Outclassed - Vet's National, Tunnel Barn Farm

Martin Parker and I travelled up to Tunnel Barn Farm near Warwick for the Veterans’ National on that really hot Tuesday, and managed to catch the open weighing in. 

Harry Billing (who has won two recent Vets Nationals) won with 127 lb fishing shallow. with maggot. Ridiculously, the fishery allows anglers to fish with a heavy bead instead of a float, which means you can fish shallow just as if you had no float at all – yet they fishery insists you have to have a float or indicator. How the bead can indicate a bite when it’s a foot under the surface ten metres away is beyond me.

Not a draw we wanted

Anyway, next day I was looking forward to the match, despite the heat, as I finished seventh last time the National was here. But Martin and I drew four pegs from each other on the one ten-peg section we wanted to avoid – High Pool 40 to 50, where the water is 8 feet deep two feet from the bank. I had intended to fish the margins, but for some reason decided to start on a feeder. I had a Method feeder attached, but within 15 minutes Garry Bell to my left from  Essex had had four F1s on a pellet feeder cast to the far bank 16 metres away.

I then realised I had no pellet feeders with me (I had pared my gear down as we had to get two sets of tackle in Martin’s car) so put on a maggot feeder, with no bites at all on that. I had also left my two pole extensions behind to save space so I couldn’t fish 16 metres to the far bank. Instead I had a go fishing shallow with maggot.

Garry had several F1s like that but I could manage only small roach. Most of which dropped off. After two hours I estimated he had well over 30 lb and I had about 3 oz!

So it was down to the margins (which is what I do best). The depth varied every foot or two – six inches next to a clump of grass then two feet a foot past that, and it fell away steeply farther from the bank. I had a bite first drop in, but  it was difficult.

I find occasional F1s

 However over the next three hours I managed to find the occasional F1 on luncheon meat to my right with not a bite to my left. I had quite a lot of bites, but missed 4 out of every 5, and lost five or six fish. A bit of a nightmare and I finished with about 16 fish for 28 lb 11 oz while Garry struggled during the last half of the match, switching methods and catching odd fish shallow, then a couple on the feeder,  and finished with 66 lb for probably second in section.

Martin had 30 lb 13 oz, with the section won with about 70 lb taken on a 16-metre pole to the far bank on corn. We left before the results were announced, as the cafe was closed and the smell of hot dogs from a burger van didn’t appeal to me as all I wanted after five hours in the baking heat was to sit with a decent cup of tea .But we suspect there were several weights over 100 lb in the other lakes.

A day to forget. If I had fished the margins from the start, as I had intended, I think I could have had a lot more fish – I started there at the same time as bites seemed to dry up in the other swims. And afterwards several other anglers in the same section told me they caught hardly a fish in the margins all day. I really should fish to my strengths.

Next match
Next match on Frazer's Fishery, near Ely, on Emily's Lake. I'm looking forward to this as although it's quite deep, it's only about 14 metres wide, and has great near-side margins. Tony Nisbet is favourite to win in my book...but then what do I know? My luncheon meat approach in the margins could do the trick!