Two good pre-match workouts - Cedar, Decoy

Sunday was blowing a cold hooley, but I didn't care - I was so full of adrenalin I could have crushed a grape...until I realised, while watching TV, that the time wasn't 8 am, it was 9 am; I had forgotten to put on my watch. Stupid Boy!

When I got to Decoy, Cedar Peg 3 was beckoning - a nice platform with backish wind. And as I took my tackle to the peg an angler behind me, on Elm Lake, was landing an 8 lb mirror. However, after I'd been fishing for half an hour and not seen him catch another fish, and I hadn't had a bite, I began to realise things were going to be difficult. He told me afterwards that he'd had several fish before I got there, but then they dried up.

I was fishing in the side, with maggot, hoping for some of those barbel which often hand about the bottom of the near shelf. but they were missing. It took an hour before I got one to the left, on maggot, and half an hour to my next bite, which was a 4 lb carp from the right on an expander over hard 4mm pellets.

But although it was hard I knew that there were fish around, as the special method I use can show that to me quite clearly. From then on it was a question of concentrating on perfect presentation, and slowly I started getting fish, on maggot or corn or expander It was that sort of perfect day I love - every fish had to be fished for hard. The barbel ran to 6 lb, and the carp to double-figures; not many, but every one was a minor success and I finished with perhaps 70 lb - I didn't bother to click.

For me it was one of the most enjoyable days I've had for a year or two.

Very happy for my mates

Two days later it was that hot Tuesday, and five of us arranged to meet at Decoy, none of the other four being matchmen. I hoped to fish facing the wind, but when we got to the strips there were people three quarters of the way down Elm, Oak and Yew, which was the area I fancied, all having back wind, and I didn't feel we could fish opposite them with so many other swims available.

Alan in action on Peg 2 on Cedar Lake. 

So I picked the early pegs on Cedar, in a back wind, where I fished two days previously, where there was a tiny bit of ripple. Alan was on Peg 2 (peg 1 was very calm with no ripple at all); Kurt (pronounced Cort) on Peg 3, Me on 4, Mel Russ (my former boss) on 6 (there was an angler opposite 5), and Brian on 7. My job was to ensure they all caught fish.

Experienced matchmen will understand that although many people assume that these commercial fish give themselves up to all and sundry, and that 100 lb is there for the taking, in fact a degree of sophistication is required that a lot of pleasure anglers do not possess. 

The proof
The proof that statement became clear when I was the last to start, after going to the others and suggesting they start close-in, but I had three fish before any of the others had caught. So I went along and tried to convince them that close-in didn't mean ten feet from the bank - it meant CLOSE in.

Kurt with one of the fish they were all hoping for - a good barbel.

Alan's float needed shotting down, and his plumbing had gone wrong somewhere - he was fishing off the bottom but didn't realise it. I remember when I first started fishing that for years I never bothered checking the depth properly - I just wanted to get fishing. In addition I didn't expect the four to grasp- what I was telling them immediately - our minds don't work like that. So I had expected I would have problems like that.

With Alan set on the right road (I hoped) I moved along the line. Kurt was fishing pretty well, but I doubt he fed enough or regularly enough - that was not something I could keep checking. I handed out corn to some, as that's easy to throw accurately.

I play schoolmaster
So two or three times I had a walk down the line, telling them to feed, and had to reprimand Mel for having about six feet of lash between his pole top and his float. He's bigger than me, and younger, but I knew he wouldn't hit me as he'd be worried he would kill me...so he obediently cut it down to a foot. 

Alan, who is from the same village as me, with a 5 lb mirror caught on waggler.

 I got him to drag the rig right in close to the bank, and after he'd starting catching regularly he said he couldn't believe that fish would be that close. But they were - including one fantastic barbel he weighed at 7 lb 12 oz!! Brian  started catching fish when he changed from a rod to a pole, and Alan also had several fish later in the afternoon. Kurt, for some unknown reason, had five nice bream but not so many carp and barbel. But he did  lose several, reason unknown.

Mel Russ, my old boss on Sea Angler magazine, landing a barbel on the pole.

