I fall a little short - Damson, Lake, Decoy

 Peg 12, Thursday, July 29
Seventeen of us fished this Spratts match, and I think one early error probably cost me at last a frame place. The stiff, cool wind was pretty much into our face on the East bank, and I set up a 1gm rig for the deep water, at seven feet deep; and  a 0.5 gm rig for the far edge of the margin, which is about four feet deep. But for the near margin, which was over two feet (it used to be less) I started on a titchy little float which, in the very strong wind, was tending to get blown about.

Of course I should have had a much heavier rig, to control it in the very strong gusts. Even so I had a fish on a 4mm expander within a minute of starting, and another soon after - both under 1 lb. To my left Alan Porter started like a train, and within 30 or 40 minutes must have had 12 lb or 15 lb. Also, unbeknown to me, on the pegs to his left - roughly 1 to 10 - several of those fishing the pole had a real bonanza, with some of them having 30 lb-plus in the first 60 or 90 minutes.

My peg 12, next to the corner. Peter Harrison on 17 was somewhere
in the bushes over there on the righthand bank.

I couldn't see the anglers from pegs 1 to 10 though, and took my cue from the three I could easily see - Alan, Trevor on 14, on the bank to my right, and Bob on 15 next to him. Bob had a fish on a feeder within seconds of the start, and I wondered whether I should change when the fish in my swim quickly completely deserted me. He was catching just by dropping his Method feeder with a banded hard pellet down into the deep water right on the end of his rod. He said later: "I must have been hitting them on the head" as he was hooking fish within seconds of dropping it in.

Bob Barrett took all his fish on a feeder dropped
in the deep water level with his rod tip!

A terrible start for me
But I just couldn't get it right, and after two hours I had possibly 6 lb of small fish, though by this time Alan to my left had stopped catching and was on a feeder. To my right, in the corner, my National Veterans travelling companion Martin Parker had a few fish splashing in his swim on their way to his waiting landing net, but although I couldn't see what he was doing, I suspected he hadn't got a lot; and Trevor Cousins certainly wasn't bagging. But my mind seemed to be frozen.

Eventually I made the correct move to the deeper water, with corn, which seemed to me to be more positive than an expander, and after about 15 minutes I managed a 2 lb carp In the next half hour I added a four-pounder and a couple of smaller ones. I had been flicking corn into my margin swims and at this point I had a quick look - using the 0,5 gm rig (which I should have started on), and was surprised to get a fish immediately

Shaun Buddle weighed 55 lb 8 oz for sixth spot. 
Recently he showed me a letter I had written to him in
the 1970s when I organised a practice for the Wisbech
Junior National team. 

A good spell in the margins
From then on I concentrated on feeding half-a-dozen grains of corn with a pole pot, alternating from side to side in the margins, and slowly started to put a weight together. In the lulls I went out to the deep water and took an occasional fish there. I lost a couple of really good fish, one of them after playing it for several minutes when it snagged my keepnet. With 90 minutes left, and with Bob and Trevor now seeming to be struggling, I had about 35 lb.

But in that last 90 minutes I managed only half-a-dozen two-pounders, while Martin on my right started taking good fish from his deep swim. Try as I might, I just could not hit a fish, though I had lots of bites. Sometimes I struck (gently) and the corn was gone - a sure sign I had had a proper bite. On many occasions I felt a fish as I struck, but it wasn't a normal 'prick', more a soft feeling of something on the end, so I must assume the fish were holding the corn in their lips. I got on a little better when I picked out the smaller grains to put on the hook. Very strange.

I tried cat meat, convinced that they would take a stationary bait, as Martin was now using paste, but I never had a touch. I had a special home-made paste with me, but never though to try it. How stupid was that?

Alan Porter, hidden in the reeds, nets a fish on the Method.

The weigh in
First name out at the draw had been Peter (The Paste) Spriggs, one of the best anglers there; and the peg drawn for him elicited a groan from the rest of us - Peg 1. It has form and today was sheltered by the high bank opposite - though Peter said afterwards that he best spell came when there was a little ripple on the surface. That contrasted with most of the rest of us, who had a very big ripple all day!

Peter was first to weigh - a winning 109 lb 3 oz on paste, with 50 lb of that in the first 90 minutes or so. After that the weights tended to be up to 50 lb, with Bob Allen on 9 best on 56 lb 8 oz, just pipped by Shaun Buddle with 55 lb 8 oz.

Martin Parker unhooks a near-3 lb carp on corner peg 13.

