Things are getting better - Raven, Pidley

Peg 28

Despite the forecast of rain almost all day 17 of us idiots turned out for this Over 60s match. And when peg 28 was pulled out for me by Tim Turpin in the shop I was pretty pleased. Because I've have previously fished Raven just three times - firstly on Peg 16 when I managed to catch 70 lb of carp by dobbing bread to the far side, then on 15 when I bombed out, then 16 again when low Winter sun made fishing very difficult indeed and I bombed out again.

But in those three matches - and indeed in most match on Raven - pegs in the 20 s almost always feature. And 28 is one of the best. So it looked as if my luck had turned. You can drive to your peg here - another bonus for us knackered oldies.

A murky start on Raven, Peg 28, before the rains started.

The day started with heavy fog as I travelled to the fishery, but by the time I got there it had cleared enough for us all to be able to at least see a float at 14 metres.And that was how I started, with a Preston Flat-Back umbrella hoisted over my box, ready for the onslaught. I managed an early liner on bread and after 20 minutes a chunky little F1. But for the next hour nothing else happened. So I switched to double red maggot, and first drop a 6 lb carp was hooked.

My how that fish fought on the size 18 Kaizan hook. I thought it must be foulhooked, but no, after at least ten minutes I was able to land it, hooked properly in the lip. In fantastic condition.

The Maver Invincible

I hooked several pieces of rubbish when the bait was on the bottom, so had to fish with it off bottom, the 7mm piece of pinch bread just sitting the yellow-topped Maver Invincible float down nicely when it was off bottom. It's a pity those floats are no longer made - they are in-line and perform really well especially for long-range fishing, when I use the yellow top to show up against the dark reflection of the far bank or reeds.

The rain had now started to fall, and it fell almost all day, with the occasional break, during which time, with little wind, it was nice fishing. The platform was shale, so not much mud, but the water started to form puddles, and by the end everything touching the floor - even sheltered by the umbrella - was drenched.

The Great Escape!

And even with a good Nu-Fish side tray with cover the humidity in the air was enough to get my maggots and pinkies performing their version of The Great escape. Well it is Christmas!

After another lull I put about 20 maggots on a small pole pot, tipped them in, dropped in over the top and the result was a tiny perch. To be honest that threw me a bit, and I decided to leave the far-bank swim and look in the deep water.

I had previously potted some micros, maggots and hemp in at four sections, where the water was over 8 feet deep. And after ten minutes, using a 1 gm Drennan Tuff-Eye with black tip to show up against the while surface, and slowly dragging the bait along the bottom, another chunky little F1 was put into the keepnet. In the next our or so three or four more followed, and as I couldn't  see anyone really hammering fish from the far side I carried on, and bait-droppered some more maggots in. That brought another, quick F1, but then nothing.

Lighter rig brings two carp

Quick looks in the near margins, at 18 inches on the inside and at three feet on the edge of the drop-off brought no a touch, so back to the far side. But that was now dead as well.

With about 45 minutes left I put out a much lighter Tuff Eye - about 0.25 gm, into the four-section swim. The spread shot took about 30 seconds to properly stabilise the float, but as it started to sink to the correct level it slid under. A 3 lb mirror had taken the bait as it hit bottom. Next cast another three-pounder! There was now about 30 minutes left. though the light was fading and the rain was now falling gain, but I hoped for a last-minute burst. It didn't happen.

Other anglers told me they had caught fish in the margins in the last 20 minutes, but I'm not that familiar with Raven, and hadn't tried that. It needs nerves of steel to change methods when you've just had two decent fish.

The weigh-in

By now the light was really bad (too bad for catch photographs) and I didn't recognise Alex when he came along with the scales, as he had his mask on. In went the fish, and I was so knackered (as a lot must have been) packing up in the rain that I didn't even ask whet the weights were. Mine was 23 lb, and I eventually drove back to the shop to see the completed sheet.

The result of my final match of 2020 - better than my recent results. 

It turned our that the top two were Brian Yorke, who dobbed bread for a large part of the match,  and Alan Owen - two who so often  dominate these matches. Well done to them, and to the other two framers, one of whom was Roy Whincup who has a bad back and can't fish long poles. But he always manages to find fish closer in, even on this lake. That, and my experience, now gives me a lot of confidence to not be afraid to fish closer on Raven if the far side is not producing.

 I left it too long today to come in close, but I ended seventh, and was satisfied with that, as these other blokes all have more experience on this water than I do. All-round, a good end to my 2020 match fishing.

Matches for us are now finished as we are now in Tier 4 (despite Huntingdon Council area having one of the lowest rates of Covid in the UK). But I look forward to some pleasure sessions.

Back to the drawing board - Jay, Pidley

 Jay Peg 38
This was the second round of the Rookery Waters Fishery Individual Winter League, fished on Jay and Raven, and my sole target was not to finish last on Jay. Unfortunately I did finish last! But I didn't feel I disgraced myself.

The morning started quite nice, with a lightish breeze, and my peg was on the inside of a corner, with the wind blowing right to left. To the left I could reach the far bank with 14 metres of pole, so that's where I started. There was about two feet of water over there, deepening a little as I came away from the bank. Within literally seconds of the match starting the breeze increased quite a lot, and for most of the day it was quite a stiff wind - so much that it was at times impossible to fish across in front of me, so I fished mainly to the left bank. 

Peg 38, on the inside of a corner. I fished mainly to the left.
Unfortunately the wind picked up soon after the match started.

Within a few minutes the angler two swims to my left, Bruno Norman,  was into a fish from the far bank. He had one or two more in the first hour, while I didn't get anything on my dobbed bread. During the day I found the movement of the water - splashing up to the far bank - was pulling my rig away from the margin. So I had to shorten the lash from pole to float, which may have put fish off. Bruno had back wind and a much calmer surface, which may have helped him hold the rig steady. Or it could be that he's a far better angler than me!!

 It was 90 minutes before I got an indication - two or three clear liners in a couple of minutes. Then the float went under and stayed under, and I struck into a fish. Within seconds I realised it was foulhooked, but I managed to land it - a six-pounder hooked in the tail.

Nothing from the deep water
With no more indications I switched to a maggot swim in the deep water - about five feet - at 11 metres. Before the match I had been speaking to an angler who had fished the peg the previous day, and he could find fish only at 11 metres - he had nothing from the far-bank shallows. But although I felt I had got everything right, nothing came from that swim. 

