Probably the hardest 20 lb I've ever caught - Magpie, Pidley

 Peg 34, Sunday, June 13
When those smiling weather forecasters tell you that the maximum temperature is going to be 29 Degrees Centigrade they don't remind you that that's the temperature in the shade. The other afternoon I looked at the thermometer in my garden, in the sun, and it was registering the maximum figure on that device - 50! And that was the sort of temperature was had on Sunday on Magpie lake at Pidley.

Magpie is sheltered, so with the trees around the edge in full leaf there was precious little of the breeze which reached us, and frankly we all suffered, though some had a bit of relief in the shape of some shade from the trees. Not me, though. Peg 34 faces South and was in the blazing sun from start to finish. It can be a bit of a flier in Winter, when it affords some shelter from strong, bitter Northerly winds, but on this occasion I definitely needed the suncream Her Indoors had insisted I use.

The fishing was always going to be dire - the water looked dead, except for carp basking and drifting on the surface, looking like miniature sharks. In accordance with the club's instructions, given at the AGM a million years ago we each picked a peg to go into the bag. But with the fishery giving us pegs 1 to 20 and 28 to 34 for only 13 of us, there were going to be big gaps. That's how John Smith found himself on 20, with his nearest angler way round the bend on 13, and just Joe and I on the island, which has seven pegs on it.

Flat calm all day on Peg 34, which is roped off to stop other anglers encroaching into the swim.  The pegs opposite,
where Dennis Sambridge was sitting on Peg 13, offered some shade.

The fish are no mugs...
No matter - someone still had to win. I started trying to mug fish on maggot. Twenty minutes later, after having not a single fish show interest, and with Joe having had a fish on feeder and Dennis, opposite on 13 about 70 yards away having had a good fish on pole, I gave it best. Then a stroke of luck - I had left the mugging rig, baited with a 6mm expander, in the water on a top two while I considered my options. When I lifted it in there was a 1 lb F1 on the end. It had obviously taken the bait somewhere near the bottom, as I had a three-foot tail on it, in about four feet of water.

After that I concentrated on that top-two swim, and in the next 45 minutes three more one-pounders came in. After a long pause a bigger fish of about 2 lb also ended in my keepnet. Occasionally a light breeze passed by, otherwise the heat was stifling, and I renewed my sun cream halfway through the match and kept taking copious amount of drink from my frozen bottle of orange squash (heavily diluted).

Joe Bedford, who is about 90 and still strong as an ox, took
all his fish in the first 90 minutes or so.

Nothing at all in the margins
The rest of the match passed slowly, with one fish coming to a small cube of luncheon meat on my first drop into the left deep margin, about six feet out. There is a hole to the right, and I hooked one fish there only for it to come adrift. Another carp hooked itself as my rig fell through the water but this also came off. Three more small carp and a roach then came to maggot in the top-two swim. I never had a touch in the actual margin all day. The margins here are against the piling - I would have preferred a piece of real bank to fish against.

My maggots expire

I had purchased four pints of maggots from the shop and taken out a pint to keep on my tray, leaving the others in the shade under some bushes behind me. At this point the ones on my tray (which has a cover I closed down) were lively, and difficult to put on the hook, but when I checked the other three pints they were all dead. Killed by the heat. 

I had now seen Dennis, fishing long, land several more fish, and lose one or two, and I guessed he must have 50 lb-plus, which seemed to me to be very good.  He had shade from the trees behind him and suspected he was using his favourite worms. I had forgotten to bring mine, but they would not have lasted more than two hours on my peg, even shaded under my box

Half an hour left and I estimated I had 15 lb; at this point John Smith went past on the far bank, pushing his trolley (very slowly), having given up with just two fish in the net. The narrows, where he was pegged, were so sheltered he said he felt not a breath of wind there. Somewhere behind him the local cuckoo had been calling on and off all day. Good to hear him again - I missed him last summer. I hope he found a Mrs Cuckoo.

My meagre catch. The hat kept the sun from burning my ears.

A final flourish
At this point I put some groundbait, hemp and luncheon meat into the left deep margin and fished it hard for 20 minutes, without result. Ten minutes to go and I went back into the top-two swim, and first drop hit my best fish of the day which stretched my elastic a ridiculous amount, surfaced like a plunging crocodile, and threatened to wrap my rig round several of the poles which hold the ropes that enclose this swim.

But amazingly (that's how I felt) it ended in my landing net. A good bonus right at the end. Match over and I was melting, but at least not sunburned. The suncream had done its job.

The weigh-in
It was the fastest-ever weigh-in for Fenland rods. First to weight was Dennis, with 66 lb 7 oz taken, as I had guessed, on worm, at about 11.5 metres (top two plus five). No-one else had two nets and the weighers were round to the island in no time, just in time for me to snap Joe, who had four or five small fish very early on and nothing in the last four hours. Alan Golightly was second on 24 lb 7 oz, but I knew I couldn't beat that, and in fact totalled 20 lb 13 oz for third. I was very happy with that result in those conditions.

The lowest weights ever on a commercial for Fenland Rods.

Several of the anglers had really suffered in the heat and no doubt turned on the air conditioning in their cars and shot off as soon as they could. For me it was like fishing a 1960s Winter League in the heat! And it wasn't until I came to load up the van that I found that the heat had melted one of the handles away from my stink bag.

My next match is Thursday, at Decoy on Yew, by which time the weather is forecasted to break, with probably rain. But this excessive heat will have done the fish no good, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's another very difficult day. The weights may be bigger, as the fish are bigger, but I reckon it will still be a scratcher.  Hope I'm wrong.