I managed 49 lb 7 oz and was fourth at that point. But Martin's late run pulled him up to 59 lb 9 oz, and on the end bank  Bob Barrett  with 65 lb 13 oz and Peter Harrison, on the far corner on 72 lb 10 oz took third and second places respectively. And Peter was 8 lb over our club limit of 50 lb in one net!

I wish I had used my brain
So after all that I finished seventh, and felt that even though the early pegs tend to be favourite I should have been able to catch at least 60 lb. I base that on the fact that I was catching in the margins in the afternoon when hardly anyone else could do that. In fact Alan on my left, who had started so well, weighed in only 27lb. If only I had managed to hit fish in that first hour, when most of the others were bagging. If only I had used my noddle and got out a heavier margin rig! If only...

Peter Harrison, second on corner peg 17 with 72 lb 10 oz.

Next match is the Fenland Rods Handicap on Willows at Decoy on Sunday. The field is down to just eight, and I am the highest handicap (having been runner-up in last year's overall championship) with just plus 10%. Actually Peter Spriggs wasn't a full member last year, so I think he will start from scratch.

Other anglers have from plus 20% to plus 100%. So the winner could come from well down the list, which is what the system is designed to do.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOE

It was Joe Bedford's birthday on the day of the match, and fitting that he took
what was probably the biggest fish landed on the day. PS. He was ninety-one!

THE RESULT

1 Peter The Paste            109 lb 3 oz        1st
2 Wendy Bedford             36 lb 2 oz
3 Mick Ramm                  32 lb 4 oz
4 Mick Linnell                 47 lb 11 oz
5 Peter Barnes                  13 lb 5 oz
6 John Smith                    41 lb 14 oz
7 Mick Rawson                14 lb 1 oz
8 Shaun Buddle                55 lb 8 oz
9 Bob Allen                      56 lb 8 oz        5th
10 Joe Bedford                42 lb 4 oz
11 Alan Porter                 27 lb
12 Mac Campbell            49 lb 7 oz
13 Martin Parker             59 lb 9 oz          4th
14 Trevor Cousins           35 lb 11 oz    
15 Bob Barrett                 65 lb 13 oz        3rd
16 John Garner                14 lb 4 oz
17 Peter Harrison            72 lb 10 oz         2nd

A nice 'new', comfortable water - Crow, Pidley

 Peg 16, Saturday, July 24
I should have written this yesterday, but instead I watched the Fish O' final I had recorded. Too much talking by the presenters, not enough detail on the fishing (so far as I could make out - no subtitles were available), but a great performance by Harry Bignell, who found a shallower bar at 14 metres and ended with 80-plus kilos, That's 176 lb in real money. In five hours. Under £50,000 worth of pressure..

Overcast, not cold, and a good wave - ideal conditions on Crow Lake.

A pity I couldn't match that on the Saturday, when I was walloped by the two anglers on my right. I can't blame the peg - it looks to be a very fair strip lake, and every position (they are not platforms) is covered in astra turf. Eleven of us fished, the first time we had been on this lake.

Peter The Paste - second from Peg 12 using meat or paste.

I was told by people who knew, to feeder on the far bank, in the shallow water, which I did, for 45 minutes, during which time I ended with three fish on a banded pellet for a little over 1 lb. Meanwhile Kev on my right had had a fish or two on a pole and cat meat or paste at two-plus-one. So I felt I had to change. It was roughly five feet deep on this line, and that continued right the way out to the middle. I had a rig for a swim towards the middle but stupidly didn't ever use it. The wind was strong, left to right, but I could certainly have held it at 10 metres.

Anyway, my look down at 2+1, which I had been priming with pellets, by hand, brought immediate fish on an expander, but they were all small, while Kevin had now caught some bigger fish that looked to be 3 lb-plus. I carried on with the smaller fish, mainly under 1 lb, then changed to small cubes of luncheon meat, and managed to snare about three of 2 lb-plus. But after about four hours I had managed about 40  or 50 fish for perhaps 35 lb, all carp except for a small bream. I tried cat meat in that swim for some time, but never had a touch.

Kevin Lee - winner two swims to my right.

Interestingly, using the smaller baits my best spells came when I managed to get the bait to trip along bottom, very slowly, into the wind - there was a good undertow some of the time, though unaccountably it disappeared from time to time.

With 90 minutes left and 40 lb-plus in the first net I put some hemp and luncheon meat into the margins, which was no more than a foot deep, gradually  dropping to about three feet on the top of the drop-off. Minutes later big fish came swirling in, waving their tails at me, but as so often in very shallow water they didn't take my bait properly. It took ages before a five-pounder grabbed my cat meat, laid on about six inches. 

