Huge weight off the top (but not me) - Kingsland Silver

Kingsland Silver Lake

(Monday, June 25, 2018)

Another hot, almost windless day, on this lake, which is called Silver because it used to be full of silver fish – tench, bream, crucians, chub...everything except carp. Fantastic fishing. But then, one hot summer, they vanished, presumably they died. A local tragedy, really. But Richard put a few carp in there from his other lakes and they have gone mad. There must be literally millions of 1 oz carp and rudd there – put a single floating expander in and a circle of fry a foot across immediately attacks it.

That was a real problem in this match – cat meat lasted only seconds before it was torn off the hook by these fish. There were plenty of carp to 4 lb cruising around, and Trevor, in the righthand corner, where the very gentle breeze  was  blowing, made the most of it, targetting the carp with floating expanders and holding his expander in the surface – it’s allowed on this water.

 

Just a little ripple to my right, until the very end, when it blew into me.

I was in the first swim on the righthand bank, started on pellet waggler, and soon had a 2 lb carp. But although I patiently catapulted out 6mm pellets for the next half hour nothing else hooked itself, although the float bobbed around constantly from the attentions of the fry.

I then tried dobbing a surface-feeding carp, and hooked it immediately – about 3 lb – and successfully landed it. But although I kept throwing out floating expanders hardly any other fish approached. I wandered up to Trevor, and he admitted, after 90 minutes, to 60 lb. The fish seemed more willing to congregate in his swim.

Another wander round and Peter Harrison had some fish well out on a Method feeder with 8mm banded pellet, so I rigged one up. First cast accounted for a 3 lb carp, but then the wheels fell off – three casts; three fish hooked; three lost – two at the net. I checked the size 16 hook and it looked OK, but I decided to change to a size 12 with band. Oh dear, none in my box, so I tied a band to a size 12 Kamasan Animal, and was pleased it took no more than about a minute.

Out again, and another carp safely in the net. But then nothing for half an hour. So I had a real go with cat meat in the side , but never had a sign of a carp – although I hooked a few small fish about 2 oz. So it was back to dobbing an expander on the surface, and this brought another two or three  fish in the next two hours. Then the wind got up a little, blowing right into my face, and the carp suddenly appeared. I dobbed another seven or eight in the next hour until, with half an hour left, most of  the carp vanished.

When the carp went I should have had another try on cat meat in the margins, but stayed dobbing and tempted another couple of stragglers. In fact Peter, next door to me, told me that he caught virtually all his 35 lb in the last 20 minutes on cat meat.

Martin Parker's cap!

Trevor had six nets out.
Nice big platforms here.

Trevor had six nets out, and put 265 lb 8 on the scales – a brilliant performance in that heat. Peter and Martin, second and third, caught on the Method with a pellet – the one thing the fry couldn’t actually demolish. I will remember that in a few weeks when Fenland Rods have a Waggler-Only match on this lake. I was actually pleased, after sitting so long fishless, to weigh  45 lb 3 oz for fourth out of the nine of us.

 

The result - 7, 8 and 9 had our backs to the Small carp lake.
Pegs 1-6 were on the roadside.

The reeds here extend a long way into the water, so when you hook fish on a pole you have to shove on a couple of sections and play it for a minute in the open water. Then when it is well out, ship back quickly to the top two and grab the puller to shorten the elastic. I managed without losing a single fish in the reeds. One small victory on another boiling hot, difficult day.

Hot and bovered - Elm, Decoy

Elm Lake, Decoy, peg 13

(Sunday, June 24, 2018)

A very hot day, with no wind and carp cruising around aimlessly just below the surface. Peg 13 is in the far corner of this strip, and although I would have prefered pegs 9 and 16, or next to them, I was not unhappy. However, I have never done any good from the North-eastern corner of any of  the four strip lakes, and this day was no exception! I hasten to add that there’s nothing wrong with the corner pegs, and many matches have been won from them, but I just cannot seem to get to grips with them.

 

Baking hot and flat calm in this corner swim. 

I started by putting pellets out at six sections, and within a minute fish had started to move below the surface, so I changed to a shallow rig. But almost half-an-hour later I hd not had a touch and the fish seemed to have disappeared. A quick look at full depth brought nothing, so it was round  to my right, in front of the pipes which protrude, onto a shelf about four feet deep, which I fed with dead maggot, hoping for barbel. This looked a really fishy spot.

Immediately I foulhooked something which came off, then  next drop-in a 3 lb barbel came. Twenty minutes later an F1 also took the maggots and I fed a swim to my left, in the deeper water, with pellets and corn and a little cat meat, because John, to my left, had had three good carp to his right. My only catch there were two 1 lb bream, and after 90 minutes, when member John Garner walked round, I had 7 lb while I estimated John had around 25 lb.

Already I need a miracle to win

John has had a major operation, and has not yet resumed fishing, but likes to pay us visits. So I asked him how Kevin, opposite, had fared, as I had seen him start to catch good fish after a slow start. He had an estimated 47 lb, so I knew I was not in the running to win, barring a miracle!

The rest of the match was frustrating, as John hooked fish after fish, losing some, but was obviously way ahead of me, as I found mainly barbel, which weighed half the weight of his carp and took twice as long to land. But I did still manage to add the odd carp from both swims, using cat meat or dead maggots. Corn failed to produce anything.  But I lost half-a-dozen fish, which was probably considerably less than most other anglers who pole fished, who nearly all admitted to losing more.

