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.