I managed just four more, all around the same size, and all five went into my second net and weighed 24 lb. My total was 66 lb 15 oz, dwarfed by Kevin on 117 lb 3 oz, all taken at 2+1, and Peter The Paste to his right, who totalled 110 lb 15 oz on the same line.  I ended fifth out of 11. 

My last five fish, from the margins,  weighed 24 lb.

What I should have done
I should have had a look farther out, and also put the margin bait out into slightly deeper water - two feet would have been fine. Fish seem to take the bait better in that depth of water than in 12 inches. And the difference between the top two and me was that they waited with the bigger baits, while I was getting many more bites, but from smaller fish. But I did enjoy it.

The good news is that, as I had expected, the anglers loved the lake - good banks, fair fishing, lots of bites, some good carp, no mud, and easy parking.

Joe Bedford is in his nineties, and still catching fish.

THE RESULT

The wind was blowing from the high numbers down to the lower
pegs. But I doubt if that affected the result. The best anglers took the top places!

Next match is Thursday on Damson at Decoy, where there may be fish in the margin to start with, but you can bet your boots that they will disappear in the first half of the match, and probably in the first hour. So my memo to self is: Don't waste time in the margins - go out to the deep water (it's seven feet deep on a top two) early rather than late.

The Olympics have inspired some of us - Elm, Decoy

 Peg 12, Wednesday, July 21

I think it's wonderful how the Olympics give most of us a real buzz, inspiring some of us to dream of what might have been, and what we might still achieve. Clearly that challenge has been taken up by Terry Tribe who, obviously inspired by diver Tom Daley, tried to emulate his hero by practicing his technique before this match.

Unfortunately it was not witnessed by the other 15 of us, but I understand that he successfully completed the difficult belly-flop (with tuck and stumble), which also had the added advantage of enabling him to check out his margins before the match started. He can now confirm that the margins on Peg 10 come up to somewhere between his waist and his chest.

Terry - before he had delusions of Olympic grandeur.

Unfortunately it's easier to dive in than to dive out again, and it took three or four strong men (or rather two or three strong men and me) to help Terry back onto the bank. It was ungainly, and he ended up looking like a seal, flopping about on his front, but the ultimate aim was achieved, though his spectacles possibly now adorn a very surprised carp, who should be able to see our baits more clearly in the future.

To his eternal credit Terry, who is not in the best of health, was mentally strong enough to insist on staying, after wringing out his shirt, drying his mobile, and going back to his van for a rub-down before coming back to his peg and fishing the match. He very nearly framed, as well.

The match

Mac C - Peg 12. At last, I peg I would have picked myself

After that, everything else was a bit of an anti-climax. I was very happy to be awarded corner Peg 12, as I vaguely remember catching fish off it in the distant past, and remember others doing well. However, recently it has not produced winning weights in our matches, and when I got to the swim I could see it has changed a bit.

Peg 12 before the start - flat calm.

There's an overhanging tree to the right which I could touch with a top two without stretching, and the six feet of bank there offered no close-in flat areas, but was higgledy-piggledy. The left margin was even worse - not only was it now very uneven down to the end bank, but plumbing up told me it was soft, silty, and probably snaggy, with the first area of hard level ground a good ten feet out. So no obvious hot spots.

Mugging was a disaster
I started out on a top three, on a nice level section about five feet deep, in front of the drainage pipes on my left, but got no offers. I had a shallow banded pellet rig handy to try to mug the fish which kept drifting around, sunning themselves in the baking sun, but they all shied away from the bait. I could see no-one else on my bank, but the three anglers I could see opposite all seemed to be struggling at this time.

Trevor, who so often dominates these matches,
struggled, managing to mug two early fish for
17 lb, but weighed in just 44 lb 7 oz.

I have a cunning plan

Eventually I had a 4 lb carp which took a 4mm expander on the drop. Then, after about 90 minutes I wandered up to Terry, to my right, to see whether he had caught anything to see how he was. He said he had caught a barbel. That decided me on my next cunning plan - dead maggots put in the side, which would hopefully roll down to where the barbel were waiting. They went in next to my platform, because I had found a tiny little hole there. At this point a nice breeze blew across the lake, right into our bank and overall it was very pleasant.

I had a definite touch next to the platform on a bunch of four maggots, but nothing else, so I put some more in towards the overhanging bush. After a long time there I fancied I had another touch so, with my options gradually diminishing, I pushed the rig right under the bush. The float settled a little lower, and that made me plumb up properly under the bush. I found it was several inches deeper there.

