Yew, Peg 24
A light East wind was forecast, but for much of the match
the surface of this strip lake was almost flat calm, and it was warm to begin
with, then very hot when the cloud moved away. Before the match Nigel Baxter,
who was fishing the Tuesday Open on Beastie, and knows the lakes as well as
anyone, told me I would probably need a swim at the far end to win. I fancied
15 in the corner, but would have been exceeding happy to get anywhere from 11
to 20. So 24 was not ideal, but the fish in Yew are big, and anything could
happen.
This is what greeted us - oh for a nice ripple! |
I made a mistake not getting my feeder rod out of its bag,
but after I had driven to the lake and started to get my tackle out of the car
I needed to go to the toilet, so that put me a little behind – but it’s no
excuse. Seventeen of us fished.
I started by putting a bait-dropper of dead maggots at top
two at the bottom of the shelf, and started at 9 metres on pellet. It was a
nasty, glary day, and I had to put my sunglasses on to see the float properly. After
a few minutes, and a few liners from fish swimming just under the surface, I
got what looked like a proper bite, hooked a fish, but it quickly came off,
probably foulhooked. After half an hour I went onto the maggot over the loose
feed, fully expecting barbel, but never had a touch.
So it was back out on the pellet, then half an hour shallow,
then back on the maggot, and after two hours I had not had a fish! Peter
Harrison, to my left, had had two or three on a Method, and Martin Parker to my
right had had a 10 lb carp four sections out. Then I saw him fishing close in
to the reeds and catch a fish, but he looked to be fishing five feet deep.
Which was the depth of my maggot swim, where I had not had a bite.
Eventually I decided to get out the feeder rod, but first I
decided to try something which felt ridiculous at the time – cat meat in four
feet right beside the reeds. I hadn’t fed anything, so more in hope than
expectation I dropped in on top two to my left...and within a minute I had a
tearaway bite which I assumed was from a barbel. In fact it was a 10 lb-plus
carp, which eventually finished up in my landing net.
Cat meat works
Martin shows the typical size of fish caught by everyone. |
Mick Raby, in the corner on 16, had the biggest fish - estimated at around 13 lb. |
Then the wind (what there was of it) turned round briefly to
the North which brought a tiny amount of ripple, but from 2.20 pm to about 3.15
I went biteless, and in desperation was just about to get my feeder rod out of
the bag again when I had another try just past where I had been fishing in my
right margin. Immediately this produced a barbel on corn, and then another
double-figure carp on corn, followed by yet another – a 12 lb common – and a
near-5 lb barbel, both on cat meat. Then the match ended.
All day long small fry were hitting the float and the line in the margins (but not farther out), and smashing into the bait as it was sinking. If I had corn on the hook they wiggled it all over the place, which was why I eventually tried cat meat. This they still attacked, but they were so small they couldn’t damage it much. In retrospect I should probably have tried two pieces. Once I put on a big dendra expecting barbel, but fry were grabbing the end and pulling it about, and I soon gave that up.
All day long small fry were hitting the float and the line in the margins (but not farther out), and smashing into the bait as it was sinking. If I had corn on the hook they wiggled it all over the place, which was why I eventually tried cat meat. This they still attacked, but they were so small they couldn’t damage it much. In retrospect I should probably have tried two pieces. Once I put on a big dendra expecting barbel, but fry were grabbing the end and pulling it about, and I soon gave that up.
Concentration as Peter and Trevor do the honours. |
I estimated I had 80 lb, and in fact weighed 87 lb 1 oz for fifth place. Peter Harrison to my left was second with 126 lb 6 oz, with one fish taken on the waggler and the rest on the Method on banded pellet and then sweetcorn. Some came casting the feeder into the near margins towards the neighbouring platforms. Winner was Trevor Cousins on 13, who took his fish in both margins on pole – three sections to the left in four feet of water, and top two to the right in two feet, using corn and cat meat (not together!) - after spending the first 45 minutes on the waggler trying to catch the fish which were showing on the surface all over the lake.
A near-5 lb barbel for Mick... |
...is carefully returned |
Mike Rawson on 3 didn’t get a bite until 1.30 pm, then put a feeder down into the margins and ended with 63 lb 14 oz. Meanwhile 91-year-old Ted Lloyd had two fish beside the reeds on peg 1 early on which he said weighed at least 20 lb between them, soon added another couple of smaller ones, but couldn’t keep them coming that fast – however he ended fourth with 89 lb 6 oz. Man of the Match?
The result - better than we expected after the first two hours. |
Ted - 91 and still catching them! |
The Winner!! Trevor...again. |
My conclusions
Mike Rawson took all his fish in the last two-and-a-half hours. |
Peterborough's Mick Linnell - complete with dazzling smile. |
I realised after I was home that the sheet was marked
wrongly, as Ted was fourth, I was fifth and John Garner sixth. Next match
Sunday on Six-Island, when the wind is likely to determine which swims fish
best, then Monday on Elm. I don’t mind where I get pegged here.
Former Division 4 National Champion Terry Tribe took most of his fish on a feeder |
Wendy's first match with the club. |
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