My first visit to Alders Farm

Saturday saw me fish my first Maggot Drowners’ match, at Alders Farm near Milton Keynes. I’ve been a member of this forum for a year or two, and I was looking forward to meeting the 16 who turned up, having never met any of them before.

Ash Lake at Alders Farm used to have a reputation for producing almost obscene weights in matches – 400 lb was not uncommon and 600 lb the record, but the new owners, who took over in 2014, removed a lot of the fish and have kept the population at a sensible level. Now the fishery has a high reputation among matchmen, with much more sensible winning weights.

Ash Lake is shallow at one end – around three feet, with twice as much depth at the far end, where the dam is – roughly pegs 12 round to 20 I think. The fliers are 1 and 2, and I wanted to draw anywhere from 1 to 6, or 21 round to 30, in the shallower water...so of course I drew 19!  The depth here was around five feet at six metres, shallowing up to very shallow margins.

High, cold, winds

The wind was forescast to come from SSW, which it did for the first hour or so, over my back, during which time it started to rain – and to cut down on weight I had left my brolly in the car! Then the wind moved round 90 degrees so it was into our faces on this bank, from the left. The angler on 20 had a carp at this time, about 3 lb, on a 13-metres pole, while the angler on 17, to my right, had a foulhooked carp about the same size, on a feeder. He had started fishing a waggler, but by now he found that impossible, so stayed on a feeder all day (the angler on 20 stayed on his pole all day).

I eventually had to change from pole to feeder, fishing maggot, and first cast produced a 2 lb-plus carp. But then no more. I couldn’t cast to the island, as that was in front of peg 20, so had to just vary my length of cast at random. Even though the rain eventually stopped it grew gradually colder and colder, and my mate Colin, who lives nearby, came down to watch, but he stayed only 15 minutes because of the cold. I was shivering violently at one point, so got up and had a muddy walk to my left to see what was being caught – not much.

Suddenly there are bream in my swim

I came back, seriously thinking about packing up as I was so cold, but had another go at the pole at 13 metres (I had tried inside for nothing) and was surprised, suddenly, to hit a fish, which came off. Next drop-in a 6 oz bream came in. I started catapulting maggots out during the occasional lull in the wind, which was now quite fierce, and during the next hour I had another eight or nine bream of similar size.

With half an hour to go a drop in a little closer brought another, then two fish which came off – one seemed a bit better – and then the match finished. And I was mighty pleased to be able to pack up. Altogether I pulled out of five fish in the strong wind, probably bream hooked lightly, but I doubt if that made any difference to my placings.

The weigh-in

The angler on my right had 6 lb – plus – I think he may have added another carp. I was surprised to weigh 8 lb 13 oz, and was told it was second in my 6-peg section, with peg 7, opposite, leading the section with 16 lb 10 oz. The angler to my left, Keith, had added a couple of silver fish, and weighed 3 lb 11 oz. The next angler had 4 oz so I won a prize for second in section, and was sixth overall.

The top weight came from peg 23, local expert Trevor Price, casting a waggler right to the island. The early pegs produced two weights above mine – and it was galling to see them sitting in bright sunshine for the last three hours while we were freezing, with the sun behind us but shaded from the bank by trees.

Bitterly cold winds kept the weights down, though the early pegs had some sun.
The previous Tuesday peg 1 had won and 2 was second. But today there were no fliers!

Conclusions

Three of us – pegs 20, 19 and 17, really caught the full blast of the wind, so on a water I had never fished before I was happy to beat them, and to win something. Stupidly at the after-match meal I put my prize on the table and accidentally left it there when I left!

I would think twice about going to the fishery again in the Winter, though. The platform I was on was great – brand new, a good size, and rock-steady, with paving slabs behind and to one side. That was very useful as the bank was very muddy indeed.

Nothing much the fishery could have done about the muddy bank near the platforms – but there were two big areas of mud, on the approach and at the exit, where my trolley became stuck solid. Obviously these areas have been dodgy for some time, as they were well churned up. Leaves had built up in a couple of hollows, and that prevents the ground from drying out in a wind. A piece of perforated rubber matting, which allows the grass to grow through, would solve a lot of that problem. I was using a motorised trolley for the first time, and without the help of the motor I would have needed help to extricate it.

Great organisation - thanks, Dave

However, Dave (Red Leader) did a great job of the organisation and the meal was just right – quick and hot. I enjoyed everyone’s company, and obviously some are very good matchmen. They gave me several tips beforehand, though the weather was against us – you can see from the results. Around 80 lb was expected to win, and no-one expected there to be any DNWs. But the water was very clear, and obviously very cold, so well done to everyone who caught a fish...and well done for sticking it out to those who didn’t.

PS. I was told at the weigh-in that the rule is that silver fish on Ash lake are to be kept in a separate net. But I had read the rules online and the only reference to a separate net was as follows: “When Fishing a match on Pines Lake, all Silver Fish to be kept in a separate Keep net.”

There was no question of disqualifying me on the day, but it made me uncomfortable to think that I could have unintentionally broken a rule. Are there any other rules not on the website?

An inauspicious start to my Winter campaign

Scraping ice off the windscreen before you set off fishing is not a good sign – agreed? But it has to be done – and the one thing to look forward to was that the Rookery Farm Over 60s was on Raven Lake, where you can get your car to every peg.

At least I had a laugh at the draw when Tim Bates reminded us that the fishing times were 3 to 10 (I’m sure that’s what he said). There are 29 pegs on Raven, with 24 fishing,  and I desperately wanted to avoid pegs 12 to 17, because they face right into the sun and it make fishing a long pole really nasty in Winter, when the sun is low. So of course it was Peg 14 that stuck to my fingers.

