Still no joy for me - Cedar, Decoy.

The sixth and final Decoy Winter League, and I was on Cedar 26, in the corner, with the end bank on my left. Almost every night for several weeks has seen the temperature drop below zero, so the water was ice-cold, and there was uninterrupted sun all day, with not a breath of wind to start with, though a light breeze blew towards the end of the match, giving the anglers to my right a little ripple.

I like Cedar 26, and have won matches from there. Clouds of mud were coming up in the margins in most pegs before we started, so I began fishing there. But after 30 minutes on pellet and corn I had not had a fish on either side, so moved out to 13 metres, fully expecting fish, as I had seen one or two anglers catching long, but nothing. Back into the margins, and I eventually took a 2 lb carp on maggot.

 Peg 26, looking across to peg 1. I couldn't reach the aerator with a pole.

Neil, Adcock, opposite on peg 1, had had a barbel very early fishing shallow right up to the reeds on the end bank, and was now catching fish in the deeper water a metres from the reeds. I went out at 13 metres to my end bank and immediately hooked, and landed, a 6 lb mirror. Two more carp followed in the next 15 minutes, but then nothing. Later the sun became so difficult that I had to leave the end bank swim, after trying it a couple more times.

Cedar fished well (but I didn't).

I had nothing for the next two hours, and eventually took a 2 lb F1 from the long line. With 40 minutes to go I looked inside again and took a 3 lb barbel. Then I lost three fish – two came off and the other was obviously a barbel which shot under my platform and broke the hooklength. The angler to my right was getting occasional fish from the margins but although I had the occasional twitch I couldn’t get any more proper bites, though I did manage four or five small roach.

I had lots of tiny movements of the float during the day, and suspect that every one was a fish knocking the bait rather than hitting the line. I tried using a long tail, and I tried putting shot down near the bait, but nothing worked properly. Neil Adcock opposite had a good spell out near the aerator – I couldn’t reach this with a pole – and finished by getting fish on pellet in open water.

Damson is so consistent, with most fish taken on a top two.

My six fish weighed 21 lb, for last on the lake, but not quite last in the match (!) I was disappointed because I thought I had fished a fair match, not dwelling too long in swims where I didn’t get a touch, and feeding carefully via a small pot. The Winter League Final had used these pegs the previous day (when Neil Adcock had drawn Cedar 2, next to where he fished today) , but that is no excuse – that applied to lots of the swims.

Winner of the series  was Andy Leathers, who took home £1,000, followed by Josh Pace, Richard Bond, and Chris Barley – all very very good, but to be honest most of the field were capable of framing. I feel lucky that I am still able to physically compete in such matches, so am still looking forward to next year! 

Winner Andy Leathers.

I managed to beat one weight on Elm...

...and another on Yew!

On the cancer front I’m going to exercises twice a week to try to get weight off my stomach (caused by the hormone treatment), and acupuncture once a week to try to get rid of the hot flushes. I’ also trying to avoid eating between meals and to avoid sugary foods. Otherwise I feel OK, though I’ve lost a lot of strength from my hands, arms and legs. My new Frenzee trolly is great, though it takes a few minutes to assemble.

I hope to fish Fraser’s match tomorrow, and club matches begin early March. Roll on Summer!