Fifth again on Damson, Decoy

Peg 4

An apology

Firstly, I left my phone behind, so no pictures. But I got a draw I quite fancied, in the first 5 swims., which I have found tend to produce bigger fish than the others. The weather was fairly calm to start with, but a cold Easterly breeze sprang up, luckily it was behind us all except Trevor on the end bank, 14.

I wasn’t going to make the same mistake as I had the previous week and ignore the shallow margins, so I plumbed up about four feet deep – and no sooner had the plummet hit bottom than the float dived away like a bite, and came back to the top. That showed me that there were fish there.

So I started there, with a 4mm expander on the hook, and took two fish in the first two drop-ins. Then another about five minutes later, all around 1 lb. But then they vanished. And by now Peter Barnes on my right was hitting fish one after the other, on a feeder cast to the far bank, which had had the sun on it for an hour or two. I should have followed suit, but decided to stick to the pole.

Six sections out works again

In the next hour or so I found a couple of fish at three sections, and one more inside, and did not catch a fish on the four-section line. By now I had about 9 lb, while I estimated Peter had the better part of 25 lb. Then his bites slowed up and I went out to six sections, which I should have tried earlier, and started to find the occasional fish, which were nearly all over 2 lb.

I couldn’t see past peg 6 properly, and thought I was now doing OK. John Garner, on my left, had the same peg he had had on Sunday, when he had won; but today he seemed to be struggling. I carried on fishing at six sections, and when bites slowed I changed from 4mm expander to 6mm, and found two or three bream around 1 lb. Then a switch to frozen sweetcorn on the hook found carp again, and when they slowed I adjusted the float by about an inch at a time down the line. Instead of dragging two inches on the bottom I was now just touching bottom and that brought another small flurry of bites.

A decent last hour closer in

With an hour to go I saw Mark Parnell on 6 take fish quite close in - his float was about four feet from the bank -  so I switched and fished four feet deep, letting the bait fall in towards the shelf, and then dragging it along slowly if I hadn’t had an early bite. That induced three or four fish to take.  In that last hour about eight fish came – four on sweetcorn including a 3 lb barbel, and I then switched to a small piece of cat meat – from the small Gourmet tins – and took two more barbel and a couple of carp. The best one was a near-5 lb golden mirror which I was playing when the match ended.

 I lost just three fish, which unaccountably came off as I was playing them very gently. I think they were just lightly hooked, as the bites all day were very tiny in the cold water. (Just one of those would have seen me frame in fourth place). Trevor put me on to the Gourmet cat meat a year or two ago. The chunks are very small, but hard, and stay on the hook better than larger pieces. On waters where there are barbel I fancy they may be a good change bait in Winter, when larger baits are not working.

The weigh-in

I weighed 50 lb 14 oz – top weight to me, and Peter Barnes, who had had a terrible last half of the match on a feeder, weighed 34 lb 5 oz. On Peg 6  Mark Parnell beat me with 52 lb 1 oz with that late flurry. Then in the last seven pegs three weights topped that to knock me down to fifth spot. Best of all was Trevor, on the last swim, Peg 14, with 98 lb 2 oz...and he was Golden Peg! He fished all day at five or six sections, using corn. 

Runner-up Peter Harrison took most of his 75 lb 7 oz on a feeder. Another interesting day for me when no fish were giving themselves up and  when every bite had to be fished for. But I should have had a cast or two on feeder early on when I could see Peter doing well. Bob Barrett's fish in Peg 1 were almost all no bigger than about 1 lb, taken close in. It seems that the better fish at the moment are farther out.

Next match

Next definite match is on Six-Island, the most temperamental of the Decoy lakes as the water cools, as it’s the shallowest. Everything will depend on the wind, and whether it’s a cool one or warm. If it’s a cold Easterly then back wind on 1, 2 or 3 will suit me!

The weights:

Peg 1     Bob Barrett        32 lb15 oz

Peg 2     Ted Lloyd           21 lb 2 oz

Peg 3     John Garner       32 lb 15 oz

Peg 4     Mac Campbell    50 lb 14 oz

Peg 5     Peter Barnes      34 lb 5 oz

Peg 6     Mark Parnell       52 lb 1 oz              4th

Peg 8     Peter Harrison   75 lb 7 oz               2nd

Peg 9     Mick Linnell        45 lb 13 oz

Peg 10   John Smith        38 lb 8 oz

Peg 11   Terry Tribe          50 lb

Peg 12   Peter Spriggs     60 lb 5 oz              3rd

Peg 14   Trevor Cousins  98 lb 2 oz               1st

I just miss out - Damson, Decoy

Peg 9

 This was the Fenland Rods’ final match of the season – the Les Bedford Memorial Cup match, in remembrance of Les who died on the bank a year ago. We had a minute’s silence before the draw, which seemed very appropriate, and not at all morbid. Les was a cheerful character, and I am sure we all hoped that the club had, in various ways, contributed a little to his fulfilling life. Then – as all anglers will understand – we all put on our competitive hats, and pulled up our hoods to lessen the effects of the biting wind.