There’s not much to add, actually. There was hardly any wind, but obviously the water was cold and nothing was moving on the surface. And as I had expected, the sun was horribly glarey - right in our eyes, hence no picture! A few minutes fishing punch bread at 14.5 metres to the far bank in two feet of water proved fruitless – you really need reeds on the edge of the deep water, and there are none on these pegs. In addition the sun never hits that far shelf. So I tried maggot in the deep water (a good six feet at the moment) which also brought not a tickle.

My left arm ached!

Then Adrian Hunter, to my left on 12, caught two fish from what appeared to be about eight feet from the far bank. I plumbed up and it was about five feet here, up the slope, so I tried for a long time on this line. Eventually, after a couple of looks in the margins and back across, I had a bite and landed a carp about 1 lb 8 oz. From time to time I had to stop and have a drink, as having to hold my left arm out to stop the glare made it ache. Adrian said he did the same. I put on sunglasses, but then couldn’t see the float properly against the black far bank reflection.

Then two hours biteless and with 90 minutes to go Roy Whincup, on my right, had a couple of fish on a short line and then one on four sections. I tried this line for half an hour, in the deepest water, with a mere pimple of the float showing, but never had a knock until I swapped from dead maggot to live maggot. This brought two carp both about 1 lb 8 oz, which just dipped the pimple the tiniest bit, and with half an hour to go I thought I might get more. But no. And though the sun was now on the near shallows, I don't think any of us on that bank caught close in. That, as they say, was my lot!

The weigh-in

Mick Curtis on Peg 11, on the corner, was top weight round to me, with 30 lb 7 oz. He told me later that Adrian on 12 had seen fish moving on the far bank there as they had tackled up, but hadn’t told him! Mick couldn’t see them, but eventually turned to his right, towards the sun which was not quite so annoying by then, and found them. He finished fourth. 

Lots of DNWs - I assume they all blanked. Far-bank reeds which extend out to the edge of the shelf are best.

Adrian had six fish for 9 lb 9 oz, and my three went 4 lb 9 oz. Roy on 15 had six for 6 lb 8 oz. And when I saw that Tony Watling Snr on Peg 17 had weighed just 3 lb 3 oz I felt a smidgeon better! He’s one of the best senior anglers in the country.

Four of the top five weights came, as we had all expected, from the higher numbers – 23, 27, 28, and 29, where the far bank has reeds which the carp hang around. It also helped that these swims caught some sun. There were nine DNWs, and I was 11th.

I have to miss the next Wednesday Over 60s – Addenbrookes calls, where I expect to receive some sort of outline of how they will tackle the cancer on my lungs (I have no symptoms yet, but it’s there). And the next Wednesday should see me at the big Over 60s Christmas match at Pidley, when I will win a prize (it’s like Hook-A-Duck because everybody gets one).

I manage three fish in our Xmas match - Oak, Decoy

Peg 12

Thirteen of us fished this special Christmas match, and I was happy with Peg 12, as it’s in the last third of the lake, where you might expect fish to be hanging out. The wind was North-Westerly to start with, but soon swung round towards the East, giving a very cool wind into our faces. Luckily the rain held off.

I started on a bomb with a bunch of maggots, and go an occasional liner, but after half an hour had no fish. However, in that time Mark Parnell to my right had two carp on a pole at about eight metres, and Martin Parker, on his right, had one. On my left Rob Allen had a double-figure fish in the deep margin on what I assumed would be paste, though he told me afterwards it was cat meat.

Rob Allen to my left puts a big fish - about 10 lb - into
his keepnet on peg 13, towards the far end of Oak Lake.

I get one in the deep margin

I changed to fish maggot at 13 metres on the pole, but had no bites, and then Rob started hitting fish on a feeder, with maggot, from the far side. He had two or three quite quickly and then a long fishless spell. While that was going on I caught a fish of around 10 lb in my deep margin on maggot, but then had no more.

Another look out at 13 metres brought a bite from a fish which really pulled my elastic out, and 30 seconds later I realised it was foulhooked. Five minutes later I was certain it was hooked in the tail. And several minutes after that, as I gingerly pulled it tail-first over the landing net and lifted it lifted its head and squirmed over the side of the landing net. Two minutes later I managed to net it. It was around 8 lb.

Rob now had another couple more big fish on the feeder, but the two anglers to my right had had no more. I decided to put out a groundbait feeder with a bunch of maggots and first cast the tip wrapped round and a nine-pounder came in. The match was nearly half over at this point.

This was so big that Rob daren't try to unhook it while
he sat on his box. I estimated it at at least 14 lb.

From then to the end of the match I sat fishless and biteless, while Bob had more big fish. As before he’d get a couple quickly and then wait for a fair while for the next one. Towards the end he had three fish very quickly, one of which was a barbel. With an hour to go Martin Parker, who was pole fishing about 11 metres out,  pushed his float up the line a foot and laid all that extra on the bottom – and had four fish in 40 minutes.

The last 20 minutes Martin didn’t catch, but Mark had two more about 8 metres out. I had certainly been thrashed to my left, and probably to my right as well.

Mark Parnell had two fish in the first 30 minutes and two more in the last 30 minutes. This was his last one.

The weigh-in

Martin Parker, third with five fish for 34 lb 6 oz.