My swim

Obviously my stopping putting in feed several times must have affected my overall catch, but in fact I had a super day - five or six barbel to about 6 lb, and about six double-figure carp. Alan and Kurt are used to weighing fish - they both have carp match and scales by their swims - and they persuaded me to weigh two of my carp. They went 15 lb and 16 lb 12 oz. One of the others was a cracking, chunky bright silver common that must have weighed at least 10 lb.

Highlight of the say was Mel landing this superb 7 lb 12 oz barbel.

A really good last half hour, by which time the wind had increased, probably saw me in the region of 100 lb for the day. But the real measure of success was the other four all having what they deemed to be a successful trip. And I think they understand the importance of keeping some bait going in when fish are moving about, and willing to feed, in warm weather. 

His first visit to a commercial - Cedar lake, Decoy

 Alan lives in the same village as me, and a long time ago we agreed to go fishing together. Of course lockdown intervened, but decent weather this week meant we could finally make it. He had never been to Decoy, in fact he'd never been to a modern commercial, and had never caught a barbel, nor fished with a pole. The nearest I have been to a virgin lately!

Alan's first-ever barbel. That one fish made the
whole day worthwhile.

After several recent blanks in a row at a carp fishery, Alan no doubt wondered whether he was going to actually catch anything. In fact, everything worked out pretty well. I sat him in Cedar Peg 3, where I had caught barbel two or three weeks ago. I sat on Peg 4.

Alan doesn't have a box - he fishes from a chair, and that presented an unusual problem, because the chair has arms. That meant that when he put it on the platform, he had to walk right to the front of the chair - to the edge of the platform - to sit in it, or to get out. With a box I can sit on it sideways and just swing my legs round.

His tackle was typical 'non-match-angler', but to his credit he took notice of what I said. He was surprised that I started right in the side - he had imagined he would need to fish a long way from the bank. Anyway, here's what we caught:

Within half an hour he'd hooked his first barbel on maggot. It was about 2 lb and he were reet chuffed! Out came my phone for a picture.  More barbel followed, and we weighed the first big one, which I said went: "...perhaps 5 lb". In fact it weighed 6 lb! He changed to a pellet, and in came a 7 lb carp. Things were looking good.

Action Stations! 

With a couple of hours to go Alan said we wouldn't mind trying a pole, so I rigged up one of my spares - a put-in Browning Sting. He was surprised at how light it was, and because it was easier to pull the rig accurately towards the side, where the barbel were feeding, he got on better than with rod and line. Three more big barbel- the last of which also weighed 6 lb - followed, together with some smaller ones. He finished with a couple of small carp, and  some F1s. His total weight was probably around 45 lb.

We weighed this barbel at 6 lb.

He said he'd had a great day and learned a lot. And we expect to go back to Decoy next week. He even said he wouldn't mind trying match fishing. 

We estimated this common at 7 lb-plus.

I had a good day, interrupted quite a lot, obviously. The highlight was a 14 lb carp foulhooked in the tail! I probably had 60 lb-plus, with some carp around 8 lb, and my best barbel taking a grain of corn at the end.

I had fun and games with this one...foul hooked in the tail.

My verdict
Alan played the fish very well, and listened to what I said. I was impressed.

Fishing next door, I had several barbel like this six-pounder on maggot.

His original waggler rig was not good - four inches of float showing, and the shot scattered about on the line. I hope, though, that I impressed on him the importance of accurate plumbing - at the start he had no idea how much line he had laying on the bottom, nor where the deepest holes were. He watched as I plumbed up with the pole, and could see how much easier it is to get accurate readings than with rod and line.

He was also not used to putting in loosefeed regularly, but when I kept on to him to feed, he eventually picked up on it. I would regard that as a fairly typical mistake by many non-match anglers. He also was not used to feeling his way around the depths - I explained that all fish often prefer to pick up food from a slight incline, rather than at the bottom of a shelf. So it's always worthwhile dragging the bait up a slope, which is much easier with a pole than with a rod and line. 

Finally, he also realised that lifting the bait just an inch is also easier with a pole rig, and that so often it induces an immediate bite. I guess he will start on the pole next time we go.