Barbel hooked (and lost) on paste

Towards the end I put on paste in an effort  to catch a carp...and what I am sure was a barbel immediately took it. It must have been a really big one because in three seconds it had dived under the bank beside me, which is heavily undercut, and pulled off. My tight purple Hydro was no match for that one, despite the fact that I had managed to hold all the others.  Opposite, Kevin had continued to add big carp and barbel steadily all afternoon.

 

The result. Pegs
1-12 are on the West bank.

The weigh-in

This was a pairs match and my partner Mel, on the oppposite bank, weighed 68 lb 1 oz – a weight  I thought  could not match. But the three who I thought would get good catches on that bank all put over 100 lb on the scales, so I knew our team of two was out of it. Surprisingly my fish weighed 69 lb 10 oz, so those 2 lb barbel must have weighed 3 lb.  John, who I was sure had well over 100 lb, totalled 85 lb 5 oz, and told me his biggest fish came late to his left, towards the next platform which was vacant. I finished  fifth out of the 8 on my bank and eighth overall. Kevin won with 139 lb 6 oz, and his pairing (with Tony Nisbet) won the team event.

A disappointing result for me, but I am still not sure what I did wrong. John’s carp were coming to cat meat from only a few feet from where I was fishing. However, even bland-looking commercials have underwater features that we cannot see, and if we could we still might not understand why fish prefer some areas to others. I am sure I did some things wrong, but I can’t fathom out what.

Bit of a surprise on Jay

Jay Lake, Pidley, Peg 38

I managed to pick out the one peg I didn’t want in this 22-entry Over 60s event. I’d fished peg 38 in our club match last year and it’s on a corner, where rubbish and dead reeds collect, making it very difficult to fish right across. Also the wind was a very strong South-Westerly, and I guessed it would be mainly from the side.

Actually, when I got there I was pleasantly surprised, because siting my box across the corner of the platform, rather than fishing in front, gave me a nice back wind. It took me 20 minutes to get the rollers and box in exactly the right positions, which meant I had to improvise with the nets, as the concrete corner of the platform protruded out in front of the box.

 

Very windy, so I turned my box round to get back wind into the corner.

Good start

My Fenland Rods club has said they would never fish on Jay again, after a poor match last year when most could hardly catch close-in, believing most fish hug the far bank, at 13 metres, which most are unable, or unwilling, to fish. So I had it in my mind that fishing close-in would be useless, though Will Hadley, a regular, told me on the morning that in fact fish were caught in the deep water only a top-two out from the platform. Nevertheless I had it in my mind that I would probably need to fish right across, so chose a rig to fish at 13 metres plus the Browning half-butt as well as two swims for the deeper water and a shallow one for right next to the bank (which I never used)..

I started at top two plus two, with pellet, and caught two carp around 2 lb each quite quickly; so I put in a little bait and changed to fishing luncheon meat in the first drop-off to the left of the platform, on a top two, to see what might be there. Sure enough, two more carp came quickly, best 3 lb. A good start, but then it all went wrong.

Another 20 minutes close-in with luncheon meat, for nothing, then back out on four sections, but the fish had disappeared. So it was out to 13 metres, which I persevered with for 45 minutes. The wind was so strong I was able to throw pellets out by hand to the far bank! But fishing both shallow and on the bottom (not at the same time) brought me just one fish...and I didn’t know that was on until I lifted out to bring the rig back. I also hooked a scale, which fought hard for a few seconds before giving up!!

I think the main reason I struggled was a huge swell which built up in the corner, and at times swamped the float so it disappeared completely. The rest of the time the swell must have been lifiting the bait up and down. I’ve never experienced that before – there was hardly any  ripple directly in front of me, but the wind was so strong there were actual waves into the far bank.

In addition there were still reeds floating about, which meant I couldn’t get within about two feet of the far bank. I should have given up fishing there after five minutes.

Good old hemp

After about two hours I had just those five fish, and put in some hemp on the four-section swim, which seemed to kick-start it – not for the first time this summer. Gradually fish to 3 lb came to a 6mm expander, then slowed up, at which point a change down to 4mm kept them coming, though only slowly. I had quick looks on the meat swim, and across again, but didn’t waste much time there.

I fed a couple of dozen pellets with a tosspot after each fish, and found I had to top up with pellets and hemp every three or four fish, to keep them interested. The bites were quite timid, but I think that often happens when the fish are confident, and just picking up the bait unconcernedly, rather than snatching at it when they are dubious.

The last two hours saw fish coming more quickly, best almost 4 lb, though I had to continually change the presentation from holding back in the undertow, when the bait was taken as it hit bottom, to moving two shot down to within two inches of the hook and fishing with those shot on the bottom. Both methods worked. The final ten minutes saw me get three bites and hook two fish, both of which came off.

The weigh-in

Will told me that fishing cat meat on a top-two plus one had been catching fish for some. It seemed to me, as I followed the scales round, that no-one had caught fish right across – most would have found it impossible anyway in the wind. I knew I could not match those who had 80 lb, or winner Vic German with over 90 lb,  but was pleasantly surprised with my 64 lb 11 oz, which eventually gave me eighth place. Those final two lost fish probably cost me fourth spot, which was 69 lb 5 oz.