Results at the car park end were spasmodic, Ted on 1 had one fish, while Mick Rawson and Peter Spriggs never had a bite. Peter Barnes and John Garner each had one fish, which weighed 2 lb 11 oz (not the same fish you understand!) But Trevor, next to Peter, had ten fish, all on feeder – eight from the far side and two in the middle from peg 7  – for 48 lb 15 oz and runner-up position.

Mark Parnell fished hard for sixth spot - beaten by
 just 2 oz for fifth place by Bob Barrett.

Martin was third with 34 lb 6 oz, while my three totalled 28 lb for a surprising fourth – I was fairly happy as I never do well in this match. The undoubted winner was Rob Allen on 13 with a magnificent 91 lb 1 oz. Thoroughly deserved – he got those fish in really quickly on his Daiwa Yank and Bank feeder rod, and several were around the 10 lb mark.

Winner Rob Allen graciously condescended to let me take a picture of him with his biggest fish.

The result

Peg 1    Ted Lloyd             7 lb 1 oz

Peg 2    Bob Barrett         24 lb 10 oz   5th

Peg 3    Mick Linnell        17 lb 4 oz

Peg 4    Mick Rawson       DNW

Peg 5    Peter Harrison    20 lb 14 oz

Peg 6    Peter Spriggs       DNW

Peg 7   Trevor Cousins    48 lb 15 oz   2nd

Peg 8    Peter Barnes         2 lb 11 oz 

Peg 9   John Garner           2 lb 11 oz

Peg 10 Martin Parker       34 lb 6 oz    3rd

Peg 11 Mark Parnell         24 lb 8 oz   6th

Peg 12 Mac Campbell      28 lb           4th

Peg 13 Rob Allen             91 lb 1 oz    1st

The prizegiving

We pay a little extra every time we fish, which means that this match always has prizes, and Trevor and Rob did us proud, with a great selection. I finished with a coffee maker, while Di at the fishery provided us with mince pies and gave us back the pegging fee for this match (not for the first time!) 

Highlight of the Spratts season - prizes at the Christmas match. A prize for everybody.

Trevor was also able to hand out cash to every angler as well as the prizes. And at the end he gave everyone except one a framed photo of themselves with fish, taken from my blog. Mark Parnell didn’t get one because he’s not fished with us for long and I hadn’t taken his picture. But there’s one this week. Wendy, who didn’t fish the match, also took the trouble to come along – that’s what makes this a smashing club.

We all thanked Trevor, who does a lot of work booking all the matches and generally organising everything. And Di’s generosity was the icing on the cake.  A memorable end to the summer season.

From now until the Spring I expect to fish at Pidley and probably Frasers fishery, as well as the occasional match at Decoy.

Winter’s first icy blast...Six-Island, Decoy

Peg 8

Eleven of us fished Spratts’ penultimate match, and the previous day the forecast I looked at on the internet said there was around a 90% to 50% chance of rain during the match. But on the morning that had been reduced to no more than 25%.

Now with the wind forecast to move from East to South-West at that time, the pegs I did not fancy were 4 to 9, which would have the wind coming into them with no shelter. There were two pegs there – pegs 6 and 8, and of course I drew 8.

The rain at the draw had almost stopped by the time we started, and it wasn’t too cold. I started a few minutes late, by which time Peter Barnes on 6 was playing a good carp on a feeder or bomb (I never asked which). So I started on a banjo feeder with corn but never had a knock. I was about to change to a pellet when I saw clouds of mud coming up in the margins in front of me. Fish!

Couldn't get a bite in the mud clouds!

In went a few grains of corn, followed by my rig, but nothing happened. Still the mud came up, and eventually I changed to maggot, and in came a few roach. Then, after 20 minutes, a 3 lb F1 took my bunch of maggots. I then wasted the best part of an hour trying the margins on both sides, but had only small roach, perch and the odd gudgeon, and a 1 lb crucian from the left. By now the mud had dispersed, the wind had died right away, and it was rather nice, though cool.

I owe Peter Barnes three worms, which he gave to me and I never  used.
 Will he remember? He had five fish for 20 lb 2 oz, all on feeder or bomb..

So I went out at five sections with corn, which I soon changed to maggot and after a couple of small roach had pulled my 0.5 gm Tuff Eye float under I hit a better fish on maggot, which pulled put my 13 elastic for a few seconds before coming off. Twenty minutes later the same thing happened again, though this time I played the fish for a minute or two before losing it.

I've never seen a wind come in so quickly

Suddenly, as if someone had pressed a switch the wind whipped in from the South-West, into us from the right, and within two seconds the previously-calm water had a wave on it. I’ve never seen a wind come in that quickly before. And it was cold, with rain.

The rain became heavier and soon I was so cold, and my hand almost numb, that I seriously thought about packing up, something I have done only once before – about 60 years ago. (That was in the summer on the Holland Drain, when the locals were hammering bream on redworm and I hadn't got any!) But this time I put up my umbrella, seeing Peter now doing the same thing, and when it was up, and secured, it gave a little protection from the worst of the rain, and I wandered up to Peter. He now had three fish, on worm, and generously gave me a couple.

John Smith's 31 lb 8 oz from Peg 18. In summer it can be a
flier, but at this time of year nothing is guaranteed.

I went back intending to put them on my feeder rig, but had one last drop-in on the five-section swim with a bunch of maggots. To my surprise the float dipped and a beautiful 9 lb common came in on my 13 Hollo elastic. A little later another of about 5 lb joined it in my net. Opposite I hadn’t seen Peter Spriggs land any fish, but as he seemed to be fishing in the same spot all the time I guessed he had caught something.

