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.