The result, on Jay Lake - the peg numbers are in the fourth column.

THE INQUEST

Actually I believe that if I’d had up-to-date info earlier in the week, or had fished the lake earlier this summer, I could easily have framed, or even won. I wasted too much time fishing across, and if I were to fish there again my main plan would be to fish two swims in the deep water – one with pellet and one with cat meat, which is a more positive way of fishing. I would consider fishing across only if conditions were really good and I could fish right next to the far bank.

Incidentally Ray Poolman on 41, which has trees opposite and a nice opening in the middle of them to the far bank, and has produced good weights since the Winter, fished nothing but feeder all day, casting right across, and weighed 66 lb 8oz. But I think you need to get close to the far bank to really get among the fish.

So from being sceptical about being able to compete because of the necessity of fishing long to the far bank, I am actually looking forward to fishing it again. The fish are in lovely condition, and fought like tigers. And I will definitely conside feedering it unless I get peg 38!

I’m Golden Peg...but, Ooops

Yew Lake, Decoy, Peg 2

There were 13 of us for this club match, pegged down the Western side of Yew strip Lake, pegs 1 to 15, and I didn’t fancy my chances from Peg 2. I tend to favour the pegs from 9 down to 15 and back up the other side, 16 to 21, in Summer and Winter. Of course there are times when the car park end is best, and Mick Linnell, drawn next to me on 3, told me of a match a year ago when this club match was won from 28 and 29, putting a feeder over to the opposite bank where we were now pegged. Then I went and drew the Golden Peg – which was my own!  “It’s going to be a rollover” I shouted, only half joking.

Good start...bad start

The wind was very strong, and gusty, over our backs, but it kept veering from North-West round to South-West, which I have found the fish never like, especially in the bright conditions we had today. I made a  good start with a 2 lb F1 hooked within five seconds of my dropping in with 4mm expander on four metres. Ten minutes later in came a 3 lb F1, then 25 minutes after that a mirror of almost 10 lb, followed by a 1 lb bream and an 8 oz carp.

I then sat for THREE HOURS without a fish, as Mick, on Peg 3, caught odd carp on a Method feeder cast to the far bank, and then to the middle. I tried it for 45 minutes without a touch, using a pop-up and then a white Bandum. I also tried inside with cat meat, and went back to the 4-metre line, all without result. Meanwhile 90-year-old Ted on my right had started well, started getting barbel on a feeder or straight lead, dropped beside the reeds on the end bank. Then he, also, had a bad spell.

If I hadn’t been able to see the carp cruising around I would have thought there wasn’t a fish in the place!

 

Mick Linnell, former Fletton Ex-Service team man,
fished a feeder almost all the match. He sat on my left.

Three more

Suddenly, at 2.30 pm, a barbel took a grain of corn on the 4-metre line, followed by another, and then a 4 lb carp, all in 20 minutes. I had accidentally left my maggots at home, so couldn’t change to maggot bait, which the barbel love. I should have tried a small piece of meat...but didn’t!  Then nothing for half-an-hour. In desperation I added another section to the Browning Sting I was using (it has short sections) and started a new swim a little farther out, putting in a few pellets, a few grains of corn, and some hemp. Result!

 

Ted is aged 90...though you'd never guess it. He sat on my right.
The bending reeds show how strong the wind was.

In the last 45 minutes five more carp around 4 lb came in, though in  the meantime Mick had carried on getting occasional carp to 5 lb on his feeder, and I knew he had me well beaten. Unfortunately Ted, who had been way in front of me in the first half of the match, also went a long time without a fish, adding another  right at the end.

Mick Linnell - a good result
from that peg.

Peter Spriggs - caught mostly on
his 'special' home-made paste.

Two had been for a third net, so we knew we were well beaten at our end – even Terry Tribe, former National Div 4 winner, had struggled on Peg 5, as had regular framer Peter Spriggs, on 4.

I totalled 49 lb 4 oz, thanks to that last 45-minute spurt. Winner was my old schoolboy colleague (we went to Junior school together in the 1950s) Mick Ramm, who got a sincere handshake from secretary Trevor Cousins, who finished runner-up.

So as I had forecasted, the Golden Peg was a rollover.

Bob Barrett, in fourth place
with 95 lb 12 oz.

Terry Tribe's best barbel must
have weighed almost 5 lb.

The weights

I show the result sheet, but below are the weights in peg order. You can see the gradual increase in weights from the Southern end down to the far Northern end, though as I say, that’s not always the case. It was also noticeable as we weighed in and talked to the anglers, that while we in the low numbers hardly had a touch in the side (I didn’t even have a liner), those towards the other end did, and winner Mick, in the corner,  caught all his fish on the inside swims to both left and right.

Feeder accounted for a lot of the fish as well – Trevor, 2^nd, caught all his on a feeder cast right across, using corn. Some of the anglers told me they think that the far side is a little deeper. Where we were, there was no more than about four feet of water in the deep inside run, and little more than three-an-a-half feet farther out, which probably makes this the shallowest of the four strip lakes.

Bob Allan with one of several
double-figure carp landed.

John Smith was third. He is also
secretary of  Fenland Rods AC.

