I catch 200 lb of fish...but - Decoy, Cedar

Cedar Lake, Decoy, peg 18

No doubt about where I wanted to draw in this Fenland Rods club match – preferably peg 26 (from which I have won at least twice), or towards  at the car park end – 1 to 6 or 20 to 26. In the event Kevin Lee draw 26 – a good angler on a good peg and I suspected the rest of us would be fishing for second spot.In an earliert match I fished on Cedar the two weights went to the end two on 24 and 26.

Peg 18 is past the halfway mark on the Eastern bank. It has shallow areas about seven metres to the left and nine metres to the right, where the bank has fallen in. But you have to fish over the tops of reeds and grass to reach them. I plumbed both and found  small spots close in about 18 inches deep, dropping down to a nice flat area about three feet deep before sloping down to the maximum depth of almost six feet.

My peg 18, looking towards 13 in the far corner.
 Note all my paraphner...parfaer...paraferna...all my rubbish.

My plan goes out of the window

My plan was to fish the Method for the first 30 minutes while dripping in feed on my pole lines. But that plan went out of the window within a few minutes, as Mat on 20, to my left, netted two good carp on pole at four sections while I was still on my first cast. I was already about 6 lb or 7 lb behind, and felt I could not afford to give Mat any more of a lead. So I put in a pot of pellet and corn in the deep water on a top two (adding a third section for insurance).

This produced a 5 lb carp within a minute on cat meat, and for the next three hours  I rarely fished any other swim. Fish were coming every few minutes, but Dave Garner, two pegs to my right on 16, was already into carp on his waggler. I was clearly behind him after half an hour, with about 12 lb in the net.

A quick look in both shallow swims to rest the top-two swim saw just a single roach on corn, and I concentrated on the main swim. Gradually the rate of bites speeded up, with every fish a carp. Then, after a slow spell, I put in some cat meat, and the result was barbel, up to 4 lb. These take so long to land I put in just pellet and corm beside the reeds only four feet from my platform, hoping to avoid the barbel. First drop in with a 6mm expander brought a 2 lb F1, but that was the only one as the rest of the fish were ‘proper’ carp or barbel, whichavidly  took corn, so I decided I might as well use cat meat most of the time.

Dave Garner on peg 16 had fish on waggler.

Kevin is way out in front

From then on I alternated between the two swims,taking carp and barbel,  and at 1.30 pm went for a third net (50 lb max), surprised to see Kevin already  had FOUR in front of him. John Smith came for a net at the same time. But the fish seemed to have slowed up when I got back, and it was about 3 o’clock by the time I had put 35 lb on the clicker. The next fish was 10 lb, so I went for a fourth net at 3.10 pm...only to see Kevin with FIVE.

Now the fish were lining up in my swim, and I was getting a bite in both swims within 30 seconds. I lost only three fish all day, all foulhooked (two left me with a scale). I hooked one at about 8 lb in the tail...but eventually got it in. But that costs valuable time when the fish are feeding. This last hour went like a dream, and I was getting the carp in fairly quickly by keeping the pole tip low, bringing them into the side, and managing to net them first time. But of course it’s not always possible to do that.

Kevin had five nets for 250 lb.

The weigh-in

I was playing a six-pounder when the shout went up to end the match, and was well behind in packing up, so couldn;t follow the scales on the opposite bank. I estimated I had perhaps 160 lb.  Tony Nisbet on 12, on the opposite bank, was leading with 142 lb, and I was surprised to see that the first six pegs had not produced well.

 Dave Garner, next to me, was over in one net and totalled 132 lb 1 oz, and the first net I heaved out went...59 lb! That was the one which had the ten-pounder as the last fish. Next was 56 lb – so I had already had 14 lb deducted. The third was 46 lb, and the last one, all taken in the last 45 minutes, weighed 43 lb. Total  189 lb 15 oz, but I had actually caught over 200 lb, for only the third time in my life (though one other time I was heavily penalised and ended being credited with only 61 lb!)

Kevin's best fish - certainly over 10 lb. You can see
why I call this the car park end. Not far to walk!

All along the line they were weighing over 100 lb, except Mick who still had 75 lb, and it was down to John. He managed to avoid going over the 50 lb mark, but totalled 186 lb 2 oz – that last carp of mine, hooked 30 seconds before the end, had allowed me to beat him.

Mike wears his hat
at a jaunty angle!

Nine of the 15 had over 100 lb.

Then it was down to Kevin, who has won our club championship more times than anyone else. He managed to exceed the 50 lb maximum in all five of his nets! So he ended the match with 250 lb – his best-ever match weight – but had actually caught nearer 280 lb, all in the deep margin to his right on cat meat over pellet and corn. How about that for a club match?