Plenty of fish for me - and a mystery

Peg 17, Elm Lake, Decoy, Wednesday, May 26
 On Tuesday I nipped into The Works in Huntingdon. The sign says: "Everything must go." But that sign has been saying that for years. Anyway, I bought one of those popular paperbacks 'Unsolved Enigmas' - The Abominable Snowman, Mystery of the Marie Celeste, is Hitler still alive? etc etc. Little did I think that next day I would witness one for myself!

The invitation match run by Wendy Bedford on Elm lake at Decoy had 20 entries; 20 had paid Wendy their pools money; but only 19 lined up for the draw. Someone was missing. A check found that it was John Whitlock. I'd never heard of him, and neither had Wendy - she assumed it was a friend of another invitee.

I checked the car park and the shop - no John Whitlock. It then transpired that none of the anglers in our match seemed to have heard of him; yet Wendy remembered him paying. He never turned up. Where is he?

Mel makes the draw, and Callum records it.

The only explanation is that either a spaceship landed in the Decoy car park, unnoticed, and whisked him away; or that he's still stumbling aimlessly about in the wilds of Fenland searching desperately for the draw. Either way, we put our priorities first of course and had the draw and fished the match. All of us. And a good time was had by all...except John Whitlock!

The match
Mel drew peg 17 for me - facing the cool wind with  the probability of rain later. I would have preferred the opposite bank because of that, but when I got to my swim there was a pleasant surprise - a nice looking lefthand margin. It was deep, and ran under an overhanging bush. To the right the bank had collapsed and the margins were much shallower and bumpier, but I found a couple of flat areas four or five feet from the bank. With two very different margin swims I was very happy that one of them would produce at some time in the match.

My swim at the start. Luckily the rain wasn't heavy, but the facing wind  became very cold at times.

The start (and my plans altered again)
I had intended to start on a feeder, but that lefthand margin drew me, like the previous match. I put in a rig with a piece of cat meat - no loose feed at all. I dropped it in several spots, and got several little knocks that I thought were probably roach, and several real dive-away bites, all of which I missed. I was pretty sure they were liners.

A change to my lighter rig with corn saw a roach hooked, and promptly dropped. That settled it - I went over to a feeder, intending to go back later in the match, certain that there were carp or barbel under that bush. Ten minutes after I had cast out the banjo with a washed-out wafter I hooked my first fish - a 6 lb carp. Next cast came a 2 lb bream. But then I saw a couple of carp come into the right margin, apparently sucking algae off some snags in the side. I'd also seen Dennis on the opposite bank hook a fish on pole, while Dick, to my left behind a big bush, appeared to be landing a good fish, with some splashing. So I went on the pole myself.

It was good to see Ken Wade, who has done
so much for local anglers over the years.

A big carp from the right
First drop in the right margin, about five feet out, saw me hook a fish which  came off after a minute, definitely foulhooked. Next drop, and a mirror carp shot off with my bait, eventually finishing up in my net - all 15 lb of it!

 A couple more slightly smaller carp came from the same spot but then bites tailed off. A switch to corn saw another one or two, around 8 lb, and another foulhooked and lost, and then a move closer to the bank , still with corn, brought another three or four, all a good size. This Middy float was shorter, with a slightly thicker top than my favorite Drennan Tuff Eye, so I could drag it along the bottom to get a bite. But it was fishing into the wind, so still not ideal. Out of the blue just one barbel took the corn.

Big fish were still coming in to the bank, but I'm pretty sure they weren't dropping down to where I was putting in corn. I think my fish were coming up the slope, which made me realise afterwards that I probably should have dropped down into the deeper water when bites tailed off.

Sun, rain, and cold

Two hours gone, and now the rain started, but it was only light and spasmodic, so I think we actually got off pretty lightly with the weather. When the sun came out it was very pleasant, but Alan Porter, to my right, told me that at times his arms were shaking with cold.

Peter Harrison with one of several barbel from Peg 14.