Bruno Norman, on Peg 40 to my left, with his
catch of 35 lb 2 oz, which was second in his section.

So it was back to the far bank, but I was now certain that Bruno on Peg 40 was using maggot - he had a small cup on the pole. So I switched bait, and after an hour I hit another good fish, but it came off about 20 seconds later. Back to the deep water and I put in a little groundbait with pinkies, and fished two pinkies. The result was a minute perch.

I lose another!
So back to the far bank for the last hour and after three more minute perch took double maggot - two of which fell off - I hit another good fish. This time I got down to playing it on the top two before the hook again pulled out! Then with five minutes left I managed another carp - of about 8 oz.

My net went 6 lb 11 oz, with Bruno had seven carp and five F1s for  35 lb 2 oz. One peg from the bridge Adam Playford won the lake with 92 lb 1 oz after switching to maggot following the first hour on bread.

The angler to my right couldn't fish across properly because of the wind and took nine carp on a maggot feeder cast to the far bank. I should certainly have considered doing that - my rod holdall lay beside me and the thought never crossed my mind to switch. I should also have changed to maggot after a blank first hour on bread, which is what I suspect most of the anglers would have done.

My half of the weights on Jay.

The first half of the weights, from Peg 1.

The result from Raven (I wasn't last in the whole match!)

Conclusions
Last on the lake, so obviously last in my five-peg section. But I felt that I had again fished a reasonable match, and was unlucky to lose two fish which could have put me much nearer 15 lb or 20 lb. And to be realistic the fishing at the moment is so hard that the average non-match angler would be hard-pushed to land a single carp there at the moment, as the fishing is so specialised. 

Although I struggled to get a bite on the far bank, I'm sure I'm not doing anything wrong, as I've caught like that in the past, and had 70 lb doing it.

My next match is an Over 60s on Wednesday, which at the moment is booked for Magpie. Next Winter League is not until January 9th. Plenty of time to get the drawing board out...

The only way is up - Magpie, Pidley

 Peg 17
Please be gentle with me - I'm fragile! Five hours in the Over 60s Christmas match on Magpie, and I DID NOT GET A BITE.

Tim Bates drew Peg 17 for me. Thanks a bunch, Tim!

Mind you, I don't think anyone would have picked my swim - open water apart from an artificial island to which I cast a bomb. And the swims we all thought would probably produce fish did so.

Peg 17 is just before the narrow part of the lake where 14 metres of pole will get you to the far side. But it would have taken 20 metres or more for me to reach the island. So I started at 13 metres, using bread dobbed because Vic German on 12 picked up two fish in the first few minutes dobbing in open water. He ended with just nine carp, the last few on bread with a bomb cast to the island opposite him.

I rang the changes all day - bread shallow then deep, maggots deep, then bread on the straight bomb. I never saw a fish move.

Peg 17 at the start. The far bank reeds are at least 20 metres away.

To my left Tony Watling was fishless for the first half of the match, then concentrated on trying to catch small roach and perch "Just to see the float go under" he said. Then three carp in the last 30 minutes gave him something to weigh in.

Half and hour to go and Tony Watling hooks his first carp while fishing for roach.

Nice one, Tony. He ended with three for 16 lb 9 oz, all in the last half-hour.

The forecasted gales and heavy rain didn't arrive, though light rain dampened my spirits even more as we packed up. Bread, maggot and sweetcorn all failed to interest a fish in my swim - and four others blanked as well, including Will Hadley, on Peg 32, which produced a good weight in the Winter League on Saturday.

The full results (Peg numbers printed on the left, positions in the column).

The match was won by Alan Owen on Peg 28 with 119 lb, and I was told he'd fished that peg at the weekend had had nothing. To my right on 14, Ray Myring lost two carp early on on bread, but eventually hooked, and landed, one with 15 minutes to go. 

On Peg 14, which is on open water, I spoke to Vic German before the match and he'd had a fish bump his line as he plumbed up. Afterwards he said he'd actually seen fish topping, which made him start on bread shallow, and brought him his first few fish. So carp can be gathered together in Winter even in open water, not just next to features. A strange match.

Now it's back to the drawing board - or rather better luck with the drawing hand. Actually, it wasn't even my hand which did the drawing - Tim Bates did the honours. I'll blame him!

Next match is with the big boys in the Invdividual Winter League on Sunday, fished on all three lakes - Raven, Magpie and Jay. My genuine target is not to come last on my lake.

Thrashed! And not much joy on Jay, Pidley

 Peg 41
The first of the Individual Winter League matches at Rookery Fishery, Pidley. I use the Matrix dip net bag to dip the nets - much easier than dipping each one separately or filling the stink bag and then having to empty it. Then I queue for the shop to pay my entry fee. Tim stands outside, allowing only four in at once, with masks, of course. Then there's a second queue, which I don't join, for the take-away food, which will be taken to the peg. All in accordance with Angling Trust rules.

I was looking forward very much to fishing against the Big Boys, and even while I stood in the queue Mark Pollard and Jon Whincup came and had a word. My target - honestly - was not to come last on my lake. That would make me very happy.

Alex had drawn me 41 on Jay. Magpie and Raven are also being used. In Summer peg 41 had produced fish, but three anglers told me that on the previous match there the peg had not produced much. But it was quite mild, with hardly a breath of wind, and I fancied fishing across with bread - which virtually every angler on Jay and Raven would no doubt be doing if possible, as the far bank shallows are an obvious target area.

An unbelievable start for Peg 44
To cut a long story short, within 20 seconds of the match starting the angler on 44, (who I later learned was Gavin Bridge), three blank swims to my left, was playing a carp. I went out to 13 metres plus a half butt with bread, fishing inches from the far bank, but nothing happened.  At that moment the wind started to blow. Two minutes later Gavin was playing another carp; then another. He had several before I had a bite, hooked a fish, and lost it as I was breaking the pole down.

For the next two hours Gavin continued catching fish after fish while I failed to get a bite. The wind was picking up slowly all the time, and the big gusts, which nearly took the pole out of my hands, were becoming more frequent. I could see that Gavin had a bit more shelter than I did. Then, becoming very disheartened, I came in to four section of pole with maggot. Two tiny perch were followed, eventually, by a 3 lb carp. At least I had a fish. 