The wind was never strong, but it was very cold at the start of the match.
By the end things had calmed down and it was quite enjoyable.

After a cold night we were confronted by this very cold light Westerly head wind on our bank (pegs 1 to 13). As I walked to my peg I saw that the first three or four swims had a bit of shelter thanks to the high bank opposite, and that the end three pegs round the corner 14 to 16 had a side wind, forecast to swing round behind them later, and a nice sunny bank, while I had a tree to my left which shielded me from the sun for the first few hours. But that’s not an excuse!

A happy James Garner finished in fourth place, 1 lb 12 oz ahead
of me, with all his fish taken on his favourite bait - cat meat.

Everyone found the fishing hard

The fishing was hard, though I started well, with a 4mm pellet, fished at four pole sections. Potting in half-a-dozen pellets via a small pole pot, I took three carp to 2 lb in the first 20 minutes. The water here is about seven feet deep and I used a 1 gm Tuff-Eye float, dotted down to a dimple, though it was difficult to see the bites in the strengthening ripple.  Apparently James, on 6. had a good fish first drop in on cat meat.  

But then my fish disappeared and I came in closer, still in deep water, where I had been flicking in 6 mm pellets, and took two fish in two casts on a 0.5 gm rig. Then no more. And the rest of the day was similar. I would go out to four sections, and pot in a tiny amount of pellet and hemp, and get one fish, before having to move. And I’d not get another bite for half an hour.

Halfway through the match I walked up to John on 4, who said he had 4 lb but Dave Garner, to his left, had several fish on cat meat, casting all over his swim with cat meat. Mel Lutkin, next to me on 8, said he had 25 lb, so I was well behind on about 12 lb by this time. Then the wind got up, and the temperature seemed to drop for a time before slowly rising. The rest of the day was actually quite pleasant.

I nearly put up a feeder rod

Dave Garner, third, took this double-figure mirror
on cat meat...and broke his rod landing it!

Callum to my right then had about four fish on a feeder cast to the island opposite, and I could see 88-year-old Joe on 16 playing fish on a feeder, so I thought of changing. However, before I did that I went out to six sections, putting in a few frozen grains of sweetcorn, and immediately had a 3 lb carp on a single grain. Freezing the sweetcorn makes it soft, and I fancy it’s more attractive to fish when the water is this cold. It would certainly waft around more than a hard grain.

I spent the rest of the match alternating between four and six sections, still with sweetcorn, and put a fish into the net approximately once every 15 minutes, best 5 lb, but most around 1 lb 8 oz.

Cat meat didn’t work

After seeing Callum hit three quick fish on cat meat at three sections I tried the same for 15 minutes, without result. Then in the last hour Mel to my left also had three fish at three sections on what looked like cat meat (I learned later it was paste) so I had another go. Altogether I probably tried cat meat for 45 minutes, hoping for better fish, without getting a single knock. Afterwards I suspected I would probably have had a fish or two on my other rigs, which would have lifted me into the frame.

Mel Lutkin - second from the swim next
to mine, with 50 lb 12 oz.

The weigh-in

 I had been able to see the anglers to my right all day, and thought I had done OK, but had little idea of what had been caught in the pegs to my left. I was admitting to 40 lb, and by the time the scales got to Mel I could see John Garner on 3 already had over 50 lb. Since I  had only one net in my maximum possible was 50 lb, so I knew I had not won. Mel also weighed over 50 lb, and my fish went 42 lb exactly, for fifth place.

Kevin Lee fished cat meat or corn, and included
 barbel in his 36 lb 15 oz. from peg 11.

However, this beat all the six to my right, and since it had been a really interesting day’s fishing, with every fish requiring real hard work and concentration, I was well happy. I lost just three fish all day, and several of those I landed were hooked on the outside of the mouth, showing how finicky the fish were.

John Garner on Peg 3 ended as the winner, and  has won the club’s handicap match as well, so has the Les Bedford trophy, the extra £50 with it, and the handicap gold medal to come. He was also on the Golden Peg...and pushed my trolley back while I took some pictures. Thanks, John. A good day's work!

My plan for the next match

My next match is on the same lake, with Spratts. And for once I have the rudiments of a plan...assuming the wind allows it: one deep rig at three sections to one side with 4mm pellet; another at four to six sections with corn; a cat meat rig ready in case; and a shallow-water margin rig for top two. However, Mel said that he couldn’t get a bite on cat meat, but that fish would bite on paste in the same swim, so perhaps they prefer the softer paste to the harder cat meat. I have paste with me, so will bear that in mind.