More fun on Fields End Fishery

 Another day with my old Sea Angler boss, Mel Russ, this time on Fields End, near Chatteris, where the cost is only £5.25 for Old Codgers. The forecast was for a NNW wind, so we went across to the opposite bank, which gave us a sort of back wind, as rain was forecast. In fact the wind was over our right shoulders, almost straight down the reservoir, and more of a WSW wind,

That gave me the opportunity to put up my umbrella, something I don't do unless rain gets heavy. But I like to use these pleasure sessions to experiment. So at home I tried to fix the two-holder  sliding umbrella attachment about a foot from the ground, on a rear leg. The leg went through one arm, then through the box frame, but try as I might I couldn't push the leg through the top arm - the thick rubber insert seemed not to open out sufficiently.

I hate inserts
I hate these inserts. I'd rather pay more money and get stuff that fits on my 25mm legs properly. Anyway, I had to compromise and fix the umbrella holder higher up the leg. For some reason that wasn't a problem. With an extending bank stick screwed into the storm guide on the umbrella, once it was up,  to hold it steady, it did actually keep all the rain off me. I have a Flat Back umbrella, whose ribs are too thick to thread through the storm guide, so I wire them on, They've been on for years, and work perfectly.

One of Mel's mates had turned up, so the three of us started fishing about 10 o'clock. My plan had been to start on a feeder and possibly change to a big pellet waggler. But after the hassle of setting up I just picked out the waggler rod. I fixed on a huge Premier waggler - probably about 20 gm - with a big bulbous top, set it at four feet, and threw it out about 30 yards after catapulting out some 6mm hard pellets.

A good start 
First cast the float dived under and I felt a slight bump as I picked up the rod - to find that the rig was intact, except that the band and pellet were missing. A fish must have just got hold of the pellet, leaving the hook outside its mouth. Never had that before. 

Next cast the line shot out and a fish hooked itself. It fought like blazes, and turned out to be a 2 lb chub. Definitely not an ide, although I know there are a lot in the water. Next cast another fish and after winding it halfway in I put the rid between my knees and catapulted out more pellets. As I did that I felt a massive jag on the rod and sure enough a fish had broken me. 

Lots of lovely chub
The short story is that I hooked about ten more in the next hour and two more broke me as I played them in. The chub were really vicious - almost as if a big pike had suddenly taken the fish and shot off. They jagged around the whole time I played them. Then, when I had landed seven, the rest mainly around 3 lb,  I walked up to see the others. Mel had hooked five carp on a feeder and landed four; his mate Brian hadn't yet had a fish.

A few minutes later I was back at my peg...only to find that the fish had gone! I carried on for 45 minutes and never had another bite. The wind seemed to have now got a bit more bite to it, and I guessed the chub didn't like it on their backs. So out went the banjo feeder with micros and a banded pellet and first cast a 2 lb carp wrenched the tip round. Cracked it!

Nope - sweetcorn, then sweetcorn with maggot on the hook both failed to catch. A change to luncheon meat brought another 2 lb carp, and now the wind had died down quite a lot and it was warmer. Time for the pole.

The waggler scores again
So I packed away the feeder rod and before I got the pole out I picked up the waggler rod again, just in case...

First cast and a chub hooked itself. Four more came really quickly, all over 3 lb, best around 4 lb. Great stuff. Then two roach around 4 oz, and I turned round to look at the sky. A slight misty rain now blew across, and it looked unsettled. Mel and Brian had just decided to pack up - Brian had had a big barbel and two good carp, and Mel had added one carp.

I decided, also, to pack up, although I would have preferred to try a pole for an hour or two, but the weather wasn't looking particularly good. Brian kindly came back from his car to help pull my trolley; he pulled and I pushed and could hardly keep up with him! The energy of youth...

The b****y sun comes out!
No sooner had I turned the ignition in the van than the sun came out, and for the next two hours the weather was perfect - a warm, light wind! Sod's Law was in vogue. I was in half a mind to go back, but couldn't face the trek along the bank alone.