THE WINNER, Mick Ramm,. 108 lb 15 oz...
and he was almost 5 lb over the 50 lb limit over in one net!

Peter Harrison took his fish
on a feeder fished right across.

Trevor Cousins, runner-up,
and always smiling.

WEIGHTS IN PEG ORDER

Peg 1 – 28 lb 8 oz

Peg 2 – 49 lb 4 oz

Peg 3 – 75 lb 9 oz

Peg 4 – 50 lb 7 oz

  Peg 5 – 44 lb 15 oz

Peg 6 – 80 lb 3 oz

 Peg 7 – 76 lb 14 oz

 Peg 8 – 101 lb 5 oz

 Peg 9 – 58 lb 13 oz

 Peg 10 – 99 lb 4 oz

  Peg 12 – 95 lb 12 oz

Peg 13 – 58 lb 5 oz

    Peg 15 – 108 lb 15 oz

The result - we all fished on the Western bank.

My next match my be tomorrow (Wed) on Pidley, or if not, it will be a pairs match on Elm , Decoy at the weekend. I get the feeling that this is one of the more consistent lakes at the moment, largely because it seems to contain more barbel than Oak and Yew. Peg 9, or thereabouts (or opposite on 16) will do me fine. There are 12 pegs down each side here.

Broken pole, but I catch some fish

Match Lake, North View, Gedney, peg 15

I love this water – proper margins, flat grassy banks, perfectly-conditioned carp, and you can take your car to your peg. Such a pity that the owners are considering stopping matches after next year, citing bad treatment of fish, which sounds odd to me. But, like many other fisheries, they have lodges and caravans on site,and maybe they prefer to deal with specimen and ‘pleasure’ anglers, as they have two other lakes, including one Specimen lake for which I believe there are season tickets. There’s not a lot of information on the fishery as they don’t have a website and the match lake has no rules displayed, but obviously we knew the basics, and stuck to our 50 lb maximum club rule.

There were 12 of us – some members unable to attend – and I was slightly disappointed to see that my peg, on the far side of the lake, had no bare bank I could fish against, unlike a lot of others, including most most of those on the opposite bank, on the roadside. There the water shallows up to 10 inches in places – the ideal spot to see big carp coming close.  I had reeds going out at 45 degrees on my left, and another bunch on my right, preventing me being able to fish against the bank there.

Reeds to the left of me; reeds to the right of me...

Sort of a good start

The day was mainly cloudy, with sun for the last few minutes. I took a 2 lb carp very early on pellet on top two plus three, just over a ledge which went down to five feet, and as soon as I had potted in pellets fish had started moving just under the surface. I put the carp in the keepnet and switched immediately to a shallow rig, but never had a touch for 20 minutes. This is not something I am very good at, so although I was putting my pellets out accurately I gave up on that. Out again fishing deep, but no fish, so I came in to the reeds on my left in about three feet of water, and got a three-pounder immediately on luncheon meat. Then no more bites, so I had a look to my right, in the shallowest water I could easily fish a couple of feet from the reeds, and took a carp first drop-in on corn, then no more.

The water was well coloured, and looked good, but then light rain started to fall, and the wind started blowing into my face from the right, so I put on my Gortex jacket.  I kept moving round the swims with odd fish, then the wind started to blow harder and swung round into my face. I put out a Method feeder for a few minutes, but never had a touch.

Tragedy

At one point  I hooked my keepnet, and had to push my pole behind me to kneel down and unhook it. I did that successfully, sat down...and heard a crack. The end of my Number Four, about 10 inches long, was no longer attached to the rest of the section! A lovely clean break.

That’s always a bit of a downer, but I telescoped it, and it looked perfect, and I was able to fish the rest of the match using just three sections, but I did have to add the fourth section occasionally, to cope with the better fish, with no problems. After two hours I had about eight fish for 25 lb, and had a wander up to secretary John, who admitted to about the same, but said that James, two swims to my right, had started catching well. As I wandered back James asked me: “Did you break your pole?” I said yes, and he said he had heard it. It’s an unmistakeable sound and I’ve heard it too many times – never on a fish; always my own fault.

Good spells when the wind dropped

Back to my peg and the rain had stopped, but the wind had now swung round to come from the front left. I decided to concentrate on the two closer swims, and slowly the fish started to come – lucheon meat to the left and corn to the right. But as so often  happens the fish would come in for five minutes when I fed and then move off. Every time the wind abated for a few minutes I got bite after bite. As soon as it picked up sport slowed.  When I could fish properly I was able to add about 25 lb in half an hour before the wind ruined it. There was such a skim on the water that presentation was affected.

Would a drilled bullet work?

I have toyed with the idea of fishing a small drilled bullet to get the bait down and hold it in position in strong winds. I am sure it will work, and some years ago I made up such a rig, but can’t find it.

Anyway, another good 15 minute spell saw me catch four or five more, up to 6 lb, with red Hydro and Middy Blue 20 solid essential to keep even the two-pounders from dashing into the reeds – I was fishing only a metre from them most of the time. One fish turned out to be a 2 lb rudd, though an old one which was golden but a bit battered. I love big rudd, and am reminded of a short poem by the late Patrick Chalmers, describing the rudd:

A kind of roach, all tinged with gold;

Strong, broad and thick, most lovely to behold.

