A busy few days

A hectic three days of match fishing started with our club waggler-only event on Willows lake at Decoy on Sunday. I drew peg 14, where it’s about 25 metres to the far bank. Actually I was pleased that this forced me to fish with a rod and float, as it’s so rarely that I do that. So I had three rods made up – a 3AAA long Crystal waggler, a small pellet waggler, and a close-in small waggler (waggler-only means just that – no pole rigs attached to the line). The weather was warmish, but with a bit of a side wind in my swim, and thankfully the forecasted rain did not appear. And I decided just to enjoy a bit of waggler fishing and didn’t expect to win, especially as pegs 24 and 25 were in.

As my mother used to say: “Blessed is he that expecteth nothing for he shall not then be disappointed.”

First disaster was that before the whistle I was checking out the distance to the far bank, and clipped up correctly. As a final check on the depth I whoosed it out – only for it to catch on a the one reed which was leaning out farther than any others. It was right in front of me, leaning towards me, so I couldn’t possible have spotted it. Anyway, even with a shot over the size 14 hook point (instead of a plummet) it still managed to become entangled in the vegetation and I ended up losing the lot! The float hung there alll match, laughing at me...

So on went another float and that was when I realised most of my waggler attachments had perished! So I ended up using a pellet float attachment, as I had a packet of them. These are a link swivel on a wire which is held to the line using two hollow tiny plastic push-on cones. You know the sort of thing. But it seemed to work OK, although it was a bit crude for a sensitive float. After I got home I managed to find a couple of floats in my float tubes which had attachments which had not perished. Isn’t that always the way? Anyway, eventually, a few minutes after the start, I was ready.

I started off catapulting corn out and immediately getting the inside rig working properly with pellet, though I got no bites on it, but it felt right. After about 20 minutes putting out the corn I cast out the waggler and in the next 40 minutes took about three small F1s. I hit a couple of fish which immediately pulled off, so, assuming they were up in the water, I put out the pellet waggler with corn at about 18 inches deep. This brought about five fish, best 5 lb, but there was no pattern to the bites. I alternated between these two rods taking odd fish on the deep rig when the wind blew and the shallow one when it died, when the fish started moving near the top.

After three hours I had about 20 lb, but then Les, to my right on peg 15, started hitting barbel to around 4 lb regularly. Every fish he hit was a barbel and when he had six in the net I guessed he was beating me. But then my cat meat in the side started taking odd fish – a foulhooked barbel, a couple not foulhooked, a couple of 4 lb carp, and some F1s. It brought home to me how versatile the pole is – for instance I couldn’t fish much closer than about eight feet with a rod, and also you can’t lift a bottom-end waggler like you can a top-and-bottom pole float, so I never felt the presentation was spot-on.

Les finished with about 15 barbel (my estimate) and I reckoned he had me well beat. But the scales showed me at 56 lb 15 oz, and Les had 43 lb 12 oz – the early fish had given me that edge over him. But neither of us framed – Callum on the hot peg 25 won with 86 lb 2 oz, and it was his first club match win. We were all really pleased – it’s a good peg but you’ve still got to catch ‘em! I was more pleased than if I had won it myself.

I lost two fish after playing them for some time, probably foulhooked barbel; and I found that playing the barbel with the rod held high for as long as possible was better than applying side strain when they moved away. That was a good lesson learned for when I play them on a pole. Anyway I finshed sixth and quite enjoyed the day using rods...but it won’t become a habit!

Next day another club match on Cedar Lake, Decoy, peg 12. It was raining with a bit of wind and as there were 13 of us we were able to sit on the West bank, with the wind slightly behind us, from the left. Everyone put up his umbrella and they stayed up for the next three hours.

Martin, to my left, in the corner, had a 4 lb carp on The Method before I had even any bait in! I potted out some hard pellets and corn at about 8 metres, and, as usual, had a look in the side to my left in the deep water (about five feet out) and fished there for a few minutes getting everything right., but with no fish – just one liner. At that point I threw in some corn, and switched to my long line, which resulkted in a bream of 2 lb on pellet, then a smaller one, then a lull.

Back in the side, after priming the long line again, and a couple of F1s and a bigger carp showed. Then back to the long line and I started getting carp on corn, which seemed better than expander. Things were fairly slow, so I started switching back and forth, and as has happened so often this year I had to feed before every fish.

After three hours the rain stopped but the wind moved round almost 180 degrees, so it was blowing into our umbrellas, which is why most of them were taken down, including mine. The odd shower then came along, but nothing too bad. By now I had had a look in my right hand margin, in the shallower water up the shelf, and had a good run of about six fish here on cat meat. I also had a couple of big barbel, and a couple more foulhooked in the fin. But only one foulhooked carp, which left me with a scale. It looked as if the fish, which have been showing near the surface all summer, had decided, at last, to drop down.

I didn’t try maggot, as I wanted to avoid the barbel if I could, so long as the carp were willing to feed, but even so a couple of the barbel took corn! As soon as I had a drop in without a bite I fed and took another carp on the long line – so effectively moved round the three swims picking up fish every few minutes. I went for a third net at 2.30 and hoped to get a good hour, but things failed to really pick up and I was only on the verge of getting another net when the whistle blew.

I was convinced, at the end, that Martin, to my left, had battered me as his fish all seemed bigger. He took most of them in the margin just beyond the two pipes that enter his swim, to his left, one of which was dropping water into the lake all match. The scales started on peg 1, to my right, and Peter was top down to me with 167 lb, all taken on the paste he makes up himslf from some ‘secret’ ingrediants, with the other Peter second on 146 lb. I estimated I had 120 lb, but my fish weighed 138 lb 12 oz, for third, with Martin on 124 lb 15 oz after being 9 lb over in one net!

Busy day tomorrow travelling up to Leigh, Lancs, for the Vets National on Partridge Lakes on Wednesday, with Martin Parker, who won this event several years ago on the Grand Union Canal. My best place is seventh last year on Tunnel Barn Farm.