With about 40 lb I was happy, and have been tying up plenty of bands, all on 5.5 lb JB Clarke Match Team nylon.. The orange-coloured Gardner latex bands seem to be a bit stronger than my light-coloured ones, but I've tied several of each, plus some dark-brown Drennan. I doubt that the nylon length makes much difference, so I've made them all four inches., which is the shortest length in my Preston hook boxes.

Next trip will probably be next week, the destination to be decided by the weather forecast. 

Another good day, on Oak, Decoy

 Met up with one of my old bosses (old as in former) in the car park at Decoy - Mel Russ, who was editor of Sea Angler. After our visit to Fields End last year he mugged up on fishing The Method, and added some banjo feeders and some hair rigs fitted with Quickstops to his tackle box. Mel hadn't fished at Decoy for some years, and was happy to tackle the carp there.

With rain possible I decided we would fish with our back to the West wind, but the early pegs on Cedar would have meant fishing with anglers behind us, on Elm. So we moved to Oak, and I chose Pegs 9 and 10. Mel chose 9, which has a nice platform level with the bank. We both started on banjos.

Mel is off the mark
It took a little while to get a bite, then Mel hooked, and landed, an 8 lb mirror, which he was very happy with. Another followed, then I got one about the same weight. Then Mel added another eight-pounder and I had one about 3 lb, before bites tailed off.

Mel in action early on. Not much wind, but it picked up a little later.

I got up and put up my pole, potting in maggots to my right, near a bed of irises. A barbel followed fairly quickly, around 4 lb. Then another, followed by a couple of F1s on pellet in front of me. Then Mel landed a really good fish - I estimated it at 14 lb, and took a picture. He was using two hair-rigged grains of corn, with maggot on the hook It's a method Wendy Bedford uses in out club matches, and I should try it more often.

A move to my left with maggot brought three or four more barbel, and a couple of small carp. Then I had a look down beside my platform, but it was quite shallow, and I really shouldn't have wasted time there. It took a long time to get the fish back in that left-hand swim, but eventually in came a 5 lb barbel, which took a worm and two maggots, plus an F1 and a tench. 

That lovely-looking fourteen-pounder took a corn and maggot combination.

Fish in the side
Suddenly I fancied I saw a fish turn right in the side just to my left. I plumbed up and it was no more than a foot deep. But I put in corn and maggot and followed it up with a bait. No response, but I fancied I saw clouds of mud a little farther out, so adjusted the depth to 18 inches. Sure enough, two F1s came in, best 3 lb. Then the rain started and we packed up, with Mel having added fish of 3 lb and 5 lb to his tally.

I didn't fancy trying to hold this muscle-bound barbel in my hands!

Mel must have had about 45 lb, and I had a similar weight, and we had left by about 3 o'clock. Very happy with the day's fishing. And glad we fished back wind, as it was quite cold by the time we finished.

Lessons learned
 I really must try the maggot-on-the-hair-rigged-hook trick in future. And I was amazed that even at this time of year fish were willing to come right into the really shallow water. So often I don't try there because I can almost see the bottom. 

I hope to go somewhere next week, but the choice of venue will hinge on the wind direction and whether I have my trolley motor working.

Another bonanza on Elm, Decoy

Since my previous visit, to Cedar, the wind had dropped but it had turned to the East, and was quite cold. My plan, therefore, had been to sit opposite Peg 3 on Cedar, in a back wind, but when I got there two mates, Rob Allen and John Garner, were fishing on Elm, the next strip, also with back wind. They had just started fishing, about six pegs down, but John very kindly said he would push my trolley back if I had trouble, so I sat at the peg next to him, Peg 16.

I started at 13 metres at 10.40 am, and after about ten minutes hooked a 4 lb barbel on a 6mm expander. John then landed a barbel from about four metres out, so I put in a handful of maggots in the deep margin, also expecting barbel, and put out some more expanders at 13 metres.

Rob Allen with a cracking common on
a pole. We estimated it at around 7lb.

The barbel are there!
In a match I often rest a swim as soon as I have taken the first fish from it, and did that this time, putting out a bunch of five big red magots on a strong round-bend 14 into the near swim. Within seconds I was playing a near-5 lb barbel. Then it was back out to 13 metres and a 3 lb carp came in. Back to the maggot swim, and another big barbel.