Our oldest member Joe Bedford (brother of Les whose memorial match this was).
I think Joe is 88 - but he has the enthusiasm of a 30-year-old!

The result - the sort of weights we can expect now
 that temperatures are dipping below freezing at night.

I didn’t try the shallow margins on Sunday because I thought it impossible that fish would be that close in, in that cold wind. But John Smith told me he had several bites (which he missed) in the margins in the first few minutes, so there must have been fish there. I should have tried it at some time during the match, if only for five minutes.

Finally, Tony Nisbet said that, like me, he had to dot his float down to a pimple and induce bites by moving it ever so slightly, to get fish – as I had. At one time fish seemed to come off bottom and I took two about four inches off bottom, as well as missing some liners. But having three inches of line dragging bottom, and virtually dragging it ever so slowly into their mouths, took almost all my fish. I suspect it will be the same on Wednesday, with the water very cold, and frost overnight.

I struggle to frame from a ‘flier’ – Willows, Decoy

Peg 25

For years Peg 25 on Willows was probably the best-known swim on the whole Decoy complex – a definite favourite to win on Willows. However, in the past few years it has not been as dominant as it used to be; indeed I struggle to remember any match I’ve fished on there recently which has been won on Peg 25.

That’s not an excuse for my not winning the latest 15-entry Spratts club match, which fished comparatively poorly, with the water very cold indeed thanks to cold temperatures overnight. I had Martin Parker, former Vets National Champion, next to me on 24, which has almost as good a reputation as 25, so I could monitor how I was doing, However, leaves from the willows on the island opposite were blowing onto the surface, and with only light winds most of the match they tended to hang about, making float fishing difficult.

Peg 25, with the main island opposite and a smaller one to the right easily reached with
six metres of pole, and a channel to the right. It gives lots of options. But
leaves were a nuisance as they blew off the willow trees opposite.

Bob Barrett, to my right on 27, found float fishing was virtually impossible thanks to the leaves and had to feeder all day, casting a small Method feeder up the gap between the islands, and baiting with a soft pellet. I decided to start on pole, next to the island on my right at about 8.5 metres. Within a few minutes Martin had a small carp on a feeder cast across to the island, but as he didn’t keep catching on feeder I persevered with pole and had a 2 lb common on a 4mm expander after about 20 minutes.

From then on I concentrated on that one swim close to the island, had a couple more small carp, and then changed to a 6m expander, to finally hit a very big fish. It lumbered around for ages, and I thought it was foulhooked until I eventually got it into the net – all 14 lb of it...hooked in the mouth!

Soon after. I hooked another big fish which took off, probably foulhooked, and broke my hooklength. I don’t like using hooklengths, preferring to fish straight-through, but as the water cools I feel I have to compromise, using the new Guru ready-tied hooks, which are whipped better than I could do it myself.

Bob Barret took a lot of smaller carp for fourth place
 from Peg 27 facing a gap between two small islands.

Tiny adjustments were so important

Fishing  with the 0.5 Tuff-Eye float dotted down to an absolute pimple, and adjusting the depth by a quarter of an inch at a time to have it just touching bottom, and dragging the bait to induce a bite, I caught perhaps one small carp every half-hour, with a couple of bonus bream and a 3 lb foulhooked barbel. Towards the end I tried the channel to my right, as I could see big carp drifting along under the surface, but all I had there was a couple of tiny perch on dead maggots.

I fed only about eight 4mm expanders at a time, and I felt this was better than feeding larger amounts. Two fish came from another, deeper swim in front of me, but there was no pattern to the bites. Sometimes we are pretty sure a bite is coming, when we get everything dead right, but today it seemed that a bite would come out of the blue, with no exact spot guaranteeing fish. Part of the problem was that the bottom was very snaggy, and sometimes the float didn’t cock properly, or the bait seemed to hang on an obstruction off the bottom. Several times I came back with twigs, and once a fish snagged me, though eventually it came out. But at this time of year, in the absence of a ripple,  that’s probably where the fish feel safest.

Peter Spriggs was top weight in "The Bay",
from 16 to 22, with 30 lb 13 oz.

When the wind blew, the leaves skated past my float nicely, but when it dropped, and they started drifting slowly back, it was a nightmare, as when they came within an inch of the float they gravitated towards it, and stuck there...

John Garner's best fish was more than

half of his total of 16 lb.

Martin struggled all day, changing to a feeder and back again to pole and I thought I had probably done OK, as the anglers I could see to my left didn’t seem to be bagging.  I estimated I had  38 lb at the end.