I had put in three pots of 6mm pellet, hemp and a few grains of corn out at top-two-plus-three since the start, but a move out there saw me get just one bite which I missed.  Remembering that on Cedar on Saturday the biggest fish had come from the margins, I decided to come back in. The wind was now very cool again and, after another long look in the righthand margin for just one or two carp, I had a look to the left. There were just over two hours left and I had an estimated 42 lb in the first net and 32 in the second. Then Callum, opposite, put in a third net,

A purple patch
First drop in to the left with corn and a 10 lb carp took it. That enabled me to put out my third net. And for the next hour I hit fish after fish. Understand that it wasn't frantic - I would put in about a quarter of a large pot of hemp and pellet with a few grains of corn, wait a minute or two, as my back was starting to hurt from playing the fish, and follow it up with my rig and corn, trickling in just four or five grains (no more) to excite the fish which were looking for my previous offering.

What a gorgeous-looking margin swim to my left.

Sometimes I had a cup of soup while I waited. The result was that I steadily added half-a-dozen fish - all carp from 6 lb to 10 lb - without losing any, and put in a fourth net with 30 minutes left. I had a look with cat meat at one time, dragged in to the bottom of the shelf, only a foot out, but the result was a foulhooked barbel, so I abandoned that and changed back to corn in an effort to target the carp. 

Alan Porter to my right was fishing towards me in the shallowish margin, and catching fish, but I decided not to change to fish towards him as I was pretty certain he wasn't catching as fast as I was.

A couple more fish approaching 10 lb each went into the fourth net, and then two smaller ones of 2 lb and 3 lb, before the match ended. I noticed that Callum hadn't put in a fourth net.

A great feeling afterwards
 I had had lots of liners to the left, but using my special method at times had enabled me to cut foulhookers down to a minimum. That was very pleasing. And I had managed to really get into "the zone " for that last two hours, which  is perhaps the ultimate feeling a match fisherman can get.

Callum finished 

The weigh in
I joined the scales partway down the opposite bank to see that Trevor was leading with 98 lb, and that stayed in front down to Gary Holmes, who I had not seen for years, on 11. Both his nets were well over the 50 lb limit we were fishing to, so he totalled 100 lb, having dropped 11 lb. He must have been on tenterhooks wondering whether that would have cost him a place.

Round to our bank and Alan Porter, on 16 next to me, weighed in 96 lb 11 oz, and I managed 165 lb 2 oz, despite having gone over in two nets! But since no-one else had more than three nets in I knew I must have won. 

Ken Wade, former Peterborough AA captain and tackle shop owner, fished on Peg 19 and was fifth with 90 lb 14 oz., with Callum sixth on 89 lb 13 oz, having had a terrible last hour or two.

So my first win of the year, and the £80 winnings will pay for a good few tins of hemp!

RESULT

East Bank                                                    West Bank

23 Dave Garner              76 lb 3 oz                   2 Andy (Joe's b-in-law)    47 lb 1 oz
22 Wendy Bedford         63 lb 14 oz                 3 Trevor Cousins              98 lb            3rd
21 Mick Ramm              36 lb 6 oz                   5 Shaun Buddle                81 lb 13 oz

20 Joe Bedford               37 lb 11 oz                 8 Mick Rawson                DNW

19 Ken Wade                  90 lb 14 oz                 9 Callum Judge                89 lb 13 oz
18 Dick Warrener           50 lb                           10 Dennis Sambridge       62 lb 4 oz
17 Mac Campbell         165 lb 2 oz        1st      11 Gary Holmes              100 lb         2nd
16 Alan Porter                96 lb 11 oz       4th     12 Allan Golightly            18 lb 3 oz
15 Mel Lutkin                  55 lb 5 oz                 
14 Peter Harrison             49 lb 15 oz
13 John Garner                54 lb 7 oz            

Next match is the John Garner Invitation, also on Decoy, on Six-Island, on Sunday. The forecast is for warmer weather and I hope for Peg 9, whatever the wind direction, but will be happy wherever I get drawn. I just hope no-one in our party gets spirited away on a spaceship.