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.