The weigh-in

Mick Raby on 11 had done very well with 59 lb 13 oz. I don’t know what he caught, but I heard he also had to move the bait to get a bite. Terry Tribe on the rated Peg 15 had 43 lb 6 oz, of which about 20 lb was bream, on a pole down the track or nearer. The pegs in the bay produced mainly in the 20s, and Martin next to me weighed just 12 lb 5 oz. For once I had overestimated my weight, and they went 35 lb 12 oz for fourth place. Bob’s feeder-caught fish beat me – 43 lb, a very good performance on the day. 

The changing colours of Autumn partially made up for the difficult day's fishing. Here's
our organiser Trevor Cousins with 32 lb 8 oz from Peg 33. It put him in sixth spot.

Really sorry, mate!

Then round the back of the lake, where the nearest weight to me was my mate Mike Rawson, who was disappointed to be just 7 oz behind me with 35 lb 7 oz, all on maggot from Peg 34. I told him I was really sorry to beat him!!

Mike Rawson finished just 7 oz behind me for last framing
place. He had bigger fish than most of the rest of us.

The lower-numbered pegs would have had a ripple when the wind blew, I think, which possibly encouraged fish to feed, whereas Martin and I and those in the bay had only the occasional ripple. However Bob would have had none, so he must have fished very well. There is a depression in the island reeds opposite my platform that I could have reached with a feeder, but hardly anything moved there, and in the conditions I fancied catching on the pole...just shows how much I know! I should have tried the feeder.

My next matches

Next two matches are on Damson, Decoy, which I am looking forwards to, no matter how hard they fish, after fishing the waggler match last Sunday. Apparently the previous day a match on Damson was won with 28 lb - I'd like to see some of the anglers who refuse to fish commercials because "anyone can catch 200 lb on them" come and show us how it is done!

I will be geared up with short pole rigs, deep-water pole rigs, and a waggler just in case the fish are beyond the length I can fish a pole.

The result. I was pleased in the end, to come fourth.

Waggler-only match on Damson, Decoy

Peg 4

This was a rod-and-line waggler-only match, and although it's not my favourite method, I had three made up – two with small wagglers for the inside line and a 3-AAA Ivan Marks waggler for the deeper water, which starts only a few feet from the side. But on plumbing up I got a bit of a surprise – the shallow margins seemed to drop down more quickly than I had remembered, and the deep line wasn’t as deep. Perhaps the inevitable corrosion of the shelf is taking place.

One side-effect was that the margins, which now dropped down to about five feet, were quite bumpy, so it was difficult to know just how much line was on the bottom, or how far off bottom the bait was. But the outside line was more level. Two pegs to my right Tony Nisbet started on the outside line, fishing at about five metres, and soon contacted fish. I started inside and had two early 1 lb carp on corn but then nothing. There was a nice wave on the water, and conditions looked good.

Mike Rawson pulls in my nets at the end of the match. By then the cold
wind had decreased and the fish were feeding well for me at the end.

Tony Nisbet finding fish already

Eventually I had to have a look long, as Tony must have had ten fish in the first hour, and had a bite immediately on corn, which I missed, and then a 3 lb mirror. At that point I had to see a man about a dog, and wandered up to John on Golden Peg 1. He had had just one fish, but Allan next door was playing a fish which, he told me afterwards, was his fifth, which was followed by a long blank spell.

Allan Golightly, to my left on Peg 2, had a good
start but then his sport tailed off completely.

I went back and had a few more on my 13 ft waggler just over the shelf, but then the fish vanished. After a considerable time fishless I saw Callum, next door, net a nice-looking golden mirror from a swim very close to the bank, so I had another look inside. Eventually, after putting in a few grains of corn and expanders every 30 seconds, the fish came in and I had a good spell – perhaps 25 lb in 45 minutes.

Suddenly it gets very cold

Then the wind suddenly got up and became very cold and I had just two fish in  the next two hours! Callum next door also had a poor time, but Tony was still catching carp like roach: one after the other.  Then he went for a third net. I saw later that his fish were smaller than mine – mainly between 1 lb and 2 lb, while mine were between 2 lb and 3 lb with the occasional four-pounder.

 At 2 o’clock the wind became warmer and dropped a little, and bites suddenly started again, but only slowly, and I firstly foulhooked a 4 lb barbel on a bunch of maggots in the deep swim, and then caught a few small carp and just one more barbel, on corn. For the last two hours I alternated between the two swims, where a very small waggler with a long thin antenna showed me I was getting bites on the drop on the inside swim, which didn’t materialise into proper bites. But I had enough proper ones to add another 25 lb in the last hour, but only one on cat meat, in the long swim. The fish were chunky and fought like tigers.

John Smith - third with 83 lb 1 oz after losing several which
took his line round the aerator which sits not very far out.

As before on this lake I noticed the fish seemed to hog a certain line in the shallow swims – a foot inside or farther out and you couldn’t get a bite. I’d get two fish on an expander, and have to change to corn for the next couple. They were very finicky. And I got the impression that sparse loose feeding was better than putting in bigger amounts of hemp and corn.