I get broken twice

After a lull I had another look in the left margin, as the wind was too strong to fish to the right, and a few roach came, and then another 3 lb F1. I was now using a light elastic, about an 8, in an effort to land the roach, without bumping them off, and suddenly hit a big fish. I played it for two or three minutes but without warning, and without the elastic bottoming out, the rig broke. Unbelievably a little later the same thing happened, even though I had changed rigs. The rig line was 4 lb, but I still can’t work out why it parted.

Peter Harrison was fourth with 37 lb 7 oz, and the bank here
at Peg 19 shows just how much rain we have been having recently.

I then wasted 45 minutes looking for more big fish, but had only roach in the margin, and with 30 minutes left I went out to the five-section line with a bunch of maggots. My float now seemed to be sitting lower in the water than it should. I inspected it and it seemed OK. I then realised what had happened - the water had risen very slightly and the bait which had been just touching bottom was now above it, and taking the float down. So I moved it up the line by an inch.

Immediately I caught a carp around 6 lb and then two good F1s, before the match ended. I had to gradually drag the bait towards me, on the bottom, to get a bite. All three came like that. The rain had now stopped, but it was pretty cool, and more rain threatened as we weighed in.

The weigh-in

I was top weight with 38 lb 12 oz round to me, but Peter Spriggs was next, and topped that with 45 lb on peg 10, all taken on paste. Then round to the pegs I fancied, from 16 along to 23, which had a back wind, and Trevor on 17, a peg he must have fancied, took only 15 lb. Thirty-pound-plus weights from 18 and 19, and up to Martin Parker on 22, which has a reputation of being a decent Winter peg, where I was once told the water is deeper than in any other swim on the lake (but probably not by much). He fished about 11 metres with maggot and won with 57 lb 12 oz.

Martin won on Peg 22 with 57 lb 12 oz. A former Vets National
Champion, he has sight in only one eye.

The Result

Peg 1     Mark Parnell      33 lb 5 oz

Peg 3     Robert Allan       7 lb 14 oz

Peg 6     Peter Barnes      20 lb 2 oz

Peg 8     Mac Campbell    38 lb 12 oz

Peg 11   Peter Spriggs     45 lb

Peg 13   Bob Barrett         10 lb 7 oz

Peg 17   Trevor Cousins   15 lb

Peg 18   John Smith          31 lb 8 oz

Peg 19   Peter Harrison    37 lb 7 oz

Peg 22   Martin Parker      57 lb 12 oz

Peg 24   Terry Tribe           21 lb 12 oz

I could have won if I’d landed the fish I lost, but Martin lost five himself. So I was actually happy to frame in third place from that peg, in those conditions. Our big Christmas match is next Friday on Oak. I’ve never won this match, and in fact usually do rather badly. I’m expecting maggot to be my main attack as I remember Martin winning it some years ago fishing a long pole with maggot from what I later realised was the ‘hot’ area somewhere around peg 21. So an ideal draw would be 10 or opposite on 21, or somewhere near them.

I expect I will get a peg facing a blizzard at the car park end!

Whupped by the UK Champ – Beastie, Decoy

Peg 22

A spare Tuesday and I fancied fishing the Open on Beastie Lake, although I know I’m well outclassed by those who were likely to be fishing it. I drew peg 22, with a cool Easterly breeze into me from the right, and Ben Bell to my right on 24. I would normally have set up a feeder rod, but fancied a day pole fishing, as the peg was a bit muddy, the rain was falling, and I couldn’t be arsed to get my rod out of the bag and set it up. Mistake!

A little rain at the start turned to heavier stuff from the East  (across from
the two big trees) and then it largely stopped, but the wind grew stronger and colder.

Smudge Smalley had said I should be able to catch on a pole, so I started at five sections, then six, and didn’t get a bite for 90 minutes until I put on maggot. That produced the occasional roach, most of which fell off. After two hours I wandered up to Ben, who had two F1s on a pole and was now on a leger, with banded pellet, but hadn’t had a knock on that. He remarked that the wind was cold, but I hadn’t thought it was...until a few minutes later when I did, indeed, start to feel cool. Probably just had a hot flush from the hormone treatment!!

A surprise F1 from the shallow margin

Back at my peg and I tried maggot in the side. The margins here have little cover, and the easiest to fish – with backish wind – was to the right, where it was shallow and I could see the bottom a foot or two from the bank. However, I suddenly started to get bites from roach and perch here on maggot, where I could almost see the bottom, and in the middle of these a 3 lb F1 put in an appearance. I decided to carry on catching small fish, though the elastic was far too heavy for them really, hoping more F1s would show. They didn’t.

Further forays out on the pole brought only odd roach on maggot, more than half of which fell off as I broke the pole down. I’d seen Smudge Smalley on 17 get three carp early on fishing the margins to his right against the reeds, and I’d seen Rob Goodson on 18 get one fish. I couldn’t see Ben Bell from where I was, so after the match ended and we had a word I was amazed to hear him tell me he had 40 lb-plus, firstly on 14 metres of pole and then, when the wind got up even harder, on a bomb with banded pellet cast to within about 15 metres of the island.

Ben Bell - current UK champion after topping the four-match series fished during 2019 by some of the
best match anglers in the country. He fished Peg 24 today, and weighed 52 lb 3 oz for third spot. For me
 it's still  a privilege to be able to fish against blokes like him just by paying an entrance fee.

Obviously I should have tried that, but I’m not yet in Winter fishing mode...and Ben is the current UK Champion, and about 40 years younger than me; he weighed 52 lb 3 oz. A whupping, but my miserable 8 lb 14 oz, worth just a "Thanks For Coming",  was perhaps not an actual disgrace, particularly as some didn’t weigh in. Still, for my next match on Six-Island I am starting as Nigel Baxter fished – size 8 elastic for roach – he had 31 lb of them on maggot  in his fourth placed 51 lb 5 oz, from peg 29. And I will definitely have a bomb or feeder ready to use.

