Yew is the strip lake that holds the biggest carp, and fewer barbel, than Elm and Cedar, which is strange because Peter Band, who was at Decoy when the strip lakes were stocked, told me that the stocking for all four strips was the same. Anyway, I was hoping for fish approaching double-figures, and would have preferred 16, in the far corner, or 20 to 23, which have form.
BUT the thing about Decoy is that any match can be won from any peg - there's not a duff swim in the complex. And before the 18-entry Spratts match started Mick Linnell - former Peterborough, Fletton Ex-Service, and Oundle star - reminded me that a huge weight had been taken from Peg 30 (end peg next to the car park) sometime not long ago. I couldn't remember the details, but it rang a bell.
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| Cool water, bright sun, and not a ripple - hardly ideal but Decoy never fails to produce. |
So as always I sat there, in the sun with hardly a breath of wind, full of hope,when the match started, and I was still sitting there full of hope 90 minutes later with an empty net. I'd started on a feeder, then spent half an hour fishing shallow, and tried mugging a few fish as they came past, but never had a take. Opposite, Peter The Paste had landed what looked like a double-figure fish in the first few minutes, fishing about three pole sections out. Soon afterwards Peter landed another munter.
I then concentrated on the deep margin to my right with juts a liner or two, probably from fish swimming about just below the surface, as there were several of those. After that 90 fishless minutes I turned to my left, emptied in a good pot of pellets, hemp and corn, and stuck corn on the hook. The swim was quite deep - approaching five feet, which seemed deep compared to Peter's rig, which looked to be 18 inches shorter. But right against the reeds was a shallower spot a foot less, and I dropped in there. Within a minute or two I was attached to a fish.
Because I was using corn I assumed the fish was a carp, but it obviously wasn't. It made a beeline for my keepnets, and my top three, even with a strong 20-22 elastic, wasn't long enough to stop it diving in and snagging the net. Barbel 1 - Me 0.
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| John Smith shows a typical Yew carp in perfect condition. |
Half an hour later a 10 lb carp ended up in my net from the slightly deeper area to the left, and then a switch to the right margin brought one of about 5lb on corn. Nearly half the match gone and as I had to get off my box I wandered up to Mick on Peg 28. He said he had five decent fish. And I knew that Peter had had some more. I was not doing well.
The next hour saw me go out to 8.5 metres with corn and manage two carp about 7 lb, both of which fought as if they had had huge injections of testosterone, and one more from the left margin, also on corn. I was confident that mussel would tempt one of those big carp that were swirling occasionally in my swim, but it didn't happen, though I did get one bite which I missed, and found the bait gone.
Ninety minutes left and I potted in a big pot of dead maggots to my left margin and a big bunch tempted one more barbel, about 5 lb, which I managed to persuade to stay out in open water.
Finally I went out to 8.5 metres again, fishing with a 6mm expander on a size 14 Kaizan hook over 4mm hard pellet, some hemp, and a few loosed-fed expanders. This brought my best spell of the match, with three more fish approaching 8 lb each. But every one had to be teased into feeding by lifting a mere fraction or by dragging the rig to one side inch by inch. Yet again I had to feed after every fish and then also drip a few expanders in when I dropped the rig in.
Peter had again started hitting fish, but he told me afterwards that he had put in a third net with an hour to go, hooked five good fish...and lost every one!
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| Trevor lifts his net. Spratts club operate a 50 lb maximum net limit. Any more than that and a lot of us old codgers can't lift it... |
I was close to my van, but playing the last few fish had really played havoc with my back, and I felt a bit groggy for a short time. The problem may have been in the placing of my back rest - I think it may have been too high, rather than in the small of my back. Nevertheless I was able to get a picture or two of some of the anglers in the early pegs, including Trevor Cousins, who had mugged about 80 lb of his 92 lb 12 oz. He now led from Peter The Paste who had weighed 84 lb 3 oz.
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| ...and this was one of the fish in that net. Probably 14 lb. |
Local farmer Peter Harrison topped Trevor's weight with 115 lb 12 oz from Peg 21, and Bob Allen on 23 continued his run of good catches with 71 lb 11 oz, which was fourth at that point.
I hoped I MIGHT beat that, but my first five fish weighed 38 lb, and my last four 29 lb 3 oz for a total of 67 lb 3 oz and fifth place. That lost barbel might have cost me a place, and the annoying thing was that it was my fault I lost it! I think my swim was a little deeper than a lot of others - perhaps something to do with the aerator being nearby, and at the moment I suspect fish are tending to gravitate towards the shallower, warmer areas.
TWO MICKS....
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| Mick Ramm - we went to junior school together. |
...AND A SEAN
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| Sean Buddle - his first season with us. His father, Ellis, was a great inspiration to me personally. |
Next match Sunday on Cedar, pegs 14 to 26. I like that bank. and though Peg 26 would be my pick I'm confident if I fish hard and scrap around if things are difficult, I will catch fish from any peg. Decoy is like that - it rewards the hard worker.
1 Peter Spriggs 84 lb 3 oz 3rd
3 Joe Bedford 42 lb 11 oz
5 John Garner 61 lb 5 oz
7 Martin Parker 31 lb
8 John Smith 48 lb 9 oz
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