The weigh-in

John on 1 had 83 lb 1 oz, best 10 lb, and had lost several fish which took him round the aerator. Although it was windy and cold here during the match, he had a just little shelter from the high bank opposite. I weighed 74 lb 4 oz, which ended in fourth place, and Tony weighed in a wonderful 136 lb 9 oz to win; he told me he fished with bulk down to about six inches from the hook, and set it so the bulk was just off bottom. I saw that he was getting fish as the rig drifted in the wind.

Next door Dave Garner, who always fishes waggler, took all his 100-plus on cat meat. He was several pounds over his net limits and was credited with 100 lb for second. He fished with a shot on bottom to hold the bait still. He’s a whizz on the method.

Tony Nesbit - winner with 136 lb 1 oz.

But as I walked along with the scales I suddenly realised it felt five degrees warmer as we walked towards the North bank, which gave shelter from the wind – and there water here was much calmer. 

We have our final Fenland Rods match there next Sunday – the Les Bedford Memorial – so if the wind is still Northerly I won’t be upset if I get a swim at that end of the lake.

My small waggler

The result. I am there again on Sunday, when 14
are expected to fish the Les Bedford Memorial.

I was so impressed with the waggler I bought specially for this match that I have made up a pole rig using it, fixed at the base of the antenna and at the bottom, like a normal pole float. Using it took me back to the days when I used to catch roach on the Fen drains, using very long antenna floats (before they were called wagglers) and watching each small shot sink the next bit of the antenna. I got into our National Championship team several years fishing exclusively for roach on the drop using floats like that.

A proper antenna
float for seeing  bites
on the drop.

This float (left) perfectly showed those tiny shot sinking. I look forward to using it Tuesday on Willlows at Decoy, if conditions allow. But I think that my 3AAA waggler was probably overgunned for the lake on this occasion.

One other thing – I had a pint of casters with me but stupidly didn’t use them. I am fairly sure they would have got the fish feeding in the margins during my blank spells.

Oh, what a grey day! Beastie, Decoy

Peg 6

Nine of us turned out to fish this Spratts club match, with the forecast for rain almost all day. We drew in almost dry conditions - just the odd spot, and with the wind forecast to be mainly Easterly, Trevor agreed to use pegs 1 to 8, plus 30 and 29, which should have a bit of shelter and a side wind. With nine of us, peg 1 was left out.

I was happy with 6, which has always been regarded as the deepest swim on the lake, but I fancied Trevor on 30 and Peter Spriggs on 5 would probably beat me, since both have good margins. We all erected out umbrellas before the start, with 2 to 8 being able to put them above and behind. Peg 6 has three steps down to it, then a sideways step onto the platform, which meant I had to be very careful getting down and setting up – but at least I was able to take the car directly to the swim.

Not much wind at the start, and my Flat-back umbrella kept me dry all through the match.
The raised lid is on my Octbox tray. It has an extension which keep the groundbait tray dry also
although I put my bait dropper, worm scissors, catapults and other bits and pieces in it.

The weather was calm to start with, though the rain increased slowly, and after putting maggots down the side I started out at 11.5 metres. To my surprise I did not have a touch; then a quick look inside with maggot produced one quick knock, probably from a roach, and after an hour I was fishless.

Terry Tribe, who knows every swim on
Beastie, struggled on Peg 4 for 25 lb 6 oz.

This called for a re-think, so I started flicking a few 4mm expanders out to three sections to my right, and after half an hour took a 1 lb bream. More bream came, mainly just a few ounces, then something which stretched the elastic and turned out to be a 2 lb tench. I carried on here, and manged to land two or three carp around 4 lb, plus one of around 13 lb, which gave me a few hairy moments as I was fishing a size 16 fine-wire hook. I think that will have to be the main attack for some of the time from now on – light hooks with small baits.

Peter to my left was landing fish, most of which were carp, fishing about four sections out with paste, but I carried on putting occasional fish in the net, including bream to 3 lb, on corn, and another tench, of 3 lb. Cat meat took a couple of F1s, but wasn’t as good as corn. With an hour to go I estimated I had around 50 lb and bites had slowed and I put some cat meat and corn out in deep water directly in front of me on a top two. A quick foray out to 11.5 metres again saw one bite from a fish which came off almost immediately.

Peter The Paste won from Peg 5. Guess what bait he used!

The wind increases

The rain had stopped by now, and a bit of wind blew up, but as it was mainly from the back there was little ripple in my swim. On pegs 29 and 30, Bob Barrett and Trevor Cousins had apparently had a nice first hour, but when the heavier rain started it somehow blew directly into their faces – very uncomfortable. It began to get very cold at one time and I was glad I had put on thermal vests and long pants, plus several sweat shirts under my Goretex.