The bush produces!
So I increased the depth, potted more maggots and hemp in, and reduced the distance between pole tip and float to about three inches, to allow some sort of strike upwards. Amazingly this worked, and I quickly had a 5 lb common. After that I concentrated there, but kept putting in bait on my longer three-section line, which paid dividends when, during a slow spell under the bush, I went out to it with a piece of corn and nabbed an 8 lb mirror.

Terry Tribe nearly managed to frame after his early
bath. Frankly I think he deserved a medal.

The fish under the bush were all big - between 5 lb and 10 lb - and I had about eight, plus three fish towards the end in the hole next to the platform on cat meat. But I missed several bites under the bush because of the difficulty of striking, and though I tried to avoid striking at liners I lost a few fish, some of which were definitely foulhooked. About three were hooked on the outside of the mouth, telling me that the fish were not feeding properly. I kept moving the shots around, and overall it seemed best if the bait had at least a two-foot natural fall.

Sport slowed up in the last hour, which at least enabled me to wet my third net with two final fish from the platform swim, but I was really  disappointed because I imagined some of the others piling fish into their nets, as so often happens late in a match. I estimated I had 12 lb in that last net, possibly 40 lb in the second net and at least 40 lb in the first, so I admitted to 90 lb-ish. And not a single barbel.

The weigh-in
I love Spratts matches, because Trevor takes his time before starting the weigh-in, and this meant that I had managed to pack up my stuff, load up the van, and miss only the first few weighing in. Peter Spriggs was top with 97 lb 5 oz from Peg 6 when I joined, so it appeared I would not win. Shaun Buddle on 7 was next best with 68 lb 10 oz. I noted, with some envy, that they both had what looked like attractive margins - shallow areas running along to deep water against reeds, offering a choice.

Martin Parker brings his catch to the scales. The ripples on
the water were from the nearby aerator. 

Down to Terry, who managed to nab 59 lb 3 oz after his attempt at Olympic fame, and I was next. My first net went 14 lb something, then 38 lb something, then 46 lb 8 oz - total 90 lb.

We re-calculate my weight
Round to the opposite bank, while I laid out my nets to dry, and for some reason as I wandered round i mentally added my weights together. I was knackered, as always after a match, but something was not right, and of course a quick re-calculation on the board  revealed that the total was, in fact, 100 lb.

I was very surprised that my weight was not beaten on that opposite bank, and that the top four weights - including Wendy's 65 lb 9 oz, all on a feeder - came from our East-facing bank. perhaps the facing breeze had helped us. So I won, and Peter The Paste was left wishing that I had managed to get that weight on the previous Sunday, when we were partners in the Fenland Rods Pairs match.

Martin's hard-won 33 lb 12 oz from end Peg 24.

Conclusions
I was lucky to find that hole under the bush, because it began to look as if I would be really struggling. It really is a lesson to plumb up absolutely everywhere. and it has confirmed the value of maggots when things are difficult, as you can vary the size of bait - even down to a single maggot if necessary. And after Sunday's disappointing performance it has given me more confidence - I can catch fish!

Martin and I would normally have been fishing the Veteran's national on this day, but it's a fair drive up to Lindholme, which we think, from previous visits,  is much 'peggier' than Decoy. Last year's match on Decoy was cancelled, even though some Fish O'  Mania matches were held before that date. Will it ever be arranged here again? I do hope so, as it's such a fair venue.

Next match Saturday on the new Crow lake at Pidley, which I have fished just once, for about an hour. It was in a raging gale last year and resulted in just one 1 lb F1, which I didn't know was on. It's a wide 25-peg  strip lake (about 30 yards wide) designed to give waggler and feeder anglers more chance than a narrower pole-dominated water. The fish are a mixture of new F1s and older carp, mainly to 6 lb, from other lakes on the complex.

You can drive up to your peg on Crow, and with astra-turf to put your box on there will be no mud, no matter how hard it rains. The young local genius matchman Tom Edwards is featured fishing it in the latest Improve Your Coarse Fishing.

THE RESULT

24 Martin Parker        33 lb 12 oz             1 Peter Chilblain         30 lb 6 oz
22 Trevor Cousins       44 lb 7 oz              3 Mick Ramm            39 lb 2 oz
21 Bob Barrett            63 lb 3 oz     5th    4 Wendy Bedford        65 lb 9 oz      4th
19 Alan Porter            DNW                      6 Peter The Paste        97 lb 5 oz      2nd

18 John Garner            52 lb 10 oz            7 Shaun Buddle          68 lb 10 oz       3rd

16 Mick Rawson        18 lb 14 oz             9 Peter Barnes           38 lb 10 oz

15 Joe Bedford           50 lb                      10 Terry Tribe             59 lb 3 oz

13 Bob Allen               30 lb 8 oz             12 Mac Campbell        100 lb              1st

Disappointment in an oven - Six-Island, Decoy

 Peg 10, Sunday, July 18
Two days ago, and I've been fretting over the fact that I almost - almost -  helped my partner to win the Pairs event; but one man's disappointment is another's delight. In this case there were four others who benefitted.

