Looked in the margin too late!

Willows Lake, Decoy, peg 28

This was a 13-entry club match. I knew peg 28 – opposite the island in the ‘back’ half of the lake, and Terry confirmed that, as I thought, it is snaggy, and that I’d need to fish a metre short of the island. So I found a nice spot there which was a few inches deeper than the surrounding area, and decided to start fishing shallow there as the wind seemed warmer than the previous day. Then I intended to go down and fish a banded pellet, or an expander, on the bottom.

It’s not often I start fishing shallow, but I was delighted, after half an hour, that I’d lost an F1, landed one about 2 lb, and also caught a 4 lb mirror, all shallow. But then the wind got up, and although I then had a succession of bites nothing came of them and I assumed they were probably roach. But because I’d been feeding this line – 11.5 metres out – for an hour I didn’t want to give up on it completely, as I reckoned I could just about hold my rig out there most of the time.

However, to rest my arms I had a look in front of me, at three sections out, with corn, and quickly found a couple of F1s. A change to cat meat brought a couple of carp, and I decided to concentrate on this swim for the moment, feeding corn and hemp and fishing cat meat. My righthand margin had a nice hole against a tree stump, but it was difficult to see because I had put up my umbrella right on the edge of the bank as the forecast was for rain during the day, and I couldn't easily fish there. My left margin had no real feature apart from the bankside reeds so I hadn’t fed this. I had the occasional 3-4 lb carp, and odd F1s so decided to stick it out there rather than go across at 11.5 metres because the wind became quite gusty.

With an hour-and-a-half to go I estimated I had about 30 lb, which was not likely to be enough to frame even if sport was bad, as peg 25 – the flier – was in, and Terry, ex-Div 4 National winner- was on 24, which is probably the second-best swim on the lake and had produced the winner the previous day. So I had to make something happen, and put in some cat meat and pellet down on my left. First drop-in and my float zoomed away and a 4 lb mirror came in.

Snagged

Again I had to feed to get a bite, but fish started coming, though I took the odd one from my three-section swim to rest the margin swim. I foulhooked four – one, probably a barbel, shot straight into the marginal reeds and I couldn’t even see the end of the elastic; it was buried deeply in the reeds. I produced my long-handled landing net handle with hook on the end, wound it round the elastic, and heaved, but it was fast.

So I had to crawl along the wet bank and grab the elastic – doubled Preston 8 Slip – and try to pull for a break. Nothing gave and I thought I would have to cut the elastic. Then it suddenly started to pull away, and after another minute hard pulling I actually got the whole lot back – float, shot, and hook, though the hook was broken. How it managed to not break is still beyond me. The line is the old Silstar Team Match, which I use on many of my rigs – marvellous stuff. I simply cut off the hook shank, tied on another, and started fishing again within a minute!

Heavy rain kept coming in for a few minutes at a time, and although it hit me a little, I managed to keep most of my gear dry behind the umbrella, while my Octbox try has a lid which folds down and keeps bait and accessories dry. Carp from 1 lb to 5 lb then came steadily to the end of the match, mainly from the left margin which was about 3.5 feet deep, and mainly to cat meat. One 5 lb carp jumped clear of the water twice like a trout, and all seemed to be turbo-charged, probably because of the wind and the cooler temperatures, both of which put more oxygen into water.

 I should have looked down the margin much earlier. If I had, I believe I could have won the match, as by the end the carp were taking a bait as soon as it hit bottom. In fact I was playing a good carp when the match finished. Still, you can't legislate for every possibility. One thing I noticed - while the carp and barbel were coming a metre from the bank, the only time I caught a fish right beside the reeds it turned out to be a bream. It was also good to see a couple of tench put in appearance. They have been conspicuous by their absence in the last two or three seasons.

Terry was over in one net and won with 99 lb 12 oz, while Trevor on 22 in the bay had 84 lb 8 oz and I was third with 76 lb 15 oz, which I was pleased with as it was top weight in the back swims (ie beyond 25). I couldn’t see anybody else fishing as my umbrella shielded me from the anglers on my right, but they all struggled. I would have preferred peg 29 or 30 as there is a deep hole between the two which I have always found to hold fish, but Mike on 29 told me he hadn’t had a touch there. Peg 35 is also known as a flier, so I was pleased to beat that as well.

The results.

 

Me - wet and windy.

Tactics

At this time of year, when temperatures are dropping, I have found it pays to fish a new swim properly for at least half an hour before giving up on it, because while putting bait in may interest the fish they often seem to take longer to actually decide to eat the stuff than they would in high summer. By properly I mean starting feeding lightly, looking really hard for any indications, adding feed if the fish are there, but then resting it for a couple of minutes if I prick or hook a fish. In other words not just playing at it - you've got to really do it seriously.  

Mick and I went to school together
from 1949 to 1953!  PS: The carp
did have a nose - operator error!

Getting it right

I often take 20 minutes before I am certain I have the rig set up exactly right. I fish a special method which is very sensitive and takes a long time to get perfect. But when I get it right it gives me absolute confidence that if there are fish there I will eventually know, even if they don’t feed properly. Knowing that fish are around your bait is a real confidence-booster and really increases your concentration.

Martin with a near-5 lb barbel from peg 31.