Gavin Bridge with his magnificent 181 lb 2 oz winning catch of carp to
8 lb or 9 lb  on Jay in the Individual Winter League, all taken dobbing
bread at 14 metres.  He put in no groundbait or loosefeed during the match.

I consider withdrawing from the league
Even with one carp in the net I was already genuinely considering withdrawing from the League. It seemed obvious I was wildly outclassed by anglers of this calibre, would make a complete fool of myself at the weigh in, and I didn't know why I wasn't catching - which is worse than knowing what you're doing wrong. Obviously I should never have entered.

I went through the motions, though, and when it became so cold my teeth were chattering I put down the pole, had a drink of hot Bovril, re-plumbed across, and again re-set the rig to three inches off bottom, still with bread.

First cast and a 6 lb carp came in. But then - nothing. When the bigger gusts came I reverted to the maggot line, and with an hour to go a 4 lb mirror was my reward. I kept trying across with bread, but that was my last fish.

Gavin had kept on catching fish all day. I was mortified.  I knew he had far in excess of 100 lb. The worst thrashing I had ever had. Then to the weigh in.

The weigh in
Tim and James came along with the scales and my fish weighed a miserable 13 lb 10 oz.  Again it's in accordance with AT rules - I tipped the fish into the bag and James emptied the bag after the weighing, so I never had to touch it.

Tim gave me my weight and showed me the sheet, which gave me a bit of a shock. Top weight so far was 53 lb 12 oz but the rest were around only 20 lb. I suggested that Gavin had far more than that, which surprised Tim and James. And sure enough, he weighed in a magnificent 181 lb 2 oz of carp from 4 lb to 8 lb. Beautiful fish.

First weigh-in sheet on Jay - pegs 1-23. There are 10 matches. 

Then Stuart Bracey drove past, and had a chat, and told me he had caught 16 lb. Believe me, that made me feel a lot better! Stuart is one hell of an angler, with a huge reputation locally. And after photographing the results I realised I was indeed not last on the lake. And although I was well down, I hadn't disgraced myself. So I wouldn't withdraw from the league after all!

Dave Rawlings, to my right on 38,  told me had one 3 lb carp with 65 minutes to go, but had then seen fish under the surface on the far bank which had not been there before.  He targeted them with bread and had another 20 lb. That's how quickly things can alter in the Winter.

I'm a Happy Bunny now
Afterwards I felt so much better. I though I had fished a tidy match. Everything had gone smoothly - I kept everything simple, using just bread, maggots, and a few micros, though I had more options if I had needed them. I had lost just the one fish, and had had no problem fishing the long pole all day to within inches of the far bank. But there had been a problem there. 

The far bank has been dredged recently, which is fine, because there had been thick banks of reeds, which used to hold floating rubbish, making it difficult to fish across in places. Since the cleaning-up operation anglers have reported good catches fishing right across to the far bank. Gavin had a nice smooth bank, while I had a bush to the left where there seemed to be a shallow hump, while to the right there was a stump showing where the bank had fallen in, making it quite shallow.

Results from my half of the Jay lake.

Between the two there were only about five feet of fairly flat bottom, which was fine before the wind started. But once the water started drifting the rig was being pulled into the shallow area and dragging under. The wind made it very difficult to hold the rig in place. Obviously I tried fishing that shallow area off bottom, but never had a knock.

Had the wind not started blowing hard I might have done better. But the fish were obviously holed up around peg 44, and very well done to Gavin to take a catch like that in mid-December. Match fishing is like poker - you have to take your chances when they appear.

My next match is on Wednesday, a Christmas match on Magpie. A prize for all, and we all take a raffle prize, and some of us wear Santa hats. Weights could be low, especially since the forecast is for rain and high winds.

A Spawny Git has fun in the foggy, foggy dew - Beastie, Decoy

Peg 17
 In an earlier life, when I was a semi-pro comedian, I was a member of two concert parties. One consisted of me as compere/comedian, with a singer/dancer, a superb guitarist who sang Slim Whitman songs, and a fantastic whistler. Honestly, he used to bring the house down.

The other concert party was more sedate, led by Mr Gray who offered funny recitations, and a selection of singers, one of whom was 'Arry 'Arvey. He always finished with "The Foggy, Foggy Dew", a song about a young farmhand who went out with his girlfriend in Winter, and who took her back to bed '...just to save her from the foggy, foggy dew.' As you do!

Car in a ditch
Sunday was like that - way below freezing with thick fog, frost covering the fields, and one car off the road, as I drove to Whittlesey for the JV Open on Beastie Lake at Decoy, with 14 entered. Even through the fog, though, we could see ice covering half the lake, and as the water level was very high some of  the lads were despatched to check which areas might be fishable. My peg was on the spit, with what little breeze there was coming in from the right.

The scene that greeted us, when the fog had lifted for a few minutes.

I had forgotten to bring maggots with me, so bought a pint from the shop, big juicy red ones. 

Ice in our swims
When we started there was a lot of ice, moving back and forth in front of me. Terry Tribe to my left on 15 made an exploratory feeder cast towards the island and found his line cut through the cat ice OK. So when the match started, I went out with a feeder...but although it went through the ice, the line didn't. I retrieved the feeder bouncing across the ice. Clearly the temperature was still below freezing, so I made a shorter cast, where there was a gap. Nothing there, so it was on to the pole at four sections.

It would have been near impossible to see a float at 13 metres, which is where I would normally have started, and in any case there was ice there at the start. So I dribbled maggots in and fished with a single maggot on an 18. Nothing was being caught on the spit (pegs 9 to 17).

Foulhooked carp!
Then, after about 75 minutes, the float dived under and I was attached to something big. I added sections and gritted my teeth as the fish threatened to pull off. Then I realised it was foulhooked, as it was staying on the same line, rather than swimming around a bit. I let the elastic (about a 12 I think) do the work and several dodgy minutes later, with the pole held low, the elastic slowly brought the fish towards my waiting net.

I gently lifted the pole just a little and, sure enough, a tail broke the surface. Now normally a fish hooked in the tail will thrash about and take elastic, going out then drifting in again, then repeating it. But for once the Gods were smiling on me and when I thought the head might be over the net I lifted. And there is was, nestling in the bottom of the net. The first time I've ever landed a tail-hooked big carp first time.

