I scrape into the frame – Horseshoe, Decoy

Peg 16

I was really looking forward to this match, having seen reports of big catches from pegs 3 and 4 – peg 4 yielding 90 fish for 272 lb in a recent Gizmo Knockout event. These were taken shallow, but there’s a nice patch of lillies here, and I am capable of catching fish shallow, even though it rarely happens!

However, while the rest of the UK saw temperatures well into the 20s – the forerunner to a forecast heatwave in the next few days – this part of the country was covered in cloud with a cool North-Easterly breeze , and in fact after venturing out into the garden when I woke up I put on a thermal vest. My peg 16 was sheltered, however, with the wind from the left and over  my back. Two pegs to my left Trevor Cousins was determined to fish a pellet waggler near the lillies to his left, but the only lillies I had were right on the boundary between Bob on Peg 15 and myself.

Peg 16 - the lillies are farther to the right than they look here, and in the next swim.

The water was well coloured and at the end the nets had a fine layer of silt on them, presumably caused by the heavy rains stirring up the bottom. And with the drop in temperature down to 15 or so we didn’t think that big weights were on the cards.

Behind us I still fancied the early pegs and especially 7 and 9 (8 was not pegged), which are always fancied here. Still, a job to do and I started on a Method feeder with an orange wafter. After a minute or two Wendy, on my left, was playing a fish, and I saw Trevor playing one. I had put in expanders and corn at five sections, so while waiting for a bite of the feeder I pinged out four pellets at a time onto this line.

                                                                            A good start on the feeder

John Garner with one of the better F1s,
which run to 4 lb-plus at Decoy.

However, suddenly I had a bite and landed a 2 lb F1, followed by three more fish – an F1, a tench and a small bream - in the next 20 minutes, Things were looking good. But then, nothing. Trevor said he also stopped catching at this time. I gave it another half-hour with just one fish, and had a look deep on the five-section line. This brought just roach, most of which fell off. Shallow produced the same thing, so I had a quick look in the margins, only to find roach attacking the cat meat, though I did catch a couple of bream and a 1 lb tench.

The next two hours was spent mainly on the feeder for about four more F1s and a 3 lb common, but I did lose one huge fish which ripped me straight into the lillies. I could feel it struggling, and gradually it came towards me, but eventually the hooklength broke, with the fish probably still in the lillies. During this time Wendy kept catching the odd fish and I thought she was well ahead of me. Bob to my right also had several, and I thought I was behind him as well.

I can't even catch the roach!

When I caught an F1 on the wafter hooked in the chin, I decided that they were just not feeding properly, so went out to 13 metres on corn. First drop saw an F1, and over the next hour or so about four more came in. At one point I tried fishing in the margin for roach with maggot, but missed most of the bites and most of those I hooked fell off!

The 13-metre line produced another couple of fish, and I decided to put some more cat meat in the margin, and followed it with a bait-dropper of corn and hemp on the 13-metre line, intending to go back there if the margins didn’t produce. But they did!

The margins produce

Suddenly F1s started taking the cat meat – they played with it for ages before making off with it, and at the start I though it was roach playing me up. But almost every fish was either and F1 or a carp, the best  mirror at almost 7 lb. With 35 lb on the clicker I suspected there was actually more in the first net, and I started the second with 50 minutes to go.

Wendy and Trevor both in action, while a sad little me sat watching...

In that time I managed to lose a very big fish, which broke me at the hook. I don’t think it was foulhooked. And now I though I had a chance of beating Wendy and Bob either side of me. In fact Wendy came into the margins when she saw me catching, but found only roach.

Peter Harrison was first to weigh and we
thought he was a probable winner...until
Terry Tribe lifted out his nets.

I had to throw in a couple of handfulls of corn and follow it with a pot of water, to let the carp know something was going on. They would come in quickly but leave just as quickly, so if I hadn’t had a fish within two minutes I had to bait again.

Wendy was catching fish on a feeder
when I couldn't. She used a grain  of
corn and a red jelly pellet on the hook.

I have just been reading articles by good matchmen who say that it’s almost always better to fish for one carp at a time – so you put in a small pile of bait and dangle your hook bait there, to prevent foulhookers. But when I did that the roach came in and the carp didn’t appear. Obviously they don’t read the match fishing magazines!

Right at the end big carp were milling around just under the surface every time I baited, but they didn’t take a bit either on bottom or fished shallow. So I ended frustrated, with no fish in the last ten minutes.

The weigh-in

Ted's fish were a bigger average weight
than the rest of us could catch.

Peter Harrison had drawn the golden peg and was first to weigh on Peg 1. He estimated his weight at 90 lb, taken mainly from the reeds in the right margin,  and weighed in 89 lb 15 oz! I wish I could estimate like that.

It looked as if Peter was a likely winner, and would scoop the golden peg money, until we came to Terry Tribe. He hadn’t said what his weight was, but even if he had I wouldn’t have believed him...crafty is not the word! However, we were all smiles when we realised he had beaten Peter with 101 lb 4 oz, taken out on a feeder then close-in in the left margin. So the money was safe. We can be a rotten lot...

Up to now most of the fish had been F1s and smaller carp to about 4 lb, but 91-year-old Ted on peg 11 had a much better stamp, with several 5 lb-plus. He weighed 55 lb 5 oz – though not enough to frame.

                                                         

Trevor waits for the scales to settle -
 he finished third with 80 lb 7 oz.

I do it again!

My 35 lb net weighed 52 lb-something, knocked back to 50 lb, and the last net I had clicked at 23 lb weighed 27 lb 9 oz, so 77 lb 9 oz total. 

With Trevor admitting to about 80 lb, taken mainly on the waggler, but 12 lb of which was taken in the last 20 minutes in the margin,  I wondered if that lost 2 lb would cost me third place. There was a small chance that he also had gone over the 50 lb weight – it wouldn’t be the first time.

 

The result- good catches in the conditions.

 It was close, but Trevor didn’t go over in either net, and his 80 lb 7 oz was enough for third – if all my fish had counted I think I would have lost third place by just ounces. So no harm done. I finished fourth.

Next match this weekend on Cedar at Decoy. Let’s hope that the warm weather forecast (but yet to arrive here) doesn’t start the fish spawning again.

PS. Last week I mentioned John Garner fishing for his pole top which was being towed around Oak Lake. In fact it appears it was Martin Parker;s tackle, and while John spent several minutes unsuccessfully trying to retrieve it, eventually Martin cast over it first time with his feeder gear, and got it back, complete with fish.

I wouldn't bother, next time, John. Obviously Martin was just showing off!