went for another net. The angler immediately on my left was another Mick – Michael Ramm - (we went to school together from 1949 to 1953). And I asked: “Is that Mick’s third net, or his fourth?” “Fourth” came the reply and I knew then I was fishing for a maximum of third place.

Terry, who went for his fourth net with 15 minutes to go, weighed in 146 lb 15 oz, a very good weight on a day when the fish were not biting very well, but playing with the bait, and when roach plagued some anglers. He included a lovely 2 lb 2 oz perch in that catch. I was surprised to weigh 115 lb, and when it was Mick Raby’s turn to weigh he had only three nets! I turned to Mick Ramm and he gave a little chuckle when he saw my face! I’ll pay him back somehow, one day!

Anyway, Mick Raby put 96 lb 4 oz on the scales, so I ended up second out of the 12 of us. And it has reminded me I have told Jon Whincup I am going to book a day with him shallow fishing. So all-in-all I scraped a frame place doing what I do best, in the margins. But I can’t always rely on that, as there are times at Decoy when hardly anyone catches a fish close in. So I must get that tuition in soon!

TERRY WITH HIS 2 LB 2 OZ PERCH