It weighed about 8 lb and the anglers on the spit all groaned. (I couldn't hear it but I know what they were thinking). A little while later Chris Saunders on 9, who hadn't had a bite, had a walk round the lake, returning with the news that Chris Baldwin on 22 had two big carp and an F1 feedering to the island with pop-ups, for about 21 lb. There were a couple of other anglers who had carp, also. He said that Roy Whincup on peg 30 had not had a fish.

Very cold in our two swims
In fact, although he didn't know it, just after he left Roy, Roy had a bite on his maggot feeder and landed a 12 lb carp, later adding an F1 and a skimmer. Now there came just the odd breath of breeze and it became very, very cold. Terry and I were the ones facing whatever wind there was, and I started shivering, despite wearing six layers. I guess Terry was also feeling the bitter bite in the wind.

The fog persisted all day, gradually getting worse as we weighed in.

Meanwhile back on the spit, and after I had fished the feeder for another 90 minutes (the ice had now cleared) we all came in the margins for the last couple of hours, looking for roach and hopefully a bonus fish. We all caught roach, but no bonuses. Of course the ice melting must have lowered the water temperature even more, so we didn't expect a lot. My big juicy maggots were actually too big for the roach, and I missed a lot of bites. Pinkies, I am sure, would have given me a lot more.

Peg 4 - 7 lb 13 oz, led round to my peg 17. The top
three weights were from 22 to 30. It was the first
proper Winter match of the year for us all.

A nice white envelope for me
My carp and about 20 roach went 9 lb 8 oz, enough for fourth. JV pay three, plus three sections, and I won my section, which included winning peg 22, by default. Well done to Chris Baldwin, who apparently couldn't add to his early catch, and won with 21 lb 11 oz, with Roy Whincup on 30 pipping Ian Frith on 24 by 11 oz to come second on 17 lb 12 oz.

As we walked back to the cars Terry Tribe congratulated me: "Spawny Git." he muttered as he walked past. With mates like that who needs enemies?

Next match will probably be the first of the Pidley Individual Winter Leagues. Why I entered, with anglers of the calibre of Mark Pollard there, I can't imagine.

A visit to Fields End, Doddington, Cambs

I hadn't been able to fish during the November lockdown, but a reasonable weather forecast saw me and a former boss, Mel Russ, meet at Fields End Fishery, Doddington, on the last day of the lockdown. We worked together during the late 1980s, when Mel edited Sea Angler and Boat Angler, and I was assistant editor, also editing Sea Angling Quarterly.

We took a few minutes looking at The Pit, which Mel fancied, as it holds a more varied head of fish than The Pool, which is a large irrigation reservoir about 90 yards across, with mainly carp. But the very cold wind, sun in our eyes if we got the wind behind us, and not a lot of shelter, forced us to amble down to The Pool. Here there were some very sheltered swims, and farther round, in the biting wind, a high bank also looked to give shelter.

So we ended on those back-wind swims, still with sun in front of us, but able to fish a little to the left to avoid the reflection. White rime still clung to grass as we walked to our pegs. We both decided to start  on feeders.

One myth busted!
The water here is deep - probably 15 feet at 25 yards - so I opted for a banjo rather than a Method, as there was a better chance of keeping groundbait in the feeder by the time it has hit bottom.

My bait was luncheon meat - a "Summer" bait if ever there was one. So many myths persist in fishing - almost all untrue - and I now just ignore them.  I chose quarter-inch cubes of luncheon meat because it is quite light, so there was a chance it would waft about if a fish swam past; also, unlike pellet or sweetcorn, you can pare it down to whatever exact size you want. Sometimes, especially in Winter, size matters!

Information from regulars

After half an hour with just a small roach coming to hand, I walked up to see two anglers to our left. Both were regular, both feedering, and one had six fish and the other three, but both had started about 90 minutes before us. The first angler said that fishing has much improved since matches were stopped, because matchmen use so much bait.

I suspect that that's another myth, since the anglers who used to matchfish here were either club anglers or over 60s (there were about eight Over 60s matches a year) and with a maximum of £5 pools not many are going to spend a lot of money on bait. But I was too polite to say so. Perhaps stopping matches does improve the fishing, simply because of the loss of the pressure, even if only twice a week.

I also learned that matches on Head Fen, near Ely, have also been stopped, so the renters of the new chalets don't have to put up with being woken at 8 o'clock on a Sunday morning, and don't have to put up with bad language (that I can believe).

Fish!
Back to my swim and eventually two carp about 2 lb came in. But I was waiting a long time and made a switch to soaked micros in the feeder, with the bait laying on top of the pellets (but held in) so it could be clearly seen.  The slightly larger-than-normal cubes seemed to be best.

This brought another seven good fish, including a beautiful roach of about 1 lb, my biggest for years. Mel had just one small roach, on a banded pellet with a cage feeder, and I could not see why he wasn't catching. So I took my gear up to him, to see if it would make a difference, and went back to try the pole.

Carbon splinter
Before I could start I managed - not for the first time this year - to get a splinter of carbon in my finger from my aged cupping top. This necessitated clamping a size 14 hook in the end of my forceps and gradually digging it out. It took about 15 minutes, but experience has taught me that leaving splinters in my skin sees start to fester within a short time. Better to deal with it on the bank.

A good finish for both of us
I plumbed up on the pole and at 13 metres it was about 12 feet deep, I think (the pole tip was under water!) The 1gm rig I had chosen was only about 11 feet long, so I came back to 11.5 metres where it was about 10 feet deep. This brought another eight or nine carp and ide to 3 lb, putting just a few cubes in as loosefeed, before we packed up at 2 pm, bringing my catch to 40 lb to 50 lb.

Almost all those on the pole came after I had moved the bait just an inch or two - either lifting it or dragging it into the loose-fed area. And at the end I had three fish one after the other - really bagging.

Best news was that Mel had now started to catch on my gear, and ended with seven carp to 4 lb. He had never used Korum Quickstops, and was, naturally, quite taken with the system, so said he would use them in future rather than the old-fashioned hair rig with something pushed into the loop.

Very pleased with the result
Before we left we spoke to the regulars. The one who had had six fish earlier now had 14, and his companion about 20. So our catches, made in less time, compared favourably.