I need my third net

With half an hour to go I got out my third net, with an estimated approximately 40 lb in each of the first two, and almost 20 lb went into this, though unaccountably I lost two or three in this spell, probably not foulhooked – I foulhooked and lost only a couple early on, lifting out and hitting something close to the surafce; they both came off quickly. With 20 minutes to go the sun stopped me seeing the exact spot to the right where I had had most of my fish. No matter how I squinted or moved about  I couldn’t see the float properly, and had to concentrate on the lefthand swim.  I was playing a 4 lb fish on the whistle – that’s  happened a lot recently, which put me even farther behind in the packing-up stakes as I usually am. I guessed I might have 100 lb.

“Error”

First to weigh was Callum, 87 lb, and I had 19 lb 8 oz in my first net. So I then wondered whether I would beat Callum, with 40 lb-ish in the other two, but thinking I might have over-estimated. Out came the next net; then that horrible feeling as the weighers-in looked at the scales, back to me, and the onlookers (who pretend to be my mates)  gleefully shouted: “Error!” That  net was 2lb-plus over 50 lb; and the final one was 3 lb over, bringing another shout.  How do I keep doing that they asked? I have no idea...I stopped at 40 lb on the clicker on one and at 39 lb on the other...Mr Mainwaring would have the answer...

I manage to scrape into third spot, despite two nets being cut back to 50 lb.

Dave Garner, on the roadside bank, who always uses rod and line, took 164 lb – a wonderful performance. I went round to take his picture, only to discover my phone had run out of battery. So it was back to the car to use my portable charger and get enough power in it to takea picture of the result sheet. My error on the nets didn’t cost me, as Tony Nisbet had 109 lb, mainly on pellet,  and I finished second.

If the wind had been a little kinder I am sure I could have won. But winning matches is all about taking advantage of any good luck the draw brings or which you get during the match. So later I thought perhaps I hadn’t fished too badly, particularly as young James, next to me, had 74 lb, and he is noted for getting big weights..

Next match tomorrow (Monday) on Yew, at Decoy. I am going to use my Browning Sting, a put-in pole, as I’ve already taken the broken section on my  Z12 to be mended locally. For a change I intend to have an easy day and just fish close-in, probably with cat meat, as there are some big carp on Yew. Unfortunately the Sting doesn’t have pullers, so I may have to add the third section to land the bigger fish. But the sections on this pole are shorter than normal anyway.

HOOKING WEED

So many times I get a bite, strike, and pull up a piece of weed or small twig. It’s perplexed me for ages, but I think I may have worked it out.

I now suspect that the bait  touches the weed, which momentarily straightens the line, and at this point a fish hits the line, giving what looks like a bite, and pulling the hook into the weed, which causes the float to submerge.

If the bait is not impeded by the weed the ‘bite’ will look different, the float won’t go below the surface, and the movement  be immediately recognised as a liner.

That’s my theory, anway.

Stupid Boy!

Beastie Lake, Decoy, peg 24

This is my bogey peg – it’s highly rated by the regulars, but I just can’t frame from it, though I nearly managed it on Monday. I fished it a couple of times on the trot in the Winter and failed abysmally to make an impression. Nigel Baxter rates it one of the best pegs on the lake.

The morning was hot and flat calm, and hundreds of carp were showing just under the surface, sun bathing but not interested in any bait. Nevertheless Martin, to my left, was soon fishing shallow at 13 metres and hooking fish occasionally. I started at 11.5 metres (that’s Browning metres, so the genuine length) with the intention of coming shallow eventually. A 4 lb carp soon came in on pellet, plus a small bream, and I started getting liners, so came shallow. Half-an-hour later I’d not had a touch and John, on my right, hit some carp fishing deep water not far out, so I changed.

Flat calm, bright sun, and the fish sunning themselves.

I lose my way

An F1 came in quickly to corn fished to my right, about a metre from the bank on a gentle slope, then a couple of roach, and I went out again, and snared an F1. From then on I rather lost my way, swapping to a swim on the left with corn and getting the odd barbel on cat meat, then back to the right, and out again, without ever dropping into any pattern. I went shallow again, had a 3 lb F1 first drop, and then couldn't get a bite, although I was feeding accurately. However, bream to 2 lb came occasionally fromk the inside swims, but I couldn’t keep them coming. Stupidly I think I must have forgotten to click these. I blame the baking, relentless sun.

The lefthand swim, about a metre out, brought a 5 lb carp and some F1s in the last hour, and I lost a couple of barbel which gave me no chance, diving straight into my keepnets. The big bugbear was roach – they just refused to let my cat meat sink. At one point I was fishing a 2gm float with the shot just two inches above the hook...and still the roach were intercepting it on the way down, and knocking  and nibbling the bait off. I decided to put a big piece of paste on, but couldn’t find it, and assumed I had left it at home.

I hit a BIG carp

Then, with 34 lb on my clicker and half an hour to go I started fishing even closer to the bank, to the left, where the water was little more than a foot deep, with corn. A barbel and an F1 came, which went into my second net, as I thought I probably 40 lb in the first, and then I hit a really big carp, which surfaced right next to the bank as I struck into it and I remember thinking: “I hope that’s not the one I have hooked!” But it was...