Ten of us fished as five pairs, with Peter the Paste on peg 1. He was lucky enough to have the Golden Peg drawn for him and unlucky enough to have me as a partner. We fished two sections of five, with points counting, and weight in the event of a tie.

My corner swim 10. Most fish came from the reeds near the overhanging bush.

My corner Peg 10 has produced some big weights in the past, with Dave Garner (on Peg 13) having about 175 lb the last time he fished it. The aerators were left on all day so when I started out at 11 metres with an expander the rig flowed beautifully, just like the Trent used to. But, incredibly, I didn't  get a bite. An hour like that, and as I had seen Alan, opposite on 9, and Kevin, to my left on 11, each get a fish in the margins, I dropped into my left margin, where I had been feeding live maggots.

Just one fish from the margin
Eventually the roach moved in, and with three or four in the net I carried on hoping the carp would move in, but they didn't. I then dropped in there with cat meat. But still nothing came. So while I pondered on my next move I dropped the rig close to the platform, on a top two,  and within seconds the float zoomed under; missed. Eventually, after I had put in some meat and hemp, a 5 lb carp came to the net; but no more. It seemed to be fairly slow all round so far as I could see.

So it was out to the reeds at 10 metres to my right, with my favourite 0.5 gm Drennan Tuff Eye float and a strong elastic to keep fish out of the reeds, and in the next couple of hours I managed to connect with several carp, from 1 lb to about 8 lb, all on corn and feeding just a few grains at a time with a cad pot. By now the sun was boiling hot, but my umbrella shielded me from the worst of it. Those opposite, though, now had it plumb in their faces.

Kevin was to my left, but I couldn't easily
see what he was catching. Most of his fish
came from the margins

Lost fish cost me
Two or three big fish, and some smaller ones, which I am sure were all properly hooked, came off, which cost me dear in the end. Strangely the fish up to 3 lb took me longer to net than the bigger ones. It was slow, but steady, and I couldn't see Alan, opposite, catching at all.

I had decided to keep putting fish in the net, but at 3 o'clock I had a small roach. With about 45 lb in the nets that was the signal I needed to move into the left margin again. The fish came in readily when I fed, but liners were a nuisance, though I managed five hooked properly, which added about 25 lb to my weight. Then there was a lull and with two minutes left I hooked my last fish - only for it to come off and leave me with a scale - the only one I believe I foulhooked.

My mistake was not to have fed the right margin at the same time. If I had I am sure I could have swapped over instead of having to wait until the fish came back into my left hand swim.

Dave Garner - second with 96 lb, all taken
on a waggler, mainly in the margins.

The weigh in
Peter, my partner, won his section handsomely with 150 lb 15 oz, and I was first to weigh in my section - 77 lb 8 oz.  Kevin, who I had seen net some fish towards the end, beat me (by about 5 lb), as did Dave on 13 who had 96 lb for second overall. Then Dick weighed in his first net at 42 lb, and needed about 35 lb to beat me. It was going to be close...and the scales eventually showed just over 36 lb. He beat me by 1 lb 4 oz, and I came fourth in section.

The result
It was close - Kevin and Callum totalled four points with 171 lb 10 oz to win, with Dave and John Smith, our secretary/chairman also on four points with 169 lb 1 oz. My partner Peter told me had had almost 50 lb in the first hour, then a slow middle match, and a bumper session towards the end. And I didn't feel quite so bad about losing a few when he told me he had lost more fish than he had put in the net...

Most fish seemed to have come from the margin, which made me think that perhaps I should have been ready to have some quick looks there earlier. But when you're putting fish in the net it's difficult to work out how long to spend looking elsewhere.

HORRIFIED
When I looked at the overall result I was horrified to see that if I had caught just 1 lb 5 oz more I would have had three points, and Peter and I would have won with four points but a greater total weight. So apologies to him (but since he picked up the £100 Golden Peg money perhaps he will forget it).

Dick Warrener sneaked in front of me by 1 lb 4 oz.
Overall it was a good, tight match considering the heat.

Mike Rawson was on the other end of my section.

