A good day

Circumstances have meant this is a bit late. Sorry.

Elm Lake, Decoy, peg 13

Peg 13 is in the far corner of this strip lake, and with the South-Westerly wind blowing into that corner I should have been very happy – but I never seem to do any good in these corners!  Fifteen of us fished this club match.

Withing seconds of the start John, on my left, was playing a very big fish, which I know was hooked close-in, in the deep water, probably on cat meat. I started at four sections out on expander, as the wind was so strong it wasn’t easy to fish any farther out, and after ten minutes  without a fish, and with John and Kev, opposite, landing much bigger fish closer in, I had a look in the deep water about two metres out, where the depth was around eight feet, because of the high water levels.

A 2 lb carp was followed by a 2 lb barbel, both on cat meat, and, with every intention of staying in that swim, a little to my right just past the end of two pipes which stuck out, I put in some corn and pellets, and had a look in the shallower water closer in.

Sure enough, in about five feet of water, F1s showed immediately – fish around 2 lb to 3 lb, but not quick. About one every six or seven minutes was the average. I dropped in at three feet close to the bank on my left – so close the float was actually touching the grass – and got another F1 the same size. From then on it was a case of catching a couple of each swim before changing sides. Interestingly the best place was right under the pipes, so that my float touched them.

Big decision to take

Others seemed to be catching bigger fish, up to 10 lb, and I had to decide whether to go back to the meat or to carry on putting smaller fish in the net using pellet. I decided to carry on. In retrospect this was probably the wrong decision.

With two-and-a-half hours to go I went for a third net (50 lb maximum allowed) and had quite a good spell, then everything slowed, until I eventually decided  I needed a fourth net. I normally stop at around 40 lb to allow some error. But my watch then showed just 17 minutes to the end, and by the time I’d walked the 13 pegs to the car, got the net, and returned I decided it wasn’t worth the bother.

A good time had by all, with six catching 100 lb-plus.

So I carried on fishing...and had the best spell of the day (Sod’s Law). In came two F1s, then a four-pounder, all placed into different nets, and when the whistle went I was playing a six-pounder, my best fish of the day, which I landed. I put it into the last net...which brought it well over the 50 lb limit! If I’d put it into my first net it would have counted. My final weight was 132 lb 7 oz, for fifth, and if I’d put both my last two fish into that first net, which went 39 lb,  I would have been third!

By the end it was raining quite hard, so no pictures of my swim or any fish! The match was won by Dave Garner, our club champion, who does not posses a pole, with 173 lb on waggler and meat – though after the first hour the wind had changed and was then behind him, and into my face. He was more than 10 lb over in his nets, so a super performance. But the better weights tended to come from the windier end, as often happens.

And whatever the result I’d had a good day; which is what it’s all about.