Sex during the match not good for me - Six-Island, Decoy

 Peg 22, Sunday, May 30th
As soon as we all drove onto the Six-Island car park for John Garner's Invitation match we could see what was going on - the water was swirling and splashing in the margins, and tails and fins charging about and waving at us. Worst of all they were largely around peg 22, which I didn't fancy in the first place!

Bob Allen made the draw for all of us, and John Garner recorded it all.

And a lovely-looking right margin!!

Excuses out of the way, I am reliably informed that things were the same in lots of places around the lake. But the end result was that I didn't catch a lot...but I did see thousands of big carp during the day. many of which I could have scooped up in my landing net. The spectacle was awesome at times - Dick Warrener on Peg 20 pointed out to me a spot where he said the bank was undercut just to my left, and sure enough, during the day I witnessed carp nudging each other up to the spot and completely disappearing into the darkness.

Lovely-looking left margin for me.

I suffer
The reason I suffered was that my margins - beautiful as they looked - were very shallow, and in the early-morning sun. And the spawning went on, non-stop, until 3 o'clock, one hour before we finished. Clearly I couldn't - daren't - fish the margins, so started on the feeder, with no result - not even a liner. Then out on the pole to nine metres, with the same result. Then out to an island on my left at 14 metres, where the fish had not been spawning. Unbelievably within five minutes of me dropping a rig beside the reeds there fish started holding a side-orgy. I persevered, but didn't get even a liner, and it was awkward as the bank at the back here is close and high.

Dick, to my right on 20, fished a brilliant match in the heat.

After nearly three hours Dick, on my right, had started catching the odd fish by fishing his margins with cat meat. but I couldn't possibly do that yet; I would have foulhooked fish within seconds. Beyond him Tim Bates on 19 had started long but reverted to his margins after an hour, and was catching steadily on maggot. He told me today that to his left the margin was deeper, and the fish were not spawning there. And that was the key - you needed deep margins.

Fish on...Fish off
To cut a long, boring, story short I eventually tried a small worm a little away from the margin, hoping that some of the carp coming in were looking for spawn to eat...and first drop, within seconds, I hooked a big carp. It came to the surface, was clearly hooked in the mouth, and promptly came off. In the next 20 minutes, still using worm, I hooked two more and landed them - both foulhooked - for a total of 5 lb. A switch to the deeper margin on the right brought a five-pounder on cat meat.

Kev Beavis was the first I saw weigh. Great to 
see him again after a year! His weight was 63 lb 7 oz.

Much later first drop with a bunch of dead maggots brought another, then corn to the left well away from the margin, brought one or two more, and in the last hour a couple more came on a top two in the deeper water. I finished with  about nine fish for 41 lb 10 oz, so I must have caught a couple more somewhere, but can't remember when or where!  It was that enthralling. 

The margins didn't produce even when the fish had gone, though at the end when I dumped a very small amount of left-over bait in the side there were fish there within less than a minute. I reckon they knew the match had finished.

Maggots win
To my left, round the corner, Kevin Lee had also struggled for the first four-and-a-half hours, but then found fish on cat meat to his left in deepish water (three feet) next to a small bush. He was one of 13 to beat me.

Tim Bates won with 147 lb 4 oz and was overweight in two nets, He used five pints of maggots and fished with a bunch on the hook. He said that he watched the cruising fish dive down for the bait when he put in his rig.

The winner! Tim Bates, with 147 lb 4 oz, mainly taken on maggot.
One net weighed 59 lb 4 oz...12 oz more and it would have been disqualified.

My thoughts
Looking back I actually was quite proud of the fact that I caught any fish at all in the circumstances. It's the only time I've ever been frightened of hooking fish - when you see fifteen-pounders cruising at speed and charged up with testosterone looking for ladies, you really do not want to fish foulhooking them. And the fish were constantly spawning, until 3 o'clock, between the platform to my right and the platform to my left. I think I was lucky to get away without any breakages. C'est la vie.

Kev Lee with a beautiful common.

RESULT

2 Joe Bedford                DNW

3 James Garner               97 lb 15 oz    2nd

4 Mick Rawson               46 lb

6 Wendy Bedford            12 lb 9 oz

7 Bob Allen                    79 lb 9 oz

8 Roland Butcher          58 lb 15 oz

9 Dennis Sambridge      51 lb 12 oz

10 Dave Garner              97 lb 8 oz       3rd 

11 John Garner               20 lb 5 oz

12 Peter Spriggs             43 lb 4 oz 

13 Bob Barrett                DNW  

14 Mel Lutkin                 38 lb 10 oz

15 Allan Golightly          87 lb 7 oz

                                                      17 Andy Skeels               30 lb 10 oz

18 Kevin Beavis            63 lb 7 oz

19 Tim Bates                147 lb 4 oz           1st

20 Dick Warrener            96 lb 14 oz        5th

22 Mac Campbell            41 lb 10 oz

24 Kevin Lee                97 lb 6 oz            4th

25 Callum Judge            33 lb 15 oz

Next match tomorrow (Tuesday) on Oak and hopefully things will have calmed down.