Happy with my catch on Oak Lake, Decoy

Peg 20

This was the first day after the heatwave, and a cold North-easterly greeted the 17 of us in this Spratts match. I was not unhappy with Peg 20, and it would have ben one of the 3 pegs I would have picked – 20, 21, and 22.

Trev does the draw - one bag contains our names, the other
holds the peg numbers. PS. What a fine pair of legs...

 The swim had a long, shallow margin to the right which goes out two metres from the bank, caused by bank slip, and a bunch of reeds to the left, where there is still a shallow margin – about two feet – but it drops down more quickly.

My right margin - you can see how the bank has
eroded away, giving only inches of water in the side.

The water on our side of this strip lake was calm, as the wind was over my right shoulder, and frankly I didn’t feel that fish would be feeding very well, so I started on maggot, putting some down the left margin. But before fishing there I potted a few grains of corn out along the right bank, in the shallows, and put out a bait for a few minutes, just in case fish were there. But I got no response, so it was down the left.

An early barbel

A 2 lb barbel came in quickly, and some time later a 6 lb carp. I hoped that more barbel  would bite, so persevered with maggot, but after a long spell with nothing I went out to a top-two-plus-one swim, with cat meat over corn and pellet. Although fish were moving all over the lake, just under the surface, I didn’t get even a liner here in 30 minutes. So it was back to the left margin, and but in the next hour or so I don’t think I had a fish.

Mick Linnell, former Oundle star, was on my left. This
was one of his best fish - probably over 10 lb.

Things weren’t looking too good, and I’d seen Mick Linnell, on Peg 22 to my left, and Bob Barrett, opposite on 12, take fish on a feeder. I had a feeder rod with me, but decided to persevere for the moment. Then, in the space of a few seconds, the wind turned right round through 180 degrees and blew into our faces; and over the next half-hour I managed another  three. They were all around 8 lb, and now I had 36 lb on my clicker, so started a second net, in case I had underestimated the weights.

Around this time rain started, which wasn’t too heavy, though it lasted for some time. There were a few flashes of lightning, and rolls of thunder, but those of us with umbrellas up managed to sit in the dry, and the wind wasn’t too bad. Aactually, when it started I was sitting in just a sweat shirt and playing a fish. I managed, after a struggle, to put on my Goretex jacket while hanging on to my pole, and landed that fish, before putting up my umbrella.

My umbrella attacks me...

Not long after putting the umbrella up I was attacked by it! I was playing a fish, when it suddenly decided to collapse around me while I was just sat sitting there, and  I thought for a minute I had gone blind. It’s a Preston Flatback, and the clip to keep it extended had always felt a bit dodgy. Anyway I managed to land that fish and completed the re-erection safely.

 

Mick Raby shows the size of fish which now
 seem to be typical on both Oak and Yew lakes.

The rain stopped and then largely held off (though we never had a glimpse of sun because of the heavy cloud), but we did have another shower later.

Now I felt I had to take a look on a top two to my right, in about 20 inches of water, as fish were coming into the very shallow margins along the bank (though none of them would look at a bait). I had to lift the bait an inch or so, and suddenly the float would zoom under, and a fish would be on. Some of these I lost – I’m sure they were not foulhooked, because all day I hooked just one fish inside the mouth – the rest were all in the lip. I assume they were not feeding wholeheartedly – but I started getting fish, nearly all from 8 lb up to 12 lb.

One fish of 10 lb was foulhooked in the tail, and eventually – very eventually – I managed to get it into the net. But it’s annoying when fish are feeding and you spend such a long time landing just one.

The long line is hard

John Garner, to my right, also seemed to be landing a fair number of big fish, and he was catching some of them on the longer line. So I had a look there. That brought two on cat meat, but it took a long time, and I stayed to the right for most of the rest of the match, putting in bait before every fish but having to wait a fair while for a proper bite, even if the fish were giving liners. I was putting only about five fish in a net – and only four in one – so I didn’t exceed the 50 lb limit.

John Garner (on my right) with a fish we weighed at 13 lb 12 oz.

Now cat meat seemed to be working better, though after a couple of  fish a change back to corn was necessary to get a bite. I reckon when hooked the fish shouted out: “He’s using cat meat, fellows.” Or “He’s using corn.” Obviously sometimes the fish misheard and thought he’s shouted: “He’s watching porn,” because sometimes I got two or three on corn before changing.