It looked to me as if perhaps the fish had not been in front of Mel to start with, although two anglers to his right had had occasional carp. Perhaps I had just hit on the right depth of water. I had clipped up and Mel kept the same clip. Anyway, eventually he had found the fish, and 'discovered' Quickstops. I also told him about the Preston ICS system, which saves so much time changing feeders, and will show him in detail next time we go.

So all-round a good day, the highlights being that 1 lb roach, a kestrel stooping into the ground five feet from my car, and a red kite somehow gliding around in the wind behind us as we packed up, without moving a feather. Not sure when my next outing is.

A toast to Absent Friends

Today (Friday the 13th) we should have been fishing the annual Spratts Christmas match, ending with the presentation of the special prizes for which we have been paying in during the season. Traditionally they have included lots of really good stuff - rods, a bicycle (once), tool kits, coffee machines - you name it and we've won it. 

And traditionally I jump in before we all depart, to propose a toast to those who are no longer with us. Here is my contribution this year: I raise a toast to:

Neil Drake. A gentle man who would nevertheless threaten to refuse to weigh us in if we weren't waiting with our net ready when he came round with the scales. He never actually carried out his threat! His fishing improved by leaps and bounds after he joined. Neil organised charity matches and had the full pole repair kit at home, so would often be called upon to repair our pole sections.

Ellis Buddle. A former lorry driver, he suffered from emphysema and would sit all match attached to his oxygen canister. But once we had him settled on his basket, with everything to hand, he was happy as Larry. And he still used to frame. This year is the first we have not been able to fish his memorial match.

Brad Oughton. Brought up in a rough area of Wisbech (I lived nearby), he turned out to be a good 'un. A terrible angler (though he did once frame in a Winter match on Kingsland) he had a heart of gold, and would not leave a match until he saw everyone had started their motor and moved off. His first name - Brad - was not short for Bradley as everyone assumed. It was Bradford (he reckoned that was where he was conceived).

Peter Parlett. Taken from us two-and-a-half years ago at the ridiculously early age of 61. A co-organiser of the Christmas match, he used to spend a lot of time buying the prizes. A regular framer, the one thing he enjoyed as much as angling was going to watch his grandson box. I have a bird bath in my garden, won at the Christmas match, which he carried to my car for me as it was heavy. So I am reminded of Peter every day.

Bryan Lakey. Was troop leader when I joined the Scouts and he lived in my village. The only man to win the National and the Woodbine, he was my best fishing mate and we fished our first Nationals together in 1961. After his regular travelling companion Syd Meads died, and he stopped fishing the biggest matches and Irish festivals, he stayed local, and we always had a £1 bet with each other at Decoy. He was the happiest angler I ever knew - always making us laugh on the bank. Only two anglers were able to attend his Covid-limited funeral earlier this year, and I was proud to be one of those invited.

The strangest of days - Magpie, Pidley

 Peg 25
I was scraping ice off the windscreen and had to spray de-icer on the side door of my van to open it before I could go fishing; less than two hours later I was standing on the bank at Pidley, at Peg 25, waving away mossies which had already bitten me. Things got worse during the day.

All masked up,  Tim (Dick Turpin) Bates
draw me a flier.

But it had been a good start when Tim draw me Peg 25 - a peg most would have killed for. It's next to a bed of lillies, and after a frost that's the only sort of swim you would normally expect to catch much from on Magpie. There are four swims in this bay next to lillies - 25, 26, 27 and 36, and there are more the other side of the bridge - 2, 3 and 4. And with virtually no wind it was easy to place a bait wherever I wanted.

Unfortunately the sun was bright and low, and several pegs, including 26 and 27, plus 1 to 10, suffered terribly with the sun in the eyes.

No decisions to make
Once the sun had moved round a little I had no real decisions to make, as dobbing bread next to the lillies was so obvious even I realised it. BUT things didn't work out for any of us. In the first four-and-a-half hours, fishing mainly up to 10 metres,  I managed to hook just six carp, losing two. Two came to maggots on the bottom and two to bread punch hung at about three feet. They ranged from 5 lb to 2 lb. 

Rob Heath on 22 was sixth with on Peg 22 with
this 40 lb 8 oz catch.

But I had missed a lot of bites, and could see the others round the lillies doing the same thing. Strike after strike saw missed fish.

With an hour to go I went out to 13 metres - any farther was pointless as it would have meant fishing across the lillies, and got several bites on bread. Just four fish were hooked, all around 3 lb, and all safely landed, bringing my total to eight, plus a couple of rudd.

On my left Ron had four, and had lost five; Ken on 27 had nine and had lost several; `and Kevin Samds on 36 had five, having also lost some. And all those I spoke to said that, like me, some had been hooked on the nose or the outside of the lip. That led me to the inevitable conclusion that the fish were nudging the bait, rather than taking it in.

The weigh-in
I was amazed to see that some good weights had come from open-water swims. Two pegs to my right Alan Owen had fished maggot long and weighed 69 lb 12 oz for second; and on Peg 12, which few would have rated before the match, Vic German had 71 lb 6 oz, for the win. He had been fishless for the first three hours, then found fish on hung bread in open water.

Alan Owen took his runner-up catch of 69 lb 12 oz fishing long
with maggots, in open water.

My eight fish weighed 23 lb 10 oz, for eleventh in the match, while Ken Gammon, two to my left,  ended with 28 lb 8 oz; and Kevin Sands on 36 ended with 23 lb. Ron on 24 didn't weigh his four fish.But some good fish were taken, despite the frost - Roy Whincup on 18 had just three for 22 lb 14 oz!

So the top five were:

    Name                Peg    weight

1    Vic German        12    71 lb 6 oz
2     Alan Owen        23    69 lb 12 oz
3    Andy Fosbury      16    52 lb 2 oz
4     Mick ?                7    45 lb 2 oz
5     Steve Tilsley      20     44 lb 6 oz

The full result.

My first selfie...that's the left side (honest).

Mossie Madness
Everyone I spoke to had been bitten. I don't tend to get many bites, but the Mossies really had a go at me. I had six bumps on the left of my face; my left ear ballooned to twice the thickness, and both hands started to swell from bites on the back of the hands.

Who would ever think you'd need insect repellant in November?

By today (two days later) the bumps have hardly gone down. Perhaps I have the Dreaded Lurgy? 