Towards the end I had a knock on the top two line, which raised my hopes, and then hit two big scales on the top-two swim, which gave a good fight for about 15 seconds. But no more bites. So back to the main swim in the last couple of minutes, with a 4mm expander, and a 2 lb bream obliged.

I found that dragging the bait along was better than lifting it - not for the first time in recent weeks.

The weigh-in

No time to waste, as light rain was now falling, and after crawling up out of my peg several times to pack everything away I was able to catch up with the scales on Peg 4, where Terry Tribe had had a difficult day, weighing 25 lb 6 oz. I looked at the weigh sheet and was surprised to see that Trevor and Bob had both struggled on what are regarded as good pegs – but the seasons are changing, and with a huge amount of extra water in the lake (I had almost 9 feet) anything can happen.

Peg 8 produced this 18 lb 13 oz mirror for Mick Ramm on a pole.

Peter Spriggs weighed in 67 lb 8 oz on Peg 5, and I was surprised but happy to get 61 lb 15 oz for second spot. One to peg 8 (Peter Barnes DNWd on peg 7) where Mick Ramm had a magnificent 18 lb 13 oz mirror carp in his third-placed 45 lb 6 oz.

Peg nos were (from the top): 7, 29, 8, 4, 3, 30, 6, 2,. 5.
 The blanks were members who did not fish.

Good sport in the circumstances, which makes Decoy, in my book, still one of the best stillwater match venues in the country.

Next match is a waggler match on Damson, which will be a test as the margins are only inches deep in places, going down to two feet,  but the bottom then drops off to eight feet (probably ten feet after this rain) just a few feet out. I’m hoping a 13-foot waggler rod I found in the garage will cope with this, and I have put light waggler floats on two leger rods for the margins.

Wet, Wet, Wet - Yew, Decoy

Peg 24

It was raining lightly when we started this Fenland Rods match, with just ten competitors. And to be honest there’s not a lot to report, except that it rained for most of the first five hours and the platform was set down at least a foot from the bank, which made it awkward to put my gear down there. In addition the back half of the platform was underwater. You can imagine how muddy my waterproofs were by the end.

 It started calm, and rather nice, really. I had a shallowish area to my right, and put in some pellet and corn, but started out at 11.5 metres where, to my surprise, I never had a bite for half an hour. Into the side, and this produced a foulhooked barbel on corn after only a few minutes.

By the time we packed up the rain had stopped, but the wind had increased.

I hadn’t seen anyone else catch, so I was quite pleased, In fact I found out later that some of the anglers to my right did, in fact, find fish very early one, including Tony Nisbet, who found carp in the deep margins.

Dick Warriner - like all of us he had had his
umbrella up and hunkered down against the rain.

I dropped down to the next little shelf for two good carp in the next hour, and then out to the deeper water, where two more carp came in, best around 14 lb, one on cat meat. But then I had not a bite in the next two hours, during which time Mel Lutkin, on my right, had about six fish on cat meat in the deep water, and Dick, next to him, also had a fish or two.

Heavy rain for a time

Two hours to go and Tony had already been for a third net, and I tried a new swim at three sections, which produced two carp around 7 lb quite quickly. But then no bites for an hour, and the rain really lashed down at one point. Then Tony came along for a fourth net and told me he was catching long on five sections. 

I had already put away four of my sections, and had just four in use, and I didn’t fancy clambering off the platform, around the umbrella, to get any more, so I made do with four, put out some hemp and corn, and immediately hit a big F1 and another good carp. Then, thankfully, the end came. I had nine fish.

I managed to snap Allan as I made my way back to the car.
He finished second - the latest in a run of really good results.

The weigh-in

I had almost packed my gear away by the time the weigh-in started – which was unusual for me. Tony very kindly pushed my trolley to the car, and as we passed Allan Golightly he was weighing his last net and I managed a quick photo. He had four nets. I unloaded some of my gear before getting back on the bank with my camera. I had already been weighed in – 69 lb 9 oz, which amazingly was second down to me. I was gratified to see that I had managed to beat Mel and Dick on my right, as I was sure they had more than me.

But three of the last four swims beat me, so I finished fifth, which I was happy with. Tony won, as I had guessed, with 163 lb 7 oz, with Allan a good second with 136 lb 14 oz – he’s had some really great matches this season. I wasn’t surprised the far end pegs beat me, as they tend to have an edge.

Kev Lee with a munter.

John was third, taking most of his fish on a waggler.

The winner Tony Nisbet, who used mainly corn

Not huge weights, but excellent in the circumstances.