A good last 40 minutes

About 50 minutes before the end I went back to the van for more nets and put in a fifth net.That took several minutes in total, making me realise I must get a quicker way of clipping nets in front of me.

 Out of interest  I tried dropping a bait down the left margin, which I hadn’t fed for several hours, using cat meat, and had a bite almost  immediately. This turned out to be the biggest fish of the day, which I estimated at 14 lb Ten minutes later , after losing a couple (more time wasted) another good fish came, and with eight minutes left on my watch a drop to the right with corn brought yet another good one, which I played carefully as it would be the last of the day. In fact there were a few seconds left after I landed it, and a quick drop back brought the last one, about 8 lb, which I was playing when the match ended.

I estimated I had about 40 lb in each net, giving me 200 lb. John to my right said he had 130 lb.

Trevor scrutinises his weight. The rest of us just look!

The weigh in

As usual I took a long time to pack up, and while my system for holding five nets in front of me worked well, each net has a bank stick attached, so I couldn’t take the bar off and lay it on the platform. Luckily John Garner helped me stab each net into the bank, but that takes time.

Had I miscalculated?

I was in time to see the weigh in from about the fourth angler, and saw that Mark Parnell had set the bar high with 181 lb from Peg 1. But as the scales went along the bank it seemed that six or seven big fish were weighing about 40 lb, and the fish seemed to me to be weighing light. I began to think with only about five fish in most of me nets they were going to weigh only 30 lb each.

The winner, - a very tired Bob Barrett with 229 lb 2 oz, all taken on corn,  using a feeder
dropped into the margins. He's done that before in our matches, and had great results.

Bob Barrett, on Peg 12 opposite me, had fished feeder all day, laying it down the margins, and totalled a magnificent 229 lb 2 oz, to lead at this stage. I couldn’t possibly beat that. One fish of his, which I thought might be approaching 15 lb, weighed less than 10 lb. It looked as if I was going to be embarrassed when I pulled out my nets, with perhaps less than 30 lb in them!

Peter Spriggs fishes paste - I don't think he ever
 has any other bait with him. But it always works!

We weighed John Garner’s biggest fish at 13 lb 12 oz and then it was my turn. The first net out – the last one I put in, which held just four fish – went 37 lb 12 oz, which settled my nerves somewhat. And three of the other four nets went over 40 lb, best 49 lb 10 oz, with the fifth at 38 lb 3 oz, giving me 210 lb 11 oz - my best weight at Decoy I think.  I couldn’t understand why my fish seemed to be weighing more than the others, but have to assume that they were just that little bit bigger, and that my estimates were reasonable. Phew.

Ted is always offered a peg close to his car - and
shows he can still catch plenty of fish aged 92.
 (That's) Ted's age, not the fish!

Mick Linnell has what I need

So to Mick Linnell, who totalled 181 lb 6 oz, and who was able to lay his keepnet bar on the platform with nets attached. They just unclipped from the bar when required – a system I simply must get for myself. Then past Trevor, who didn’t have a bite until 11.45 am, and who weighed 137 lb 10 oz. And along to Peter Chilton, who also had five nets, with a similar system, and who beat me by less than 2 lb, with 212 lb 9 oz.

Last to weigh was 92-year-old Ted, who went way over the 50 lb limit in his first net, and totalled 76 lb 4 oz, which would have been 90 lb – but it didn’t affect his position, and he said he’d had a good day. So that left me in third spot, and my eighth frame in a row. I think I should have tried harder on my long line earlier in the match, and should have used a special rig I have for that, which, on reflection, I am sure would have got fish interested. And I should have tried a bunch of maggots as a change bait. But you can’t do everything.

Peter Chilton, second with 212 lb 9 oz - he's on fire at the moment!

Five nets (somewhere) at the end for me - but it's time-consuming taking them
off the box and sticking them into the bank. I need a simpler system, like
Mick Linnell and Peter Chilton have, with a quick-release system on a keepnet bar.

Three over 200 lb and  seven more over 100 lb - a good club match.

Thanks for all the organisation, Trevor.

Next definite match is on Magpie, Pidley, the weekend after this one, with old mates (that’s old as in I haven’t seem them for a while) from Grebe Angling Club, in the Dun No More cup – nobody knows why it has that name, but as I’m a former winner of the cup I’m entitled to fish it each year. I’ve missed the last two or three, and am really looking forward to it. Then next day back on Oak, for which I will Be Prepared!