I hope to get out in the next few days, perhaps to check how Alan Owen did it on Peg 23, fishing with maggot.

Fenland Rods Championship result

 As expected Dave Garner won the cup - Well Done that man! We presented it to him at the penultimate match in the assumption that he had won - it would have been embarrassing if he hadn't! I don't know how he does it. He won no fewer than six matches. A well-deserved victory.

Full result here: 

I did 'OK' (spoiler - I didn't win) - Beastie, Decoy

 Peg 25
When the wind blows cold at the draw, and starts getting colder, almost everyone hopes for back wind, especially if possible rain is forecast. So when Terry Tribe prayed for Peg 30, which was sheltered from the cold South-Westerly, and actually got it drawn for him, he was a Happy Bunny. The other 12 of us in this Spratts match envied him...

My Peg 25 was also back-ish wind, but you are not allowed to cast to the island from there, and at this time of year the carp tend to gravitate towards the island, where they remain until the Spring. But there were fish swirling near the bank when I got there, and a patch of calm water which extended for about ten metres. So it had possibilities. Also, the wind appeared to be a little warmer now.

Peg 25. The wind was blowing into the far bank from the right.

I caught roach, but not quickly enough
To cut a long story short, a quick look on all my pole swims was unproductive. Then a banjo feeder with a Pop-Up, and then a while Chocolate Bandum, also brought me Zilch. A change to maggot brought a 4 oz bream, and I then spent an enjoyable 45 minutes catching small roach from the margins on maggot on a light elastic and pole. But although I was getting a bite immediately the bait sank to their level, I was missing a lot of them. Eventually I decided that 4 lb an hour was never going to be any good, especially as I could see Trevor on Peg 3 oppsosite catching on a feeder cast to the island.

So it was back to maggot on the feeder, cast about 35 metres, which over the next hour brought a 2lb F1 and another of 3 lb. The next hour was spent fruitlessly trying the margins with corn, for carp, and a long line at 11 metres, with pellet and corn, and my target had now gone from winning to being top of the four pegs on my bank - 21, 22, 24, and my peg 25 (Martin Parker having had to move from 23 to 21).

This 12 lb mirror, taken at 11 metres on a grain of corn was most welcome!

Yippee - a big carp
With less than two hours remaining I decided I had to concentrate on the long line, and messing about with the depth on my 1gm Tuff Eye float brought two or three bream, best 2 lb. Fishing several inches overdepth then brought a carp on corn first drop - and what a carp. I must have weighed 12 lb, and in the very clear water (I could see a foot below the surface) it put up a huge fight, constantly turning away from the landing net when I thought I had it safely netted.

Following that, another carp of 4 lb came in, and some more bream. I found that laying on almost a foot was best. But the problems got worse - leaves and rubbish on the surface were moving back and forth, and snagging the float and line. And shipping out often meant that the hook caught in a leaf.

Terry Tribe's fourth-placed catch of 39 lb 6 oz on feeder.

Bugga the wind!
Rain started to fall, though not really heavily, and then the wind started playing tricks - it was blowing from the right, but at times a gust came from the left, and blew me round in my seat; then it turned round and hit me the other way. Very strange. Presentation for more than 30 seconds became impossible, though I still had another couple of small bream.

Half an hour to go and I lost another carp, which felt big. Then the wind became so bad I simply couldn't fish the long line. I spent the last half hour trying in the margins with corn and cat meat for one more big fish, but never had a touch.

The weigh-in
I knew Trevor had several fish, and I'd seen Terry Tribe get some by also casting tight ot the island. but Peter Harrison on Peg 4 was first to weight. By feedering tight to the island with a hard pellet he took 89 lb 15 oz for the win. Peg 18, my favourite, had produced 62 lb for Allan Porter. You are not allowed to cast to the island from 18, but he took his fish, late in the match,. by putting a feeder to the far side of the deep channel under the bridge.

Trevor's best fish was this magnificent common carp,
which we weighed at 18 lb 2 oz!

I weighed 30 lb 9 oz, which was more than the other three pegs on my bank together, and was satisfied with that, as the other three had the island to cast to.

Bob Barrett, amazingly, on 29 didn't weigh, but Terry Tribe beat me with 39 lb 6 oz on 30, using a Wafter on a Method feeder. Last to weigh was Trevor, with 71 lb 13 oz, also on a Wafter, which was second. So I ended fifth. I was particularly pleased with because I felt that I had got as much from my swim, especially in the last couple of hours, as I could have done.

Next match - not sure. I will have a cast around to see what the forecast is for this weekend before I commit myself. But Decoy calls next Thursday, on Six-Island. We were told that Diane was pumping water out of Six-Island recently, and I know it can become very wet and soggy, so we may be asked to change. No problem, as I'm happy anywhere.

Weights are starting to fall, but Decoy rarely fails to produce a decent match.

Allan wins the Cup - Damson, Decoy

 Peg 4
The last Fenland Rods match of the season is - and is likely to be for some time - the Les Bedford Memorial Cup. It commemorates Les' life and his influence on the club during the years he fished with us. It's two years since he died on the banks of Elm Lake while the rest of us waited respectfully while two ambulance crews and the helicopter of the Air Ambulance battled, in vain, to save his life.

It was a sobering time, but a crumb of comfort was that Les died doing one of the things he loved best - fishing with his mates, though he was also a very good bowls player. He was on oxygen for a year before that, but still managed to catch plenty of fish in our matches. And it's a great joy to us that his widow, Wendy, still fishes with us.

 The local Oddfellows offered the club a cup in Les' memory, plus £50, to be competed for annually. And 14 of us turned up to remember Les and his unfailing courtesy and smiles, even when he was still attached to his oxygen tank. Of course the competitiveness never leaves us, does it? And I hoped for Peg 1, which would be sheltered from the forecasted strong South-Westerly by a high bank...while the aerator in that swim offers a great feature for the fish to gravitate towards. Theoretically!

Peg 1, which I (and lots of others) would have liked...but didn't get!

Mel does the honours with the draw.

The draw

Our Handicap Cup winner Mel Lutkin dived into the draw bag for us, and shouted out: "Peg Four" when my name was called. Oh, well, anywhere in the first four would suit me, with perhaps a little more shelter than the rest, and I have noticed that the bigger fish - to 5 lb-plus - tend to come from that end of the lake.