Several times my purple Hydro was stretched halfway to the island which is about 50 yards away, where the fish surfaced, and I was absolutely certain that the hook would pull. But it didn’t. I was thankful I had managed to add all my pole sections to 11.5 metres, as without that I would have stood no chance.

When the fish seemed to have lost a bit of energy I plunged the tip as far under the surface as I could, and prayed. Quietly. Thirty seconds later I lifted the pole and the fish had come right back. It made a few lumbering circles of the landing net and eventually obligingly flicked its tail and swam straight in. It was big, and difficult to unhook, as if you get them in fairly quickly they twist and turn in the net. But is was hooked fairly in the mouth and I managed to get the hook out almost immediately, though it flapped once and almost jumped out of the landing net just as I slipped it into the keepnet.

My last gasp carp - all 16 lb 1 oz of it.

Three minutes to go, and there’s always the possibility that another big one is around, so I dropped back...and promptly hooked a snag. That’s always the way...just when I wanted a simple drop in. I had to use my long hook, break the line, and put out another rig with cat meat. Seconds later the match ended.

The weigh-in

Martin weighed 102 lb 2 oz, mainly F1s, and told me he had been using a jigger rig. I’ve made a couple up myself, but didn’t think about using one. It might have made a difference. I reckoned I had perhaps 60 lb with the big carp. Wrong! My first net weighed 59 lb 8 oz, knocked back to 50 lb. How did that happen? The big carp was weighed at 16 lb 1 oz, and I totalled 73 lb 7 oz, which should have been 83 lb if I hadn’t been such an idiot. Trevor had enjoyed himself on peg 3 using a pellet waggler all day and casting to within a metre of the island for his 88 lb, which took third spot.

Trevor loves his rod and line.

Terry Tribe was in one of my favourite pegs, 2, and weighed 84 lb 13oz for fourth, and Peter Spriggs on 5 fished a top two towards the tree on his left. This is a barbel-holding spot (though they don’t always show) and he connected with several, losing three floats under the tree – there’s big undercut there. Carp also came to his home-made paste, and he finished a deserving winner with 144 lb 10 oz – a lovely day’s sport.

Peter Barnes, unplaced today.

So I was fifth, but if I had clicked properly and added just one more decent carp, or landed just one of those two late barbel, it would have placed me third. And I had my paste with me all the time – lurking in my bait bag. A day I made a lot of mistakes, one of which was failing to fish the simplest line of top two plus two, which I am still annoyed about. The next day I bought a bigger bait bag, so my stuff is not as cramped, and I should be able to access it all more easily.

The result - someone should have gone to Specsavers
as Peter Harrison was placed fifth!  o( * ! * )o

Winner Peter Spriggs - 144 lb 10 oz on top two.

This weekend sees me on the match lake at North View, Gedney, which I like very much. It’s been kind to me and is easy to fish – you can get the car to most pegs and the banks are flat and grassy.

DECOY – WHAT A GREAT PLACE

I love fishing Decoy. The fishing is so good, with no duff pegs in the complex, the shop holds all the baits I might need, plus some tackle, and I’ve always found owner Di very helpful. So how about this for service: Di’s partner John, who serves in the shop, rang me this week. I’d had to miss last year’s three-day Decoy festival for the first time in years. I forget why – probably a hospital appointment. Anyway, invites always go out to last year’s competitors, so I didn’t get one, but mentioned to another angler that I’d have to miss it this year.

John heard about our conversation and took the trouble to ring me to say there was a place available, and would I like it? After a quick consultation with ‘Er Indoors and a check on the calendar I had to admit that I’ve got a lot on that week, so I had to regretfully refuse the offer. But what other fishery would think about a regular and actually ring to ask if they’d like to fish? That’s class for you.

A lucky magpie for me

Magpie Lake, Pidley, peg 12

This was a club match pegged from 1 to 15 (leaving out 11 which had a dodgy bank), and I really wanted pegs 1 to 6, which have lilly pads or reeds within a pole length from the bank, and I think tend to be the most consistent of the pegs we were fishing. But pegs 2 and 4 went first, to our two guests, and then  John, our secretary, drew out peg 1! Not a good start. Peg 12, further round the bend, towards the more open water,  eventually stuck to my hand, so I resigned myself to just a day’s fishing, as I didn’t think I would even frame from there.

When the sun came out it went from being cold to blazing hot, with no
 ripple at all  along my bank.The artificial grass here is really great, covering
 a large area so if it's wet you don't get everything covered in mud!

On my right was Dave Garner, currently our club champion, who always fishes a waggler, and who so often is the man to beat. The water was calm and coloured, with horrible scum and bubbles floating about, and the light Northerly wind was quite cold, so I put on my second sweat shirt. I started out at 11 metres on expander with not a touch for 15 minutes, so came in and had a look in the right margin.

Alex, the manager, has scraped back the bank a little to each side of the pegs here, leaving a beautiful cut-back with a little bank of reeds extending out, which means you can fish against the reeds, or into the shallower basin, on almost every peg. They look really inviting. So I put in some dead maggots and followed with a bunch on a size 12 hook. Within five minutes I had a 3 lb carp, which was the first fish I had seen caught – a good start. Another followed a few minutes later, but then Dave started hitting fish, fishing overdepth with cat meat.