Drama
There was a little unwanted drama at the end, in the huge heat, when John managed to wheel his gear back to the car but then collapsed, rolling on the ground in the baking sun and being sick. I take a large bottle of frozen orange juice with me at this time of year, and had some left which was still cool, and he eventually managed to take a swig.

 A few minutes later he was able to crawl to the car, take another drink, and slowly recover while we loaded up his car. I am sure it was not sunstroke - he had the sun in his face - but just the heat. He is only a few months younger than me and, like me, has been weakened by cancer. But us Ol' Fen Tigers don't give in! 

I always go home with him after Decoy matches, to 'Judy's Cafe', where his wife makes me a mug of tea which has miraculous healing properties when consumed by tired and weary anglers. So I can report that by the time I had left, full of tea and biscuits, John was much better, and I was well enough to still feel annoyed that just one of those fish I lost would have propelled me to the dizzy heights of Pairs Champion 2021. C'est la vie.

The result. For the pairs results read straight across.

Next match tomorrow (Wednesday) on the strip lake Elm, which has virtually no shade, but is sheltered from any North breezes by a high bank. Temperatures are forecast to be around 30 C again so I will be taking my umbrella for shade. With the ground so hard I will also need the umbrella bar. Not looking forward to it, but once I'm fishing things never seem so bad!

AN EARLIER RESULT

Here's the result from Willows, a match I had to miss last week, won by 91-year-old Joe Bedford! And a picture from the match.

Trevor Cousins with an 11 lb 5 oz grass carp.

I blow it - Cedar, Decoy

 Peg 13, Monday, July 5
For the second match in a row the Golden Peg was drawn for me, and for the second match in a row I didn't come anywhere near winning. Peg 13 is in the Northern corner of the strip lake, Cedar. I was very happy with it. We had back wind on our bank, so we didn't have any ripple at the start, though as the wind got up there was some, later.

Trevor draws, and Shaun records where we are to sit.

...and this was my home for the day. The best spot was just in front of the pipes.

The first half hour was spent fishing to the corner, in about four feet of water, at about 6 metres, and resulted in a small roach. Then two more, and a 3 lb F1, which tempted me to concentrate there for the next hour or so, without any more fish in the net, though there were persistent signs of fish around my rig. Then out to 11.5 metres, with a soft pellet, and corn, but two hours after the start I still had just those four fish. I couldn't see much else being caught.

Things are slow
I persisted out at 11.5 metres and in the next couple of hours managed half-a-dozen fish to 6 lb, but mainly around 3 lb. I also pricked a few, definitely foulhooked. To my right John Garner had now started catching some on about four sections, and opposite, Mick Ramm had had four or five fish. But all-round, so far as I could see, things were quite slow.

Trevor with a golden carp. Who's a pretty boy then?

I had a quick look in the right margin, but never had a touch. I was catching a fish perhaps every 15 minutes, but steadily, but I decided, with two hours left, to put in a load of dead maggots on the end of the pipes which were on my left, where there was about five feet of depth. The pipes move water between the strips in times of heavy rain. I dropped in with a very light rig I had assembled for fishing a shallow margin, if I had found one. I slid the float up the line, but the two tiny shot took ages to sink the bunch of deads I had as bait. Not ideal.

New swim gives me some fish
BUT first drop, and a barbel of 4 lb was hooked. Then another of 2 lb, and then a 6 lb carp Success! But no, it took ages to get the next fish, a 2 lb F1. To be honest that was the time I should have changed over to a more positive rig, and also set up the right margin so I could swap between them. But my brain had frozen. So I stumbled along, getting a fish every 20 minutes, not working out that every time I hooked one it spooked the others. Even so I could have alternated between that near swim and my 11.5 metres, where I had left fish feeding (albeit slowly).

John Garner, on my right, prepares to weigh. He had
a lot less than I had guessed, but still finished third.

At one point I slid the tiny float down to a two-foot depth, put in maggots, dropped in, and immediately hooked a big fish. I am certain it wasn't foulhooked, and it felt very big indeed But after ten minutes, just as I thought I had it under control on the top two, having pulled the 20 elastic right back to tighten it, the fish swam into my keepnets and snagged  me. Of course it had gone.

I lose a second big fish
Back in, now more shallow, so I went deep again, and took another couple of fish, best 6 lb. With five minutes left, I hooked another very big fish. Again I am sure it wasn't foulhooked - you can often tell when you hook it; and it didn't display any of the characteristics of being foulhooked, like the line waggling from side to side, or the fish changing direction suddenly.

The match ended and I was still playing it. Five minutes later the hook pulled. I am afraid I said a naughty word! John Garner now had a lot more fish than me, and I guessed he had approaching 100 lb, though he had slowed after a brief good spell.