Meanwhile Rob was off the mark with a lovely 7 lb common, which I photographed. I then had a purple patch with the barbel, taking fish after fish, mainly over 4 lb, for a good 45 minutes. The longer swim was now not producing much - just the occasional F1, one more barbel, and a 7 lb carp, and I had been enjoying myself  so much on the near swim much I came back to the barbel, and plumbed around right next to my platform to look for another possible hot spot.

Sure enough, there was a small hole, about 18 inches across, just in front of the right leg of the platform, and almost every drop in there I was hitting a fish. I was using my special little method, which is deadly, but wasn't putting a lot of bait in - just the odd small handful. Most fish were barbel, with two F1s.

Fun and games with a foulhooked ten-pounder
With an hour to go I decided to look for carp, so fed expanders on a top two right out in front of me. I got my carp first cast - a ten-pound mirror foulhooked in the pectoral fin, which stretched the 13 Hollo elastic on that rig so much in the ten minutes I played it that I immediately changed it for a Middy 22-24 blue. Next carp was 5 lb, and that came in in about one-tenth of the time!

This was not my biggest barbel of the day.

I fancied the barbel were moving to the deeper water now, as bites had slowed. So a quick look again out to the top-two swim and a 5 lb carp came in, then it was back inside for the last ten minutes, in the deeper water. This produced more barbel. the biggest I estimated at well over 5 lb - heavy in the belly. At 3 o'clock we all packed up.

The result
The result was an estimated 150 lb - at least 20 barbel over 4 lb, 15 smaller ones, and 30 lb-plus of carp. John had clicked 49 lb, and Rob 33 lb. My swim was perhaps better, but I put it down mainly to my special method, which never fails me if the fish are there, provided conditions allow its use.

I managed to load the trolley OK - I find packing up is worse than pushing it back, funnily enough. And I pushed it back to the van with no problem, so John's help wasn't needed. In all I had used no more than a big handful of expanders and a pint of maggots. I call that a result!

Beeeuuutiful Decoy barbel

Last Friday I decided to have a day - or at least part of one - at Decoy, to get back into some sort of a routine. Two days earlier at Pidley, I had forgotten my cushion; after a break that sort of thing happens, so these pleasure session hopefully remind me what I need. I decided to keep it simple, taking just a tin of corn, some maggots, and some expanders. The light wind was cool, and behind me.

At 10.30 I started at peg 3 on Cedar - chosen because my trolley's motor is not working and I didn't want to risk feeling ill pushing it back, at the end, to the car. I would have preferred Elm 9, which has a reputation for being a good Winter peg, but is a longer walk. So Cedar 3 would have to do - the platform is easily accessible, with no drop-down to it.

I start on a feeder
I don't do enough feedering, so I put up just my feeder rod at the start, fishing with hair-rigged corn on a banjo with micros, and gave myself an hour minimum. It took 50 minutes to get a bite, with the feeder cast right across to the far bank. That first fish was a 3 lb barbel. So knowing that barbel tend to prefer meaty baits (maggots or meat) to pellet and corn I changed to four red maggots...and promptly hooked a 5 lb carp!

A 3 lb barbel followed, followed by two more small barbel, and two or three F1s, best 3 lb, all taken right across, with the line in the clip. But when pleasure fishing I can't bring myself to just keep catching fish on one method, so I put my pole up, fishing it at 13 metres (which I where I would start in a Winter match here), with loose-fed 4mm expanders. It took 30 minutes to get a bite, but the first fish, on a 4mm expander, was a barbel around 5 lb.

Light elastic
I was deliberately using a lighter elastic than I would normally in a match - Preston black size 8 Slip, and the barbel really stretched it. Most of the top matchmen seem to favour light elastics - and I understand why; it makes it easier to get the pole back on the rollers to move it back so you can grab the top two. But although it seemed to take an age, at least I got the fish in, and  stayed with that elastic for several smaller barbel, a 3 lb carp, and two or three F1s, the light elastic working well for those smaller fish.