The result showed how hard the fishing
can be on commercials at this time of year.

Banded pellet wins

Winner was Chris Barley on Peg 5, who pole-fished banded pellet at 14 metres and included seven good carp. Mind you, he had a backish wind. I should have just put on the extra sections and tried at 13 metres – I have no problem doing that with my Browning Z12. Afterwards John Smalley told me what I had already worked out for myself years ago – that the fish in Beastie tend to hang around the open water once the cool nights kick in. In fact fish were splashing around that area all day. Later they will gravitate to actually go under the island, where the temperatuyre changes are less marked, and very few ‘proper’ carp will be caught.

So Six-Island tomorrow (Thursday) and rain is forecast all day with the wind due to change from easterly to South-West about ten o’clock. That will mess up not only us anglers but the fish as well, unless the wind suddenly becomes warmer, which it is not forecasted to do. Wish me luck.

Fifth again on Damson, Decoy

Peg 4

An apology

Firstly, I left my phone behind, so no pictures. But I got a draw I quite fancied, in the first 5 swims., which I have found tend to produce bigger fish than the others. The weather was fairly calm to start with, but a cold Easterly breeze sprang up, luckily it was behind us all except Trevor on the end bank, 14.

I wasn’t going to make the same mistake as I had the previous week and ignore the shallow margins, so I plumbed up about four feet deep – and no sooner had the plummet hit bottom than the float dived away like a bite, and came back to the top. That showed me that there were fish there.

So I started there, with a 4mm expander on the hook, and took two fish in the first two drop-ins. Then another about five minutes later, all around 1 lb. But then they vanished. And by now Peter Barnes on my right was hitting fish one after the other, on a feeder cast to the far bank, which had had the sun on it for an hour or two. I should have followed suit, but decided to stick to the pole.

Six sections out works again

In the next hour or so I found a couple of fish at three sections, and one more inside, and did not catch a fish on the four-section line. By now I had about 9 lb, while I estimated Peter had the better part of 25 lb. Then his bites slowed up and I went out to six sections, which I should have tried earlier, and started to find the occasional fish, which were nearly all over 2 lb.

I couldn’t see past peg 6 properly, and thought I was now doing OK. John Garner, on my left, had the same peg he had had on Sunday, when he had won; but today he seemed to be struggling. I carried on fishing at six sections, and when bites slowed I changed from 4mm expander to 6mm, and found two or three bream around 1 lb. Then a switch to frozen sweetcorn on the hook found carp again, and when they slowed I adjusted the float by about an inch at a time down the line. Instead of dragging two inches on the bottom I was now just touching bottom and that brought another small flurry of bites.

A decent last hour closer in

With an hour to go I saw Mark Parnell on 6 take fish quite close in - his float was about four feet from the bank -  so I switched and fished four feet deep, letting the bait fall in towards the shelf, and then dragging it along slowly if I hadn’t had an early bite. That induced three or four fish to take.  In that last hour about eight fish came – four on sweetcorn including a 3 lb barbel, and I then switched to a small piece of cat meat – from the small Gourmet tins – and took two more barbel and a couple of carp. The best one was a near-5 lb golden mirror which I was playing when the match ended.

 I lost just three fish, which unaccountably came off as I was playing them very gently. I think they were just lightly hooked, as the bites all day were very tiny in the cold water. (Just one of those would have seen me frame in fourth place). Trevor put me on to the Gourmet cat meat a year or two ago. The chunks are very small, but hard, and stay on the hook better than larger pieces. On waters where there are barbel I fancy they may be a good change bait in Winter, when larger baits are not working.

The weigh-in

I weighed 50 lb 14 oz – top weight to me, and Peter Barnes, who had had a terrible last half of the match on a feeder, weighed 34 lb 5 oz. On Peg 6  Mark Parnell beat me with 52 lb 1 oz with that late flurry. Then in the last seven pegs three weights topped that to knock me down to fifth spot. Best of all was Trevor, on the last swim, Peg 14, with 98 lb 2 oz...and he was Golden Peg! He fished all day at five or six sections, using corn. 

Runner-up Peter Harrison took most of his 75 lb 7 oz on a feeder. Another interesting day for me when no fish were giving themselves up and  when every bite had to be fished for. But I should have had a cast or two on feeder early on when I could see Peter doing well. Bob Barrett's fish in Peg 1 were almost all no bigger than about 1 lb, taken close in. It seems that the better fish at the moment are farther out.

Next match

Next definite match is on Six-Island, the most temperamental of the Decoy lakes as the water cools, as it’s the shallowest. Everything will depend on the wind, and whether it’s a cool one or warm. If it’s a cold Easterly then back wind on 1, 2 or 3 will suit me!