Peter "Chilblain" Chilton with a 15-pounder.

The weigh in
Interesting to see Bob Barret weighed 57 lb 1 oz, all taken on a feeder dropped into his margin, and it was four hours before he had his first fish! Trevor Cousins had managed to mug three fish, but couldn't catch shallow, and he weighed 60 lb 8 oz, beaten by John Garner with 63 lb 6 oz. My estimate of his weight was way out, because his fish turned out to be much smaller than I had imagined. But my, how they fought1

My estimated 50 lb turned out to be 58 lb 5 oz. But our weights were all eclipsed by the last two to be weighed, at the car park end. Peter Harrison on 24 had 102 lb 13 oz fishing top two plus two, while Peter Spriggs in the corner on 26 weighed a magnificent 175 lb 11 oz for the win. The previous day that peg was nearly last in our club match, but Peter is an exceptional angler.

Peter Harrison - third with 102 lb 13 oz.

I finished fifth, but was kicking myself when I looked back, Frankly I fished like an idiot. I should have targetted both margins earlier; but even when I did start catching fish I am certain I should have had a lot, lot more if I had rested the near swim occasionally and gone out to the long swim. One more fish would have put me third, and if I had landed the two big ones I might have been pushing the runner-up. 

Yet another Peter - Peter "The Paste" Spriggs with part of his winning 175 lb 11 oz.

I didn't fish positively at all - partly because recently the fishing has been so difficult, with weights much lower than previous years. I, and a lot of others, think that the fish have suffered from having such a long spawning period. Even now there are splashings in the margins, as if the fish think they ought to be spawning yet again. 

THE RESULT

26 Peter Spriggs        175 lb 11 oz        1st           1 Alan Porter         49 lb 8 oz
24 Peter Harrison        102 lb 13 oz      2nd         3 Bob Barrett          57 lb 1 oz

22 Mike Rawson        DNW                                 5 Mick Linnell        25 lb 14 o

20 Peter Barnes         34 lb 6 oz                           7 Trevor Cousins    60 lb 8 oz     4th

18 Shaun Buddle        45 lb 15 oz                        9 Peter Chilton        53 lb

16 Martin Parker        48 lb 4 oz                         11 John Garner       63 lb 6 oz    3rd

14 Mick Ramm          48 lb 10 oz                       13 Mac Campbell     58 lb 5 oz

Not sure when my next match will be 

Golden peg, but I can't make it pay. Cedar, Decoy

 Peg 25, Sunday, July 4
July the Fourth - American Independence Day, when everyone goes out and has a wonderful time. Things started brilliantly when I managed to pick out my own peg, 25, as the main Golden Peg. Pity the fish on Cedar didn't join in the jubilation. Not that I was fishless, but two hours after the start I had just two fish in the net - a small barbel from my right margin on dead maggots and a 4 lb mirror on a 6 mm expander at ten metres. And I found out later that actually that wasn't bad when compared with the rest!

Peg 25 - a bit hemmed in with bushes on either side.

Thirteen of us were on 14 to 26 on Cedar, with showers forecast and a hint of green algae in the water. And although Peg 25 is at the end of the lake where quite often the best catches are made, it had horrible margins.  A bush three feet to the right, and another six feet to the left. Possible barbel country, in among the roots, but it meant that my lines were limited.  And the swim had very little ripple for most of the match, while to swims to the right had lots. 

Anyway, 40 minutes after the two hour mark John Smith walked up from Peg 23, to say he had just one barbel, and I had just managed to nab two more decent carp on an expander at ten metres. It seemed that hemp was attracting the fish in, but they weren't feeding with any gusto - in fact I had lost about three, probably foulhooked. John said that Dennis Sambridge, on 24, the other side of the bush on my right, was catching 'a fish a chuck.'

Still very slow
A change to corn on the hook eventually brought another carp, about 7 lb, and then I went a long time without a fish. Mel on my left had netted a couple, but while I had heard splashing from Dennis, everything on the other side of the bush now seemed quiet. In fact Dennis told me afterwards that as John walked by he had just had two or three fish, like me, and that they then went quiet in his swim, like mine.

Peter Spriggs. He went over on one net, which
cost him the final frame place. That went to me. Hee hee.

Another look in the margin, where I had fed a load of dead maggots for the barbel, brought just one more, at 3 lb, on cat meat. I also had more bites - the float would slowly drop beneath the surface and keep going, but when I struck nothing was there These 'bites' were all exactly the same, so I am sure they were not liners from fish up in the water.