Pleased with the final (surprising) result – Beastie, Decoy

Peg 30

At last – a peg I quite fancied! I said before the match that my two favourite pegs on Beastie are 2 and 18, but 30 is certainly one of the most consistent pegs on the lake. Also, although you need a trolley - or several journeys -  to the swim, it’s only a short walk and the platform is on a level with the ground. On the strips in particular the platforms are often a short drop from the surrounding bank and, especially if they are slippery, it’s a hassle to have to keep dropping down to heave your box into position, and to position your nets and other stuff. So Peg 30 it was. And I was happy.

Fifteen of us were around the lake, and the surface was flat calm. But the night had been cool and I didn’t expect huge catches. Beastie after the heat of Summer often fishes better at either the Northern end or the Southern end. The water was fairly clear compared with recently, and I just hoped for some ripple before the match finished.

Hardly any wind all match in my swim - a lovely Autumn day, but difficult fishing.

Peg 30 has good margins so I started by putting dead maggots in the left margin, behind the platform line, as I know that barbel can congregate there. Then I put pellets and corn out to 10 metres, where I found a slight incline. But the first drop was into the right deep margin – well over five feet of water, with a 4mm pellet and just half-a-dozen potted in. Within 30 seconds I was playing a fish, which turned out to be a 4 lb mirror, foulhooked.

I dot the float right down

More drops in there – nothing! So I re-potted out on the long line and had a look in the left margin. Roach immediately started playing with my bunch of dead maggots, and I hooked one, eventually. So I gave that up and concentrated on the long line for the next hour. Bites were slow coming but the next hour produced about four carp to 8 lb. I had to dot the float down to a pimple, and a couple of times added vaseline to the tip to keep it in the surface film, as if I was fishing a canal for roach.

The carp were only just dipping the float, and some were probably liners, but I was adding a fish every 15 minutes. Meanwhile Bill Foster to my left on 29, had a fish on a feeder and after about two hours I walked up to see him, and he said that was his only fish.

Bill Foster found this munter on Peg 29, on a pole.

So it was back to the long line, and when I added hemp I could clearly see the fizzing – if I managed to keep the float in that area I always got a bite eventually. By now the wind had got up, although the surface was flat, and it was skimming leaves across the surface, and amazingly there was a slight undertow.

Corn the best bait
Corn was the best bait, and I had to wait until the tow tightened the line, when the float dragged under, and I lifted it a quarter of an inch to show above the surface again – that was when I got the bite. They appeared to need the bait to move to stimulate them to bite.

Mel Lutkin was on Peg 24, an area which fished poorly.

An hour without a bite
In the middle of the match I went an hour without a bite, and every now and then I had a look in the margins but apart from one foulhooked carp from the left, which came off, they produced nothing more than one small perch, which also came off. James came down to talk to his Dad on 2, so I guessed he was struggling, though I had an idea, from the splashing, that Dave was catching the odd big fish.Then some ripple appeared in my long swim, which brought the bites back, but it soon disappeared.

With 70 minutes to go I estimated I had 38 lb in one net and about 8 lb in the other, and had yet another look to the right margin. I put in some corn, and got a liner. Next drop-in a carp came in – about 8 lb. I then spent several minutes trying for another, but decided to go long, and took a couple of good F1s.

Another drop to the right and a double-figure fish took cat meat, but it took several minutes to land. In went some cat meat and I went long for another F1, then back to the margin.

Twenty minutes to go, and things hotted up. Two more good carp came in, and then another took my elastic!! It pulled the knot through my puller bung, up the pole, and ripped out the internal bush from the end of the pole!! Lost the lot. Never had that before.

A frantic last few minutes

Now there were seven minutes to go and I quickly put together a top two I had spare with a strong rig on, and a tight bungee elastic intended for snaggy swims. In a short while  I had  hit and landed another carp of about 5 lb. Then back out and I missed two bites, and then about one second before the “all-out” was shouted the float dipped again and I struck just as the shout went up. I shouted “Fish On” immediately, but it was ten minutes before I landed that fish of about 9 lb. The tight elastic meant it never got steam up to tire itself, and it plodded around for ages before finally making one run which stretched the elastic much farther then I could have imagined possible. But the rig held firm.

It had been the most beautiful Autumn day – hardly any wind, with a little sun in the afternoon. But although I was quite warm, John Smith, facing me on the other end of the lake on Peg 15, told me afterwards he had a fair amount of wind and became quite chilly at times. I had found it very hard, but by making the rig as sensitive as possible I think I took as many fish as I could have done, given the flat calm, cool, water.

Neil Garner was on Peg 26, which can be brilliant, but
not today! Neil totalled 32 lb 1 oz.

The weigh-in

That ten minutes playing the last fish put me even further behind than I would normally be. And by the time I caught up with the scales Tony on peg 18 had weighed in 142 lb 13 oz, taken at about 9 metres in front of him, presumably on his usual pellet, or possibly corn. He had fish steadily throughout the day.

Dave on 2 had, as I had guessed,  hit occasional big fish from the word go and weighed 99 lb 13 oz, while Kevin on 14 had found big fish late and was also playing one at the end of the match. He had two full nets for 100 lb.