The weights:

Peg 1     Bob Barrett        32 lb15 oz

Peg 2     Ted Lloyd           21 lb 2 oz

Peg 3     John Garner       32 lb 15 oz

Peg 4     Mac Campbell    50 lb 14 oz

Peg 5     Peter Barnes      34 lb 5 oz

Peg 6     Mark Parnell       52 lb 1 oz              4th

Peg 8     Peter Harrison   75 lb 7 oz               2nd

Peg 9     Mick Linnell        45 lb 13 oz

Peg 10   John Smith        38 lb 8 oz

Peg 11   Terry Tribe          50 lb

Peg 12   Peter Spriggs     60 lb 5 oz              3rd

Peg 14   Trevor Cousins  98 lb 2 oz               1st

I just miss out - Damson, Decoy

Peg 9

 This was the Fenland Rods’ final match of the season – the Les Bedford Memorial Cup match, in remembrance of Les who died on the bank a year ago. We had a minute’s silence before the draw, which seemed very appropriate, and not at all morbid. Les was a cheerful character, and I am sure we all hoped that the club had, in various ways, contributed a little to his fulfilling life. Then – as all anglers will understand – we all put on our competitive hats, and pulled up our hoods to lessen the effects of the biting wind.

The wind was never strong, but it was very cold at the start of the match.
By the end things had calmed down and it was quite enjoyable.

After a cold night we were confronted by this very cold light Westerly head wind on our bank (pegs 1 to 13). As I walked to my peg I saw that the first three or four swims had a bit of shelter thanks to the high bank opposite, and that the end three pegs round the corner 14 to 16 had a side wind, forecast to swing round behind them later, and a nice sunny bank, while I had a tree to my left which shielded me from the sun for the first few hours. But that’s not an excuse!

A happy James Garner finished in fourth place, 1 lb 12 oz ahead
of me, with all his fish taken on his favourite bait - cat meat.

Everyone found the fishing hard

The fishing was hard, though I started well, with a 4mm pellet, fished at four pole sections. Potting in half-a-dozen pellets via a small pole pot, I took three carp to 2 lb in the first 20 minutes. The water here is about seven feet deep and I used a 1 gm Tuff-Eye float, dotted down to a dimple, though it was difficult to see the bites in the strengthening ripple.  Apparently James, on 6. had a good fish first drop in on cat meat.  

But then my fish disappeared and I came in closer, still in deep water, where I had been flicking in 6 mm pellets, and took two fish in two casts on a 0.5 gm rig. Then no more. And the rest of the day was similar. I would go out to four sections, and pot in a tiny amount of pellet and hemp, and get one fish, before having to move. And I’d not get another bite for half an hour.

Halfway through the match I walked up to John on 4, who said he had 4 lb but Dave Garner, to his left, had several fish on cat meat, casting all over his swim with cat meat. Mel Lutkin, next to me on 8, said he had 25 lb, so I was well behind on about 12 lb by this time. Then the wind got up, and the temperature seemed to drop for a time before slowly rising. The rest of the day was actually quite pleasant.

I nearly put up a feeder rod

Dave Garner, third, took this double-figure mirror
on cat meat...and broke his rod landing it!

Callum to my right then had about four fish on a feeder cast to the island opposite, and I could see 88-year-old Joe on 16 playing fish on a feeder, so I thought of changing. However, before I did that I went out to six sections, putting in a few frozen grains of sweetcorn, and immediately had a 3 lb carp on a single grain. Freezing the sweetcorn makes it soft, and I fancy it’s more attractive to fish when the water is this cold. It would certainly waft around more than a hard grain.

I spent the rest of the match alternating between four and six sections, still with sweetcorn, and put a fish into the net approximately once every 15 minutes, best 5 lb, but most around 1 lb 8 oz.

Cat meat didn’t work

After seeing Callum hit three quick fish on cat meat at three sections I tried the same for 15 minutes, without result. Then in the last hour Mel to my left also had three fish at three sections on what looked like cat meat (I learned later it was paste) so I had another go. Altogether I probably tried cat meat for 45 minutes, hoping for better fish, without getting a single knock. Afterwards I suspected I would probably have had a fish or two on my other rigs, which would have lifted me into the frame.

Mel Lutkin - second from the swim next
to mine, with 50 lb 12 oz.

The weigh-in

 I had been able to see the anglers to my right all day, and thought I had done OK, but had little idea of what had been caught in the pegs to my left. I was admitting to 40 lb, and by the time the scales got to Mel I could see John Garner on 3 already had over 50 lb. Since I  had only one net in my maximum possible was 50 lb, so I knew I had not won. Mel also weighed over 50 lb, and my fish went 42 lb exactly, for fifth place.

Kevin Lee fished cat meat or corn, and included
 barbel in his 36 lb 15 oz. from peg 11.

However, this beat all the six to my right, and since it had been a really interesting day’s fishing, with every fish requiring real hard work and concentration, I was well happy. I lost just three fish all day, and several of those I landed were hooked on the outside of the mouth, showing how finicky the fish were.

John Garner on Peg 3 ended as the winner, and  has won the club’s handicap match as well, so has the Les Bedford trophy, the extra £50 with it, and the handicap gold medal to come. He was also on the Golden Peg...and pushed my trolley back while I took some pictures. Thanks, John. A good day's work!

My plan for the next match

My next match is on the same lake, with Spratts. And for once I have the rudiments of a plan...assuming the wind allows it: one deep rig at three sections to one side with 4mm pellet; another at four to six sections with corn; a cat meat rig ready in case; and a shallow-water margin rig for top two. However, Mel said that he couldn’t get a bite on cat meat, but that fish would bite on paste in the same swim, so perhaps they prefer the softer paste to the harder cat meat. I have paste with me, so will bear that in mind.

Our oldest member Joe Bedford (brother of Les whose memorial match this was).
I think Joe is 88 - but he has the enthusiasm of a 30-year-old!

The result - the sort of weights we can expect now
 that temperatures are dipping below freezing at night.

I didn’t try the shallow margins on Sunday because I thought it impossible that fish would be that close in, in that cold wind. But John Smith told me he had several bites (which he missed) in the margins in the first few minutes, so there must have been fish there. I should have tried it at some time during the match, if only for five minutes.