With 70 minutes to go, at 1.50 pm, I came into the side, with a bunch of four maggots, to target the barbel, which tend to hug the banks in the deepish water. The first three drops to my left, about four feet from the bank, saw me hook three barbel all around 5 lb, and land them (though I felt it was taking me too long). The fourth one, probably a foulhooked barbel, bottomed me out and broke me, so it was on to a strong bungee-type elastic (no idea what it was rated at).

What size elastic?
I confess I don't know what a lot of my elastics are - if they work I'll stay on them; if they don't, I change. The one I now chose was thick and red, and next drop down a fish was on within three seconds - another 5 lb barbel, which came in MUCH more quickly. Then, out of curiosity, I adjusted the depth from about five feet to half that and dropped in a foot in front of the platform. 

The result was two more 5 lb barbel in two drops, followed by two or three smaller ones and then some F1s. I was really  motoring at this point. and the fish were coming it really nicely without being bullied. The secret was to keep the pole over the top of the fish if I thought they were barbel, but to drop the pole tip into the water if they felt like F1s.

So close to the platform
Last fish, in less than two feet of water literally beside the platform, was another 5 lb barbel. It was now 3 o'clock, and Di had set packing-up time at 3 pm (the same time as a match would normally finish at this time of year). Two anglers on Oak packed up at the same time - one had been catching steadily on a feeder all the time I was there.

That last 70 minutes had seen me catch over 50 lb of fish, and I estimated I had caught 80 lb-plus in total, in four-and-a-half hours, including eight 5 lb barbel (with the first 50 minutes fishless). But I was more pleased by catching fish in three different swims, and not making any stupid mistakes.

Playing with the bait?
The barbel sometimes took the bait at the first attempt, but other times seemed to be playing about with it for a minute or more. I couldn't make up my mind whether they were having trouble getting it into their mouths, or whether they really were messing about.

My best Christmas present of 2020
I was wearing my new Muck boots for only the second time. Honestly, they make walking so much easier than normal Wellies - they are light, warm, and comfortable. The best Christmas present I had last year. I am intending to go back to Decoy tomorrow (Wednesday).

Update on Pidley

Went to Rookery Farm Fishery at Pidley last Wednesday, and fished the new Crow Lake, on the right just before you get to the car park. I dropped in Peg 1, although Alex said it might be better a bit farther down, but I really just wanted to get a feel for the lake.

The wind was horrendous, from the front right, and I finished with one carp about 8 oz...and I didn't know that was on until the wind blew my pole round parallel with the bank and the elastic stretched out! I gave it less than 3 hours before packing up.

Astro turf up to the lake edge.

Crow is straight, with about 25 pegs down one side only. It's about 30 yards across, with nice margins - about a foot deep in the side shelving down to two feet-plus, and then a drop-off at three pole sections down to about four feet. The 'platform' is Astro Turf (from Manchester United's training ground) placed on the bank, with metal piling in front. Much like Raven - very nice indeed.

You will be able to take your vehicle right to the peg once the bank has hardened after the recent heavy rainfall. Until then you can take your car to the peg, unload on the road, and return the car to the car park. the margins look nice, with a pile of earth dropped in roughly halfway between each platform which should make a good feature when the fish come into the side.

Nice looking margins.

 

The lake has been stocked with smallish carp from the stock ponds, plus 1000 lb of bigger carp taken from Magpie. The team have been busy putting small fish, including ide and barbel, into Jackdaw , and putting fish into the new Nutcracker lake, seven pegs but not yet open. In addition hundreds of roach from 4 oz to 8 oz, but with some up to 1 lb,  have been netted out of Magpie and put into Rook, where silver fish catches approaching 50 lb have been taken this year, and keepnets are being allowed in Winter.

The day after I fished 1000 lb of F1s were due to be placed into Magpie, while 1000 lb of F1s have already been put into Jay. In addition the road is being concreted in stages. Our cars will appreciate that! And Astro Turf is being laid all the way round Magpie, so no mud in the Winter! Things look bright for the future at Rookery.

The new concrete road being built.

PS. Still getting used to this lay-out now I have a new computer!