It was not until only one ball was left in the bag that we knew who Peg 1 was going to - the only man left, Allan Golightly. Allan has had a good two seasons, and I guessed he could do well from there. 

Before the match started two anglers had to move. Dennis Sambridge, on 14, found water over part of his platform and moved to 15. Mike Rawson on 7 found his platform had even more water on it, so moved to 16. Very sensible, as  it's so easy to make a mistake and end up in the water.

Fish!
I had two basic options - margins, or the deep water, which starts about ten feet from the side and drops to more than seven feet. 

My home for the day - Peg 4. Note that I prop
my holdall up on my trolley handle so I don't have
to keep bending down to pack and unpack my pole gear.

My first drop in the side into about 18 inches of water with a 4mm expander saw a fish take  straightaway...but it came off. A minute later I hooked another of 1 lb which ended in my net. Ten minutes later I had another. Twenty minutes after that I added a third. They were going off already!

To my right Rob Allen had a fish or two in the deep water fishing a top two, and to his right Peter Spriggs also found some carp that looked to be 2 lb-plus, fishing about four sections.

I decided I would out into the deep water if they got a long way ahead of me, but their catch rate dropped, and to my left Dick Warriner seemed to be catching fish on the inside. So I stayed there, though fishing to the left was now very difficult because of the strong left-to-right wind.

For the next hour it seemed that everybody was struggling, the wind had increased, and I added only another couple of fish. But I was getting liners, or missed bites - who knows? Maggot brought three tiny roach and a 2 lb carp, but I decided against putting too many maggots in the swim, hoping for barbel, as in earlier matches this hadn't worked.

Halfway and I have 13 lb
Halfway through the six-hour (actually five-and-three-quarter-hour) match and I had about seven fish for around 13 lb.I had tried the deep water on a top two, with expander, corn, and cat meat, over pellet and hemp put in via a bait dropper, but never had a touch. But I gradually started getting fish in the margins, from about two feet of water, and then from four feet, about a metre farther out, on the edge of the drop-off, on corn. 

Joe Bedford, elder brother of Les, was seventh
with 32 lb 2 oz - at the age of 90 (I think).

The best rig  was my 'Special Method' which can allow me to fish dead depth, even on a bumpy bottom (which this was). Lifting the bait half an inch (no more) often brought a bite, though I missed nine out of ten. Dragging the bait also brought a fish or two.  It was hard, and I concentrated like mad. However, that one fish out of ten 'bites' that I hooked kept something going into my keepnet. Most were hooked on the outside of the lip, convincing me that the 'bites' I missed were not liners caused by fish hitting the line, but from fishing nosing the bait.

During the next two hours I kept adding the occasional fish, mainly from 2 lb to 3 lb, but eventually felt I had to go long again, so I went out to four sections, where the water was actually about four inches shallower than at the bottom of the steep shelf.

A slight problem
I had re-made my favourite 1gm rig, as I had been using the original for several weeks. But I couldn't get the shotting exactly right - either there was too much tip showing, or not enough. That may have had something to do with the undertow, which seemed to come and go. 

Peter Spriggs - third with 54 lb 9 oz,
 all taken on four or five sections of pole
in the deep water.

However, this rig, baited with corn, did tempt half-a-dozen or more carp, the best up to 4 lb, plus a five-pounder foulhooked near the tail, which took me a long time to land. Another, which felt even bigger, came off after several minutes. I also pricked a couple more as I lifted out or struck at a bite.

Rain!
Back to the inside to rest the long swim, and a couple more fish came in, then back long, with half an hour to go, on corn. In the high wind expander wasn't working, while corn, being heavier, gave me more confidence that I was fishing positively. Two quick fish came, and I was playing the second as the rain started. 

The downpour became heavier as I landed this fish and once it was in the net I had to stand up and leave the platform to get my waterproof Imax jacket on. The zip is never easy, and it must have taken me five minutes to get comfortable and start fishing again, in heavy rain now. In fact it was so heavy I couldn't see the float properly.

The last ten minutes
The last ten minutes, when I had thought I would be able to get another fish or two, as they had been biting well, flew by leaving me fishless, and cold. That was a bit of a downer - as was the start of the packing up, as I - and probably every other angler - had left my brolly in the van, and bags and holdalls were drenched.

Sod's Law reigns (geddit?)
Of course, by the time I had done the bulk of the packing up, and the weighing-in started, the rain had eased to a slight drizzle. Sod's Law...

I estimated I had 60 lb, but had no idea whether this would be any good - Peter Spriggs seemed to have had bigger fish than me early on, but he'd had a torrid middle of the match. 

Allan Golightly weighed
61 lb 9 oz, from Peg 1, to win the 
Les Bedford Memorial Cup.

A surprise

Dick, next to me on Peg 3, said that Pegs 1 and 2 had caught a lot of fish. Allan Golightly on 1 weighed in 61 lb 9 oz. It then appeared, from anglers watching, that they thought this was very good - I had assumed that some weights in the higher pegs would probably be considerably more than this, so that surprised me. On 2 Joe Bedford - Les' elder brother and now aged 90 - didn't have as many as Dick had assumed. He weighed 32 lb 2 oz, beaten by 14 oz by Dick himself.

The result - a well-deserved win for Allan Golightly.

I was next, and for a change my fish weighed slightly less than I had estimated - just 58 lb 9 oz, which held second place right to the end. Bob on my right guessed I might have 80 lb - strange how we all seem to imagine that other anglers have more than they do. It's just the same for me! I thought he had 50 lb or more, but he weighed little more than half that...

Peter Spriggs on Peg 6 was only a couple of fish behind me, and while I rued the fish I had lost, I know he had also lost some foulhooked.

So Allan won - a popular win - and was presented with the cup and the £25 winning gift from the Oddfellows by Les' widow Wendy. I was just as pleased as if I had won, because Allan lives in my village, and is a great club member, hardly ever missing a match.

Allan receives the cup from clubmate Wendy Bedford,
wife of Les Bedford, in whose memory the cup was given. 

My Grafham expedition
I mentioned a trip to Grafham in the last blog. It took place and I never had a pull. But having spent hours sorting through my flyfishing gear after a long break from fishing the fly, I intend to try again, probably from the bank at Elinor, Northants. 