For the next hour I scraped around the margin for a single 2 lb carp and a couple of rudd, and then went out to five sections with luncheon meat put in with a bait dropper, where I managed a couple more, including one at 8 lb, which is big for this lake. But all the time Dave was catching a fish about every  ten or 15 minutes, from both the margin and further out, on cat meat. After two-and-a-half hours, with six carp and a couple of rudd in my net, I wandered up to Dennis Sambridge on my left. Dennis had just one decent carp and a few bits, and I then realised just how hard it might be for everybody else, as he is a very experienced matchman.

Dick weighs in, despite the fact that,
like all of us, he must have been
suffering in the heat after six hours fishing.

 

Guest for the day Colin Drage. But if he
catches too many he won't be asked again!

Such excitement

The next 90 minutes were spent getting about one fish every 15 minutes, alternating between maggots in the margin and luncheon meat out on a size 16. I'm not convinced the hook size makes any difference from the point of view of more metal showing, but it does make a difference to the presentation, which is why I tend to have different-sized hooks on each rig.

The one piece of excitement was Wendy coming round the lake to try to cast over her top two, which was being given a waterski lesson by a speeding carp. The only time the top two came near enough to me to allow me to snag it with a pole, I was playing a five-pounder, and by the time I’d landed it the fish was making a circuit of the island 30 yards away. Eventually the top two stood straight up in the  air and did its Titanic impression, never to be seen again.

Excitement over, I saw that Dave kept landing fish on his rod, and I guessed, with a couple of hours to go, that he had about 80 lb to my 40 lb. By now the sun was so hot I’d taken both sweat shirts off and was absolutely baking, as there was no wind. I tried fishing shallow at 11 metres, lost two fish, and couldn't get any more dfor the next half-hour. I was stumped. But I had to make something happen.

So I did what I had done in the previous club match at Head Fen. I had already had a look near the cutout to the left with corn, but had not had a bite. So I put a couple of handfuls of corn into the slightly deeper water – where the margin drops from three feet to almost four, just a top two out a little to my left. To my surprise I had a 2 lb carp first put-in, and more followed. I found, yet again, that I had to put some bait in – if only six grains – to get a bite.

Now the fish came steadily, alternating with the occasional look to the shallower righthand margin and the open water swim, but mainly from the corn swim, and a couple went almost 5 lb, though I had to constantly put in just a little bait, and then lift or drag the bait to induce a take. I saw that the three anglers on my left were all feedering, so I guessed they had been struggling. However, a good final two hours, including playing a fish on the whistle, saw me finish with an estimated 25 lb to 30 lb in each of my three nets.

 

Mel accompanies Dick with the board - he's
the only one who can write legibly!

The weigh-in

Dave always fishes rod and line.
And he always frames!

John on peg 1 had weighed 65 lb 3 oz for fifth, with guest Colin Drage on two totalling 82 lb 12 oz for third spot, and Tony Nisbet on 3 getting 66 lb 1 oz for fourth. So as I thought, this stretch fished well. There are lilly beds here, which always seem to hold fish, though both John and Tony said they lost several in the lillies. The scales went round the lake, with Wendy the best of the next few swims, but Dave Garner pipped them all with 84 lb 10 oz – far less than I thought he had. I saw him net a couple of fish which looked approaching 5 lb, and assumed several others were like that, but he said that in fact most were just 2-3 lb.

When my first net went over 30 lb I guessed that I had at least 90 lb, and in fact totalled 109 lb 8 oz for the win! Nobody was more surprised than me. And the three anglers on my left all said they could not catch much on the pole, and took almost all their fish well out on feeders. So I was chuffed that I had managed to catch everything on the pole. As I said, I had left my rods in the car, as the only feature to cast to was the point of the reedy island, and I didn’t want to confuse myself right at the start. But I could soon have fetched them if I had been sure I was being thrashed by someone feedering, or fishing a pellet waggler in the open water.

 

Callum took all his fish on feeder.

The result - the positions shown on the sheet
are for club members. Colin (peg 2) was third.

So all round I was pleased I had kept plugging away and had eventually tried the swim I fancied least, in the deeper water. It’s a weakness of mine that so often in Summer I tend to favour the shallowest water in the margin, which often doesn’t pay off.

I manage 100 lb in the heat

Trev’s Lake, Head Fen, peg 51

I’d fished Trev’s Lake just three times in the past few years, the last being a club win about three years ago. But although I can remember roughly where I sat I’m blowed if I can remember much else – weight (I think it was 50 lb-plus), tactics, species caught, or bait. Trev’s Lake is named after former owner Trevor, who died several years ago, and it’s now run by two of his sons. I didn’t know Trev, but I knew his late sister, married to a friend of mine, and she was the loveliest, kindest lady ever to walk the planet. But back to the fishing...

Trev's Lake - a very 'natural'-looking water. Afternoon saw
 bright sun and hardly a breath of wind. It made for difficult fishing.

Eleven of us lined up, having driven through thick mist to this fishery out in the back of beyond, near Ely. A Muntjac deer appeared just before I got to the fishery, and several partridge took off after racing me down the road. We were pegged along the roadsideon Trev’s, and I drew Peg 2 (our secretary had put down our own numbers for the day), which I think is the permanent number 51, two pegs to the right of the tree, with Tony Nisbet drawing peg 1, on my right. I quite like having better anglers than myself beside me, especially when there are no gaps, and I can watch what they do. I hate spacing anglers out just because it’s a commercial fishery – it doesn’t feel like a proper match to me.

