Happy with fifth from a dead-calm swim - Elm, Decoy

Peg 1

Before this match organiser Trevor asked Ted (91) if he wanted his usual peg close to the car park. With the wind blowing down from the car park end of the strip lake down to the Northern end, as it had been blowing all week, Ted said No – He’d take his chance and walk to whatever peg he drew. Very sensible, since the two pegs at the near end were both calm, and the farther down the lake you walked the more ripple you got.

Ted drew 18, six pegs down the lake and Muggins drew peg 1 – the one swim nobody in their right mind would have chosen. Still, I had a job to do.

The water was really green with algae, and when I plumbed up I couldn’t find any nice flat margin – there was a gradual slope down to about five feet, then it levelled out, dropping just a little more. I started on a Method feeder and in the first 50 minutes took five small bream from 1 lb to about 6 oz. But opposite on 24 John Smith had had two or three good fish, and he seemed to be fishing quite deep in the margin.

Green and flat calm - my swim did not look inviting.

However I had been pinging 4mm pellets out to about ten metres, and in the heat I thought it likely that fish would feed shallow. However, after half an hour I had not had a single take on my banded pellet, and I could see Martin Parker also fishing shallow, and he didn’t seem to be catching. . So it was down the side four sections to my left in front of some straggling reeds.

In the next two hours I managed to take an 8 lb carp there and lost another; and then a near-5 lb barbel managed to hook itself...in the base of a pectoral fin. It came in eventually, at which time Trevor, on peg 20, who was fishing a shallow margin, went for a third net! I looked at my watch and it was 1.20 pm and I had about 15 lb in my net...

I saw Trevor clearing surface weed from his
margin after about an hour and knew
it was likely he would find fish there...he
always does. He finished second on 158 lb 6 oz.

John Smith's best carp weighed 14 lb 2 oz.

Knowing that there were barbel about I put some cat meat and hemp into the deep right margin, towards the corner, and after a few minutes another barbel came in. Bob Allen then went for a third net and I think I managed to catch one more carp in the next 45 minutes, at which time Bob went for a fourth net!

A great last hour for me

However, with an hour left fish started to come, and I had four or five carp around 4 lb, then four big carp in a row in my second net, all on cat meat and a barbel. I estimated I had about 36 lb in that net, with the same in the first net, so I went for a third net at 3.30 pm (Trevor had already been for a fourth and Peter Barnes for a third). In the last 20 minutes after I had got settled I managed four more fish for 17 lb, and they were really feeding.

Four good carp and a barbel  that
surprised me by weighing only 31 lb.
 I will have to take a trip to Specasvers!

The weigh-in

For probably only the second time ever, I had OVERestimated the weight of the fish and those four carp and a barbel went just over 31 lb, and I ended with 88 lb 7 oz after a really good last hour. My swim had been calm all day, and as I expected the swims towards the other end fish consistently well. 

Mike Rawson was third - he's on
a bit of a roll at the moment.

Trevor found a shallow margin on peg 20, and that was always likely as he was on the Eastern bank which has the prevailing Westerlies blowing into it. This has, over the years, caused bank erosion  but there are still clumps of reeds there, and if you can find a spot where the two meet you are likely to find fish in the summer in anywhere from 12 inches to three feet of water, Trevor told me he was catching in just 12 inches.

Winner on  peg 11 was Bob Allen with 175 lb 9 oz, with Mike Rawson, who is on a roll at the moment, third behind Trevor. I ended fifth and frankly was pleased with that from that swim.



Here are the results as shown on the bank:

24 John Smith        68 lb 5 oz       1 Mac Campbell   88 lb 7 oz
22 Martin Parker   26 lb                 3 Mick Ramm       73 lb 1 oz
20 Trevor Cousins 158 lb 6 oz       5 Wendy Bedford  34 lb 6 oz
18 Ted Lloyd          55 lb 14 oz       7 Peter Harrison    29 lb 2 oz
16 Mike Rawson    98 lb 1 oz         9 Peter Barnes       92 lb 9 oz
                                                       11 Bob Allen         175 lb 9 oz