Things are getting better - Cedar Lake, Decoy

This was the third Spratts match of the year, and 14 of us fished on this strip lake, with seven on odd numbers 1 to 13 down one side, and seven evens from 14 to 26 opposite. Pegs around 1 to 6 and opposite on 22 to 26 have had an edge all winter, so I was a little disappointed to draw 18, facing the cool wind. Still, I had a job to do.

I plumbed up at 13 metres, expecting fish to be well out as it felt cold, plus a couple of margin rigs, though immediately to my left the bank had fallen in and I had to go out two metres from the bank to find what I thought might be a food trap.

First cast, though, was on a small Method feeder with maggot, and within two minutes of casting out I was into a 3 lb mirror, safely landed. But ten or 12 minutes after re-casting I hadn’t had another bite (though several liners) and I decided to have a quick look in the margin to my right, on a top two, where I had been throwing maggots every couple of minutes. My reasoning is that even if I don’t catch a fish at least everything will be set up for later, and I get an idea of what the bottom is like.

I feed mainly 6mm pellets in the margin

First drop in here and an F1 obliged, but then nothing, though I suspected roach were hitting the line, and I foulhooked a tiny roach and a tiny gudgeon.. So after 15 minutes I went to the left hand swim, where I had been throwing 6mm pellets and corn. I had a quick pleasure session at Fields End in the week, to experiment, and it seemed sensible to use 6mm pellets there to loose feed, as it’s quite deep. That gave me a lot of confidence, as I had ended with around 100 lb of mainly carp after feeding 6mm, rather then the 4mm I would normally use early season.

Anyway, first drop in with a 6mm expander brought a 5 lb carp...but then no more. A shift back to the right, right against the reeds, saw another fish or two, and I alternated between the two swims for an hour or so, having put on my waterproof Goretex jacket because the wind was now quite cold, and directly in the face of anglers on my bank. Cat meat also worked well, taking six or seven fish.

Peter Spriggs - for a change he caught
nothing on his favourite bait - paste.

The inevitable poor spell mid-match

I had clicked 40 lb after about two-and-a-half hours of the match, and decided to start on my second net. But then I struggled for at least two hours, adding just an F1 on corn from the left and another on pellet on my first drop onto a new 8mm swim in front of me, but no more there. It seemed to me that everyone had a poor spell at that time. With about 90 minutes left I actually stopped fishing and had a hot drink while I thought about what to do, and had a session fishing shallow, as fish were occasionally swirling just under the surface, but within two minutes the wind had increased and the fish had gone.

Anxious to make something happen I started a new swim five metres to the left against some reeds. I had seen Mark Ramm, opposite, catch five quite quickly fishing against reeds, where I guessed the water would be deeper, the reeds preventing bank collapse. In went about 15 grains of corn, followed by my rig, and immediately I was playing a 5 lb carp.

Runner-up John Garner - though these are
carp and F1s the majority of his fish were
barbel - difficult to estimate their weight.

Worm works well

Having learned from the early part of the match that the fish seemed to want feed, but were spooked when one was hooked,  I put in some bait and went to the right margin, where a barbel obliged on maggot. Back to the left, then right, then left, and I had a fish each time. There were now about 40 minutes left, and realising that there were barbel there which weren’t taking the bait properly, I had another brainwave – try a big dendra.

This brought immediate results, with carp to 6 lb and barbel to 5 lb. One barbel, foulhooked in the pectoral fin, weeded me well to the left. I had to walk up and have a prod with my special hook, and the fish came out, only to then dive through a feed bed under my feet. It went under by at least four feet, and I could just still see my float. Miraculously it came out, only to repeat the performance twice more before I was finally able to net it. That 30-minute spell on worm had added over 30 lb.

With 40 lb on my clicker for the second net there were just 20 minutes to go, and fetching a third net would have cost me at least eight minutes, so I decided to carry on, risking going over. A 2 lb barbel went into the right net, and then...a 10 lb carp was next. I had to decide which net to put it in, and decided on the first one – although I had clicked 40 lb I tend to underestmate the weight of fish, and I find barbel particularly difficult to get right. I was certain I would then be well over in that net.

An anxious-looking me. Some of my
barbel must have been almost 5 lb.

I learn that John has three nets

So into the first net it went, and with seconds to go I added a 2 lb barbel, which I put in the second net. John Smith, to my right, had had a couple of good spells, landing three or four fish quickly, but I had been working so hard and concentrating on my swim that I had no idea if he had beaten me. I hadn’t heard anyone drive up for a third net, but as we were packing up John told me that John Garner, on 26, had three nets, so I guessed I would not win.

I took a long time to pack up (as always), partly because I had six rigs to pack away, having used all of them and caught on five – I use different rigs for maggots and cat meat in each swim, so I missed seeing a big barbel estimated at 7 lb and a 13 lb carp taken from the opposite bank. I was in time to see our organiser Trevor weigh a lovely golden common around 10 lb taken just before the match ended.

Robert Allen, who writes the weights, has
the most beautiful writing! The weights
were well spread on Cedar. 

The moment of truth

Trevor weighed 62 lb 10 oz, with John, on my right, taking 39 lb 11 oz.  A peek at the weigh sheet showed me that Terry Tribe leading, with 69 lb 14 oz. My second net was fist to be weighed and it went 47 lb 3 oz, so I then knew I had probably put my last carp into the correct net – it would have taken me way over had I put it in this one. Then to my first net, which to my surprise (and delight) weighed 50 lb 8 oz – knocked back to 50 lb.

John Garner on 26 said that although he had three nets they were mainly barbel, and he doubted whether he could make 100 lb. In fact his first two weighed 38 lb each, so he needed 21 lb to beat me...and his third net went 16 lb, giving me the win. Weights were close, though – third was 69 lb 14 oz, followed by 69 lb 8 oz and 69 lb 4 oz, then 68 lb 5 oz – a day when one lost 2 lb barbel was important.

CONCLUSIONS

I was actually very pleased with how I fished. I’ve been reading the fishing magazines recently, and a feature by Alan Scotthorne in which he recommended feeding marginal swims little but often - every two minutes - ingrained itself on my mind. I also switched swims more quickly than I often do, and even changed elastics a couple of times when they didn’t feel right playing fish. Often I might have thought about it but not done anything.

I have been experimenting with lighter elastics  - down to 10 or 12 rather than 16 or above – and have not lost any fish on them, though I think the fish take slightly longer to land. If you’ve got someone fishing at the next peg they are mainly out of the question, but I quite like the feel of the lighter elastics.

So my first win of the year – after horrendous Winter League results I wondered if I would ever have a good catch again. Three club matches since the league finished, and a fifth, a third and now a first. Happy Bunny! I hope to fish a match this weekend, then it’s Beastie Lake on Thursday.Pegs 2, 8, 9, or 13 will do me fine, plus my favourite 18.