Fish come at ten metres
So it was back out to ten metres, and I pushed all my shot halfway up the line to give a slower sink, and two or three more fish came, at about 40 minutes intervals, the first as a heavy shower started. I put up my umbrella, and had three fish while it was erected, but the pole got in the way of the landing net, though I never lost any fish. so at the first opportunity I took the brolly down.

I spent most of the rest of the match fishing at ten metres, fishing with corn or expander over hemp, expanders, hard pellet and corn, to give them a choice (I'm big-hearted like that), with the odd look into the margins, which were as bare as Mother Hubbard's cupboard, even though I spent 20 minutes fishing with mussel, which I was sure would at last get a bite of some sort (it didn't).

Kevin Lee, third with 89 lb 10 oz which included
this mirror we weighed at 15 lb 3 oz.

My theory on the liners
Now this is interesting! When I was out at ten metres I could get a bite only by having the bait just touching bottom, with the float a mere pimple on the surface. I had several liners like this, and occasionally a proper bite which resulted in a fish. When the wind got up I changed from expander to corn, and still got these little bites. It then became difficult to see the float in the ripple, so I added an inch, which put the bait on the bottom, and gave me more float to see. And I fished like that for 20 minutes without a single sign of a bite. 

As soon as I moved the float back down an inch to just touch bottom the bites started again. That convinced me that the liners were, in fact, from fish interested in the bait, and not from fish mid-water, as one would suppose. A couple of times I managed to induce a bite by lifting the bait an inch, but that didn't work as well as it usually does.

I finished with about four fish in the last hour, including the smallest at 1 lb 8 oz. I thought I might get a few more like that immediately, but he was obviously a lost soul. The match ended with me playing a beautifully-conditioned common of about 6 lb.

Dave Garner, second by  just a couple of pounds, took his
fish well out, being unable to catch in the margins.

The weigh-in
Mel, on 26, which is a noted peg, had really struggled, totalling 20 lb 2 oz. I admitted to about 60 lb and actually weighed 70 lb 13 oz, the heaviest net being 47 lb 8 oz. To my surprise Dennis didn't beat me, and I led down to Peter Spriggs, who (stupidly) went over in one net by 3 lb 8 oz and finished with 68 lb 14 oz. If he hadn't gone over the 50 lb club limit he would have beaten me.

Down to Kevin Lee, who had managed to winkle out several barbel, and a 15 lb 3 oz mirror among his carp catch, for 89 lb 10 oz. But the best two weights were on 16 - Dave Garner 107 lb 5 oz plus a broken rod and a broken landing net handle (!) - and Callum Judge in the corner peg 14 with a winning 109 lb 4 oz taken close to the bank in the deep water. Very few pegs seemed to have a shallow margin on this bank.

Callum Judge, winner with 109 lb 4 oz from corner peg 14.
Well done, mate (and so you should be!) 😝

I finished fourth and frankly was very happy as the weighing sheet appeared to show that the windward end had fished a bit better than my end.

A patchy result. 

Next match tomorrow on Cedar or Horseshoe - there's some  mix-up somewhere along the line, but it makes no difference in the long run. It's still a day's fishing.

A ground-breaking experiment

Dennis Sambridge has had some great results recently, and must think he can walk on water. In fact he has been so confident that he decided, at the end of this match, to see whether his electric trolley can also run on water without sinking.

Dennis Sambridge can catch big fish - but he can't walk on water, and neither can his trolley.

Accordingly when he returned to his car he pointed the trolley towards the end of Cedar, left the engine running, and turned to unlock his car. Seconds later he turned round to see his tackle trundling down the bank, through a hawthorn bush, and preparing to enter the water.

Showing a burst of speed which would have put Raheem Sterling to shame, Dennis hurtled down the bank, dived through the bush and managed to grab a handle as the trolley demonstrated that NO, it cannot run across water.

With Dennis lying prostrate on the bank gripping the handle, and the trolley threatening to pull him down into a watery grave, help came in the form of Superman. 

Enter Kevin Lee, who flew through the air and grabbed the other handle, encircling Dennis with his spare arm and throwing him up the bank to safety, while calling upon those hundreds of anglers present to form a human chain to rescue Dennis' now-sodden bags and tackle box.

Well, actually there were only two or three persons, but they did a superhuman job, such that the trolley, and almost everything from it, was handed back up the bank, except for the keepnet bar and a drawer from the box. And Yours Truly, arriving at the scene when all the excitement had finished, managed to retrieve said drawer with the help of Superman, though the contents were missing

If Dennis reads this, then remember, mate - your trolley cannot run across the surface of water. And probably, neither can you!