Next match is on Beastie at Decoy on We4dnesday. The forecast is not too bad, with a South-Westerly and up to 15% chance of rain during match times. Pegs 29 and 30 would give the best of everything - fliers and a back wind - but I would still pick 18, given the chance.

Should have done better - Horseshoe Lake, Decoy

 Peg 1
I blame the cramp. It had me leaping out of bed all night like a demented frog, and  I never got more than 30 minutes uninterrupted sleep. Funny thing was I felt fine at the match, and was happy with Peg 1. It can produce good weights in the Summer, and although the results I have seen in Winter from Horseshoe tend to show the first four pegs as not being too good, there are a lot of options on Peg 1.

But my brain must have been in a low gear because I never got started properly - I had intended to fish waggler if I got back wind (which I did) but somehow I left the float I had the rod shotted up for at home. So I had to choose another, adjust the shotting, and then it took me ages to work out what was happening - I couldn't get the float to come to the surface.

A light back wind meant no ripple on the first few pegs.

It took me ages to realise that this swim is very deep - eight feet or more, perhaps the deepest swim on the complex. Anyway, by the time I had it set up the match had started, and I hadn't even assembled my pole tops. Then Terry Tribe walked back to the car for his umbrella, and gaily announced that Mick had already landed a ten-pounder.

Mick? Which Mick? We've got three  fishing today, And at the end of the match I looked carefully at all three Mick's catches and couldn't find a double-figure fish. Terry then sort of pointed to Peter Spriggs and asked: "Did I say Mick?" Yes, Terry, you did. I know Peter would have been facing the water (presumably) as you walked behind him, but methinks a call to Specsavers is on the cards!

The match
Back to the match and eventually, almost 20 minutes after everyone else had started, I got underway. I last fished this peg about 15 years ago, and there was a lily bed to the left, which is not there now. So I had a guess at where it might have ended, and started at 10 metres towards a lily bed in the middle. My trusty 1gm Tuff Eye float now had a bright yellow tip, to show up against the brown reflections of bushes on the far side. Despite the rain we've had the water was much clearer than it was only two weeks ago.

John Garner, on my left, waited for over
four-and-a-half hours for his first fish. He ended with
five weighing 31 lb 8 oz.

After a short fishless spell at ten metres I had a quick look in the margin to my right, against the reeds, with corn over half-a-dozen grains. Nothing. So back to the main swim, with the intention of moving round to the right, where the water was about three inches shallower, as my second swim. Then a 3 lb barbel took my corn and I was underway. I put in some maggots with a bait dropper, hoping for more barbel, but none came. An F1 took a bunch of maggots half an hour later, and a small roach, which prompted me to go back to corn.

Things are slow
It took me nearly two  hours to add three more F1s, one of which was on the waggler, at the rate of one every 30 minutes. At this point John Garner to my left was still fishless, but Callum on his left had six fish on a pole. Another hour went by and I had forgotten about the intended second long swim, but fancied I saw a tiny liner while fishing the margin swim to my right. Now becoming desperate I wondered if the fish, perhaps, preferred to feed in the deeper water, so I went a little farther out and a little longer to my right.

Callum on Peg 3 had six fish early on and
weighed 35 lb 12 oz for seventh.

In went a some hemp and corn, and I dropped in over the top. Within 15 seconds I was playing a 7 lb common, which didn't fight particularly well, and ended in my net. It was as cold as ice. Next drop saw a six-pounder come in. but then no more. I probably should have had a go on the feeder, but my brain was not working to its maximum capacity.

Alternating the two swims
It slowly dawned on me that the flashing when a fish was hooked was probably disturbing other fish, so I went long again, and had another F1; then back to the other swim, about ten feet from the marginal reeds. I slowly added fish by alternating the swims, mainly by dragging the bait very slowly. But the bites took a long time to develop. I'm certain that the ones I missed were not liners- the fish were just very cagey. Perhaps a small length of worm would have tempted them in the clear water, but I forgot to try.

Cat meat took an F1 from the right-hand swim, and the rest - F1s and carp to 6 lb -  came to corn, mainly from that right-handed swim, with the exception of another small F1 on expander. I lost just one fish.

Mick Ramm and I went to junior school together  
in Wisbech in the 1940s. Neither of us look our age...

With an hour to go I put an eight-pounder in the net from the swim towards the reeds, but in the final hour I added only one more fish, also about 8 lb. John on my left, meanwhile, had his first fish with 85 minutes left, and ended with five, all on a top two.

The end - and my big mistake
When the match finished I kept the unused hemp, cat meat and expanders to freeze and use again (as I always do) but there was a handful of corn unused and some dampened micros. I threw these in down to a small patch of lillies on my right, where the water is about 18 inches deep.

Five minutes later the lillies were shaking, as fish had come in to sweep up the food on the bottom. In water that shallow and that clear I hadn't imagined that it would have been worth fishing the margins. And I am sure I would have had more fish if I had. Stupid. And I had never fished the second long swim, either. What was I thinking of?

I blame the cramp!

Terry Tribe weighs in his third-placed 56 lb 2 oz.

The weigh-in
I was first to weigh, and had no idea what most of the others had been catching. But several remarked that I had two nets in, so it gradually dawned on me that I hadn't done too badly. My fish weighed 60 lb 6 oz, and that led right round to Trevor Cousins on 16, who won with 78 lb 2 oz - five F1s on a 10-metre pole and the rest on a feeder baited with a Washter cast tight to the far-side reeds.

That win produced some elation from the others, and I realised I had forgotten that I was Golden Peg. Same thing happened the previous week when I was Golden Peg (again) and came third. They must love it when I get it.

Of the 14 anglers fishing no fewer than ten weighed in the between 30 lb and 40 lb. I finished second, and honestly believe that I had the opportunity to win in that last hour, if only I had had a look in the shallow margins - a lovely bunch of reeds to the left and lillies down to my right.

Terry displays the golden coin wrenched from the  reluctant fist of a smiling Martin Parker.
It's what makes life worth living.

I'm fishing from a boat at Graham on Friday. Not sure if sweetcorn is allowed! And next match is on Damson on Sunday - The Les Bedford Memorial Cup. Les died at decoy, and Damson was his favourite lake.

Mike Rawson with fish! Lots of them...

Winner Trevor Cousins from Peg 16 - 78 lb 2 oz.

                              

The result of a tight, difficult match.