The sun had got his hat on - Elm, Decoy

Peg 10
What a marvellous feeling to have the sun on our faces, and to be able to leave the boots and umbrella in the car. But that didn't mean the fish went crazy on Elm; in fact the 11 anglers who fished this Fenland Rods match all struggled in the middle of the match.

It was a good start - Peg 10 for me, in the area we all fancied, though a friend had told me that a few days earlier he'd had an estimated 150 lb minimum from Peg 2, at the car park end. but with the surface very flat. a gentle North-Easterly, cold water and blazing sun I should have realised that conditions were not ideal. In my experience any wind with East in it can be a downer. No matter - the sun was shining!

Hot and almost windless. The right margin gave me a good finish on Peg 10.

A 12 lb fish first cast for Kevin
The hooter went (even I can hear that) and apparently literally seconds later Kevin Lee on peg 4 was playing a 12-pounder. Dave Garner, on Peg 1, wasn't far behind hitting his first fish. but at our end things were dire. I had five rigs ready - one for the deep margins (both were the same depth), one for a long swim, one for the shallow margin next to me, another for the shallow spot near the reeds to me left, and a heavy rig for cat meat. 

That 12-pounder gave Kevin Lee a fantastic start to
this match, and he ended up with a winning 109 lb 12 oz.

It must have been half an hour fishing expander over loose-fed expanders (hoping for F1s) before I eventually got a bite, on maggot over maggot and hemp right in the deep margin to my left. That was a 6 lb carp, and in the next 90 minutes I added two bream to 3 lb and a small F1.

 At one point I tried a 6mm expander dropped down near the platform, into about three feet depth, and hooked a very big fish which came off. I'm sure it was not foulhooked.

I've cracked it!
On my left on 11 Dennis Sambridge had a fish or two on a feeder at the start and then some on a top two plus one, but was starting to struggle, as was Alan Golightly on 9. In the next hour I managed to winkle a couple of F1s from the right margin, before starting a new swim out at 10 metres. That produced seven or eight carp around 4 lb or 5 lb. After the match Dennis said: "I thought you'd cracked it!" To be honest so did I, but...

A terrible mistake.
I got into the routine of putting out a pot of corn, 4mm hard pellet and hemp, taking a fish on corn at dead depth, and then re-baiting. So I thought it would probably work in the margins, where the fish were likely to be bigger. Accordingly I left the 10 metre swim and started inside. BIG mistake! I should have stayed out.

The margins did produce - but nothing like as fast as the longer swim, and the biggest fish was about 7 lb, and I lost several, of which I think only one was foulhooked.  Two or three were, I am sure, around double-figures, and one I played for a good five minutes and thought I was defintelt going to get it in before th hook pulled out. I had just one barbel, on a bunch of maggots. I didn't even have a bite on cat meat. 

Then came an hour without a fish and, desperate to make something happen, I tried a bait I'd been told about but never used - mussel. I've taken fish on cockles before, and a friend had told me he'd been catching at Decoy on mussel, so I bought some from Tesco.

Callum Judge totalled  81 lb 8 oz from Peg 8, two to my right.

Mussel works for me
More in hope than expectation I put on half a mussel, and fed the other half into the righthand margin, dropping the baited rig into the left margin, and leaving the other half time to sink. But I didn't get a bite. So I switched to the right margin, with the bait just touching bottom...and 20 seconds later was playing a 5 lb mirror.

That really gave me confidence, and in the next hour I took about six more on mussel from the right margin, all from 3 lb to 6 lb.  The bites were quite slow, and I missed some, and sometimes the bait was gone. I have to assume the fish were just picking the bait up and holding it. 

The last 20 minutes saw me get a few bites, but I missed them all. Then the match finished.

Alan on my right had had a terrible last half of the match, but I'd heard a lot of splashing from Bob Allen on peg 12. I estimated I had 36 lb in each net.

Kevin Lee took my picture and made me look almost human!
This was my first net - just 2 oz under the 50 lb limit...

The weigh in
I was packed away in time to see Kevin Lee weigh in 109 1b 12 oz, taken mainly on paste or cat meat. Dave Garner on 1 had weighed in 97 lb, and it looked as if I would be way down the list, especially when Mel Lutkin on 5 totalled 99 lb 3 oz. He'd taken several fish on a feeder, but I had promised myself a nice, easy day on the pole; clearly I should have had a feeder ready, and I intend to do so for the Spratts match Tuesday on Yew.

I'm lucky
Down to me, and I was quite unable to lift out my first net - it looked as if I might have gone over the 50 lb club limit. In fact I was lucky - 49 lb 14 oz! The second net weighed 40 lb - total 89 lb 14 oz. Then Rob Allen on 12 beat me with 98 lb 4 oz, almost all taken in his left margin. That left me in fifth spot.

Afterwards I realised I probably could have won. Just two of those several lost fish could have been the difference, and I should have tried a feeder during the blank spells. Then there was the problem of those annoying missed bites, and I thought that perhaps I should have waited another couple of seconds before striking. I'll certainly have mussel with me on Tuesday.

A very tight finish, with three weights between 99 lb 3 oz and 97 lb 6 oz.