Finally, Tony Nisbet said that, like me, he had to dot his float down to a pimple and induce bites by moving it ever so slightly, to get fish – as I had. At one time fish seemed to come off bottom and I took two about four inches off bottom, as well as missing some liners. But having three inches of line dragging bottom, and virtually dragging it ever so slowly into their mouths, took almost all my fish. I suspect it will be the same on Wednesday, with the water very cold, and frost overnight.

I struggle to frame from a ‘flier’ – Willows, Decoy

Peg 25

For years Peg 25 on Willows was probably the best-known swim on the whole Decoy complex – a definite favourite to win on Willows. However, in the past few years it has not been as dominant as it used to be; indeed I struggle to remember any match I’ve fished on there recently which has been won on Peg 25.

That’s not an excuse for my not winning the latest 15-entry Spratts club match, which fished comparatively poorly, with the water very cold indeed thanks to cold temperatures overnight. I had Martin Parker, former Vets National Champion, next to me on 24, which has almost as good a reputation as 25, so I could monitor how I was doing, However, leaves from the willows on the island opposite were blowing onto the surface, and with only light winds most of the match they tended to hang about, making float fishing difficult.

Peg 25, with the main island opposite and a smaller one to the right easily reached with
six metres of pole, and a channel to the right. It gives lots of options. But
leaves were a nuisance as they blew off the willow trees opposite.

Bob Barrett, to my right on 27, found float fishing was virtually impossible thanks to the leaves and had to feeder all day, casting a small Method feeder up the gap between the islands, and baiting with a soft pellet. I decided to start on pole, next to the island on my right at about 8.5 metres. Within a few minutes Martin had a small carp on a feeder cast across to the island, but as he didn’t keep catching on feeder I persevered with pole and had a 2 lb common on a 4mm expander after about 20 minutes.

From then on I concentrated on that one swim close to the island, had a couple more small carp, and then changed to a 6m expander, to finally hit a very big fish. It lumbered around for ages, and I thought it was foulhooked until I eventually got it into the net – all 14 lb of it...hooked in the mouth!

Soon after. I hooked another big fish which took off, probably foulhooked, and broke my hooklength. I don’t like using hooklengths, preferring to fish straight-through, but as the water cools I feel I have to compromise, using the new Guru ready-tied hooks, which are whipped better than I could do it myself.

Bob Barret took a lot of smaller carp for fourth place
 from Peg 27 facing a gap between two small islands.

Tiny adjustments were so important

Fishing  with the 0.5 Tuff-Eye float dotted down to an absolute pimple, and adjusting the depth by a quarter of an inch at a time to have it just touching bottom, and dragging the bait to induce a bite, I caught perhaps one small carp every half-hour, with a couple of bonus bream and a 3 lb foulhooked barbel. Towards the end I tried the channel to my right, as I could see big carp drifting along under the surface, but all I had there was a couple of tiny perch on dead maggots.

I fed only about eight 4mm expanders at a time, and I felt this was better than feeding larger amounts. Two fish came from another, deeper swim in front of me, but there was no pattern to the bites. Sometimes we are pretty sure a bite is coming, when we get everything dead right, but today it seemed that a bite would come out of the blue, with no exact spot guaranteeing fish. Part of the problem was that the bottom was very snaggy, and sometimes the float didn’t cock properly, or the bait seemed to hang on an obstruction off the bottom. Several times I came back with twigs, and once a fish snagged me, though eventually it came out. But at this time of year, in the absence of a ripple,  that’s probably where the fish feel safest.

Peter Spriggs was top weight in "The Bay",
from 16 to 22, with 30 lb 13 oz.

When the wind blew, the leaves skated past my float nicely, but when it dropped, and they started drifting slowly back, it was a nightmare, as when they came within an inch of the float they gravitated towards it, and stuck there...

John Garner's best fish was more than

half of his total of 16 lb.

Martin struggled all day, changing to a feeder and back again to pole and I thought I had probably done OK, as the anglers I could see to my left didn’t seem to be bagging.  I estimated I had  38 lb at the end.

The weigh-in

Mick Raby on 11 had done very well with 59 lb 13 oz. I don’t know what he caught, but I heard he also had to move the bait to get a bite. Terry Tribe on the rated Peg 15 had 43 lb 6 oz, of which about 20 lb was bream, on a pole down the track or nearer. The pegs in the bay produced mainly in the 20s, and Martin next to me weighed just 12 lb 5 oz. For once I had overestimated my weight, and they went 35 lb 12 oz for fourth place. Bob’s feeder-caught fish beat me – 43 lb, a very good performance on the day. 

The changing colours of Autumn partially made up for the difficult day's fishing. Here's
our organiser Trevor Cousins with 32 lb 8 oz from Peg 33. It put him in sixth spot.

Really sorry, mate!

Then round the back of the lake, where the nearest weight to me was my mate Mike Rawson, who was disappointed to be just 7 oz behind me with 35 lb 7 oz, all on maggot from Peg 34. I told him I was really sorry to beat him!!

Mike Rawson finished just 7 oz behind me for last framing
place. He had bigger fish than most of the rest of us.

The lower-numbered pegs would have had a ripple when the wind blew, I think, which possibly encouraged fish to feed, whereas Martin and I and those in the bay had only the occasional ripple. However Bob would have had none, so he must have fished very well. There is a depression in the island reeds opposite my platform that I could have reached with a feeder, but hardly anything moved there, and in the conditions I fancied catching on the pole...just shows how much I know! I should have tried the feeder.