The corner pegs along the 20s fished hard, while Bill next to me had found fish on a pole in the last couple of hours for40 lb 14 oz. I doubted whether I could beat James who had 86 lb 4 oz. My second net which I had estimated at 43 lb was taken out first, to delighted shouts of “Error.” In fact those fish weighed 56 lb, knocked back to 50 lb. A quick calculation, and I needed 36 lb 7 oz to beat James, and it would be close.

Nope – more shouts of “Error” and that was also knocked back to 50 lb, tying me with Kevin for second place. A surprising result, but very welcome.

The South-Western corner of the lake fished very hard.

KEY POINTS (mainly for my own reference)

Hemp definitely brought fish in, and although I fed after every fish, if bubbles were still appearing I put in just about a dozen grains of corn, to try to avoid foulhookers caused by the fish getting excited. This seemed to work very well.

When the fish disappeared hemp didn’t bring them back, and I stopped feeding, looking in the margins more often. In fact I should probably have started another long line elsewhere.

The lamb and mint cat meat was very light in weight, and I think heavier Coshida would have been better (I forgot I had a tin of this in my bag).

I should have had a heavy rig ready to use – I normally do, but have been trying to cut down on the packing up afterwards. I must simply fish to my strengths, even if it means I am always last in club matches to pack up (in Opens I am average because they have more stuff  on the bank).

I frame but should probably have won - Elm, Decoy

Peg 7

Sixteen of us fished this Spratts match on Elm, and I was quite pleased with my draw on 7, though Peg 9 has been a bit of a flier at times in Winter. However the day was warm, with a little rain and only a light South-Westerly breeze from my right.

My swim. The threatened wild, windy weather never materialised, and the
day was damp and mild, with sunshine on the afternoon. Very nice.

I started at 11 metres and after half an hour came inside to the deep margin. A couple of fish were caught opposite me, but after two hours I had managed to hook just one fish, which was foulhooked and came off. Obviously I alternated from the short swim to the long one and back, and after putting in a load of dead red maggots into the side swim I actually had a liner or two, but no fish. So I put maggots out long, and tried four deads as hookbait there. After another 15 minutes managed to foulhook a ten-pounder in the 11-metre swim, which ended in my net.

All hands to the weighing bag!

Then first drop-in to the side swim saw another big fish in the net. To my right Trevor Cousins had now had a couple of fish in the side, on the slightly-shallower shelf, in about four-and-a-half feet of water. I had one small patch like this to my right, but although I kept dropping in there I had no bites.

The next couple of hours saw me take three or four fish from each of the other swims – mainly on corn but with just one on cat meat. The hemp seemed to get the fish excited as they started fizzing every time it went in on the long swim - but not on the short swim. With an hour to go and bites hard to come by I put out hemp and corn into the deep water to my right and quickly took a double-figure fish on corn and then another even bigger on cat meat.

Peter Spriggs, second,  shows the size of fish we were all catching.

I was now on my second net, with about 38 lb in the first, and suddenly realised I hadn’t started clicking the second net, and couldn’t remember what I had put in it. So after those two big fish I went and got another net, in John Garner’s van, as he was also getting one, and resumed fishing with just over 20 minutes to go.

In that 20 minutes I managed to land a fish about 3 lb, then lost two big fish after playing them for some time. Finally, a second before the all-out was called, I hooked another  about 4 lb which I landed.

We weighed Mick Linnell's best fish at 14 lb 14 oz.

The weigh in

Trevor had been landing fish more often then me, so I guessed he had probably beaten me, and in fact he won with 97 lb 12 oz after being 6 lb over in one net. He took his fish, I think, mainly from his left, right against the reeds, with some from the right, also in the shallower water. My second net held only about 38 lb, and  I weighed 84 lb 12 oz, for fourth,  having wasted that time getting a third net. If I had sat tight I would probably have had another fish, as they were biting well at that stage – I could have easily been second or third with another double-figure fish.

The result - the middle pegs on Elm lake fished best.

To my left Peter Spriggs was second with 95 lb 15 oz, and John Garner opposite on 16 was third on 90 lb 6 oz. So the pegs on the middle fished a bit better than those towards the far end...and the car park pegs fished poorly.

The mobile saga continues

After having had problems last week with my new (cheap) mobile I changed it for a better one, but still haven’t mastered it – hence the paucity of pictures again. Trevor photographed the result for me and sent it to my phone and I spent 20 minutes working out how to send this to my computer so I could use it. Perhaps I should give up fishing and study for a degree in modern technology!

Still, yet another frame place – I’m having a decent run at the moment. Beastie on Decoy tomorrow, which I look forward to. Pegs 2, 8, 18, 26, 29 or 30 please!!