Anyway, Tony told me he had won the last match he fished here by casting a straight bomb, with corn, to the island about 40 yards away, catching carp. This is, in fact, a mixed fishery, so there are bream, tench and chub there (at least there were chub though I’ve not heard of any caught in the last couple of years). So I rigged up a bomb, and decided on four pole swims – each side in the margin, one at six sections, and another at four sections.

I had a load of casters and started by putting some in a ball of groundbait and cupping it oput to the six-section marker where it was about six feet deep; then threw some cubed luncheon meat in the left-hand margin, and cast out my bomb. Nothing for ten minutes, then Tony hit a fish on pellet in the deep margin next to a protruding club of reeds, and it turned out to be about 7 lb carp, which gave up without much of a fight. That was not a foretaste of the day, because every fish after that fought very hard, even the bream!

I quickly came in to fish caster over the six-section swim I had baited, but 20 minutes later still had not had a bite. Meanwhile John, on my left, had landed a good carp and Tony had another couple. So it was into the shallow margin, about three feet deep, to my left, and after a short time I also landed a 7 lb carp. Tony had another, and I was already trailing by four fish to one – a thrashing looked likely, especially as there was more splashing in John’s swim to my left.

Perch love worms!

But in the next hour I managed a bream on meat from the left margin, two on corn from the right margin, and another on pellet from the four-section swim, which was about five feet deep. All were approaching 3 lb. So at least I had double-figures. As soon as I had the first one I changed to a worm, which bream love...but unfortunately so do 1 oz perch! And after three perch in three casts I gave up on the worms.

Sport was slow, so I had time to watch Tony
in action. This carp came on his close-in pole line.

Fron then on it was a case of picking up odd carp and bream from the three nearest swims (I never had a bite over the caster swim), and by 1 pm I estimated I had 40 lb, at which time the cloud cleared and the sun started to beat down mercilessly so it became very uncomfortable in the heat. I tried shallow with caster for half an hour on pole, and although carp were swirling under the surface I never got a touch. Later I realised that the strong sun and lack of ripple meant I should have changed to pellet waggler to stop the shadows.

I wandered up to John, who told me he had landed just one, but lost four, and that the rest seemed to be struggling. An old mate of mine also wandered round the fishery at this time, when I had a long blank spell, and remember saying to him: “I’ve got to make something happen.”

I make something happen

Well, I did. I put a steady stream of 4mm expanders into the right margin, and followed them with a 6mm expander on the hook. The reward was a couple of bream, then a blank spell, so I put in corn to the left margin, set the float so the bait was exactly on the bottom, and concentrated on lifting it half an inch occasionally – to be rewarded at times with a big bite from a carp. The four-metre swim also got an occasional look, and I snagged a couple of carp there. But it was all very hard work, and the concentration was intense.

Tony hit five big carp in the last hour
on his pellet waggler with banded pellet.

Tony had been catching steadily all morning from the same swim, using pellet, though his catch rate had slowed, and by 1 pm I estimated he had 80 lb, and 110 lb by 3pm, which included a couple of tench. With a hour to go he picked up his pellet waggler rod, and took five more in the last hour, the first of which looked to be at least 15 lb (we later weighed it at 12 lb 8 oz, probably because it had spawned). But I had only a bream and a 5 lb carp in the last hour, and estimated I had about 100 lb, while Tony must have 160 lb.

Brilliant casting (but not from me)

I fact Tony weighed 136 lb 2 oz, which just goes to show that the other person always seems to have more!  That was the winning weight; I struggled to pull my nets out – old age and the heat combined – but got some help from Matthew. They weighed 104 lb 8 oz for second, with Matthew apparently putting on a brilliant exhibition of long-distance waggler fishing to snare 78 lb 1 oz of carp. “He was casting that float within six inches of the island every single time,” Allan, who languished next door, told me afterwards.

Wendy is a marvel

The result of a long, hot day.

Les, complete with oxygen tank, must have suffered in the heat, but wife Wendy, who really is a bit of a marvel, was fifth, from the far end peg with 46 lb 8 oz, all on a feeder, with her son, Callum, just pipping her to fourth spot. So there were fish to be had on all methods, but the heat made things difficult in the afternoon.

Wendy took all her fish on feeder.

I suspect that it didn’t matter what method you chose – you just had to do it perfectly. In my case I hadn’t really prepared properly – my  cubes on luncheon meat had been frozen and thawed and re-frozen so many times they were very sticky, I hadn’t taken my usual frozen orange juice and had to make do all day with a small bottle of water, and although I had taken a pellet waggler rod I hadn’t put a float on before the match started, so never tried it.

 

This fish looked 15 lb but weighed in at
 12 lb 8 oz, probably having just spawned. 

I lost two carp foulhooked, and a 4 lb bream foulhooked in the dorsal fin just before the end, which just refused to come in, obviously thinking it was a carp. In the end, on its 46^th circuit of my net, it pulled off. But second spot, from a fishery I was not confident about, was pleasing, and I can’t wait to go back. It’s more natural than the adjacent Snake Lake, much bigger, and the water is clearer, with lovely marginal growth, so it’s very like ‘natural’ fishing.