My next matches

Next two matches are on Damson, Decoy, which I am looking forwards to, no matter how hard they fish, after fishing the waggler match last Sunday. Apparently the previous day a match on Damson was won with 28 lb - I'd like to see some of the anglers who refuse to fish commercials because "anyone can catch 200 lb on them" come and show us how it is done!

I will be geared up with short pole rigs, deep-water pole rigs, and a waggler just in case the fish are beyond the length I can fish a pole.

The result. I was pleased in the end, to come fourth.

Waggler-only match on Damson, Decoy

Peg 4

This was a rod-and-line waggler-only match, and although it's not my favourite method, I had three made up – two with small wagglers for the inside line and a 3-AAA Ivan Marks waggler for the deeper water, which starts only a few feet from the side. But on plumbing up I got a bit of a surprise – the shallow margins seemed to drop down more quickly than I had remembered, and the deep line wasn’t as deep. Perhaps the inevitable corrosion of the shelf is taking place.

One side-effect was that the margins, which now dropped down to about five feet, were quite bumpy, so it was difficult to know just how much line was on the bottom, or how far off bottom the bait was. But the outside line was more level. Two pegs to my right Tony Nisbet started on the outside line, fishing at about five metres, and soon contacted fish. I started inside and had two early 1 lb carp on corn but then nothing. There was a nice wave on the water, and conditions looked good.

Mike Rawson pulls in my nets at the end of the match. By then the cold
wind had decreased and the fish were feeding well for me at the end.

Tony Nisbet finding fish already

Eventually I had to have a look long, as Tony must have had ten fish in the first hour, and had a bite immediately on corn, which I missed, and then a 3 lb mirror. At that point I had to see a man about a dog, and wandered up to John on Golden Peg 1. He had had just one fish, but Allan next door was playing a fish which, he told me afterwards, was his fifth, which was followed by a long blank spell.

Allan Golightly, to my left on Peg 2, had a good
start but then his sport tailed off completely.

I went back and had a few more on my 13 ft waggler just over the shelf, but then the fish vanished. After a considerable time fishless I saw Callum, next door, net a nice-looking golden mirror from a swim very close to the bank, so I had another look inside. Eventually, after putting in a few grains of corn and expanders every 30 seconds, the fish came in and I had a good spell – perhaps 25 lb in 45 minutes.

Suddenly it gets very cold

Then the wind suddenly got up and became very cold and I had just two fish in  the next two hours! Callum next door also had a poor time, but Tony was still catching carp like roach: one after the other.  Then he went for a third net. I saw later that his fish were smaller than mine – mainly between 1 lb and 2 lb, while mine were between 2 lb and 3 lb with the occasional four-pounder.

 At 2 o’clock the wind became warmer and dropped a little, and bites suddenly started again, but only slowly, and I firstly foulhooked a 4 lb barbel on a bunch of maggots in the deep swim, and then caught a few small carp and just one more barbel, on corn. For the last two hours I alternated between the two swims, where a very small waggler with a long thin antenna showed me I was getting bites on the drop on the inside swim, which didn’t materialise into proper bites. But I had enough proper ones to add another 25 lb in the last hour, but only one on cat meat, in the long swim. The fish were chunky and fought like tigers.

John Smith - third with 83 lb 1 oz after losing several which
took his line round the aerator which sits not very far out.

As before on this lake I noticed the fish seemed to hog a certain line in the shallow swims – a foot inside or farther out and you couldn’t get a bite. I’d get two fish on an expander, and have to change to corn for the next couple. They were very finicky. And I got the impression that sparse loose feeding was better than putting in bigger amounts of hemp and corn.

The weigh-in

John on 1 had 83 lb 1 oz, best 10 lb, and had lost several fish which took him round the aerator. Although it was windy and cold here during the match, he had a just little shelter from the high bank opposite. I weighed 74 lb 4 oz, which ended in fourth place, and Tony weighed in a wonderful 136 lb 9 oz to win; he told me he fished with bulk down to about six inches from the hook, and set it so the bulk was just off bottom. I saw that he was getting fish as the rig drifted in the wind.

Next door Dave Garner, who always fishes waggler, took all his 100-plus on cat meat. He was several pounds over his net limits and was credited with 100 lb for second. He fished with a shot on bottom to hold the bait still. He’s a whizz on the method.

Tony Nesbit - winner with 136 lb 1 oz.

But as I walked along with the scales I suddenly realised it felt five degrees warmer as we walked towards the North bank, which gave shelter from the wind – and there water here was much calmer. 

We have our final Fenland Rods match there next Sunday – the Les Bedford Memorial – so if the wind is still Northerly I won’t be upset if I get a swim at that end of the lake.

My small waggler

The result. I am there again on Sunday, when 14
are expected to fish the Les Bedford Memorial.

I was so impressed with the waggler I bought specially for this match that I have made up a pole rig using it, fixed at the base of the antenna and at the bottom, like a normal pole float. Using it took me back to the days when I used to catch roach on the Fen drains, using very long antenna floats (before they were called wagglers) and watching each small shot sink the next bit of the antenna. I got into our National Championship team several years fishing exclusively for roach on the drop using floats like that.

A proper antenna
float for seeing  bites
on the drop.

This float (left) perfectly showed those tiny shot sinking. I look forward to using it Tuesday on Willlows at Decoy, if conditions allow. But I think that my 3AAA waggler was probably overgunned for the lake on this occasion.

One other thing – I had a pint of casters with me but stupidly didn’t use them. I am fairly sure they would have got the fish feeding in the margins during my blank spells.