Five hours for one bite - Cedar, Decoy

 Peg 8, Sunday Nov 28

In 63 years of match fishing I've packed up and gone home before the end of a match just once. And if I had been sitting on the opposite bank of Cedar in this match it would probably have been the second time.

Thirteen of us  fished this JV AC match, so we were able to all be pegged on the 13-swim Western bank, with the wind  from the left but slightly over our backs, and for the first hour or two it was quite comfortable. But then the wind swung round, more from our backs, but with an extra bite to it. And soon we must have all felt very cold, and mighty pleased we were not facing it.

Clear skies had resulted in a heavy frost, but at the start the sun gave us a little warmth.
Soon, however, the cloud came over, the wind grew colder, and frankly it was horrible.

It was obvious before we started that the heavy overnight frost would have hit catches. In fact the highlight of the first hour was Smug, on my right on 7, telling me that someone to his right had landed a fish! Then someone to our left hit a fish on pole, and we could see his yellow elastic streaming out. It was Chris Saunders, and he landed that fish and a little later hit another, which came off.

About that time Smug had a bite of his maggot feeder from a small barbel. The excitement! I had not had a bite on the maggot feeder, nor on the 13-metre pole, but Smug had a walk and found out that Lee Kendall, on Peg 2, had a 2 lb bream.

Steve Tilsley had a bite, and this 7 lb carp won him his section.

A blur of shivering
The next couple of hours passed in a blur of shivering, until Steve Tilsley, two to my left, landed a carp, with Chris Saunders catching another fish.  We had no idea whether anyone else had anything. Then, with 25 minutes to go, Roy Whincup in corner peg 13, who was already packing his pole away, saw his top move round, grabbed hold of the rod and landed a 3 lb 3 oz carp. 

A minute later my own top jumped back and a 2 lb bream came in. Five minutes later, Lee Kendall told me, his single dead maggot on a feeder was taken by just his second fish - a 12 lb carp.

Put out of our misery
I had just drained the last of my soup when, mercifully, we were put out of our misery by the shout to end the match. In fact eight had caught fish, with Lee Kendall's two totalling 14 lb 6 oz for second, and Chris Saunders bringing three fish to the scales. We weighed his biggest carp at 14 lb 14 oz, and he won with 24 lb 11 oz, all taken at 12 metres on pinkies. Very well done, Chris in those conditions.

Chris Saunders fished the long pole all day for four bites - one fish which came off, a barbel,
 and two carp, best 14 lb 14 oz, He ended as a worthy (but cold) winner with 24 lb 11 oz.

Smug's 2 lb 6 oz barbel was the only bite he had, and it won my section, with my bream at 2 lb coming eighth overall, and winning nothing (!), while five did not have a single fish. We were glad to go into the cafe for the presentation - with some welcome Christmas cake free provided by the owners. Very acceptable, and many thanks. 😀

Heated underwear - who knew?
The first video I happened to watch after getting home was Jamie Hughes and Andy May singing the praises of Vulcan heated underwear. The heating runs off a small rechargeable battery which sits in a special pocket. Christmas is coming up, you know. Will Santa have seen the same video before he slides down my chimney?

Next match not until Sunday, on Willlows at Decoy, which has not been fishing well, but someone has to win. I had thought about fishing the Wednesday Over 60s at Pidley, but the wind is forecast to be WNW which will give a strong sidewind on most pegs. That wouldn't normally worry me, except that the default technique on Jay lake in this weather is to fish 14 metres across, dobbing bread into the far bank shallows, which I don't fancy in a strong sidewind.

Christmas Cheer for us all on Oak Lake, Decoy

 Peg 7, Oak Lake, Decoy, Wednesday, Nov 25
Sixteen of us were in Festive mood for this last Spratts match of the season - it's always followed by the distribution of prizes in the club house, and mince pies if we're lucky. And this year there was the added bonus of a four-man team event with every team  winning cash - a legacy of last year's part-completed season brought to a sudden stop by Covid.

The morning started off cool, with hardly any breeze, and my Peg 7 had a back wind - just about the only positive I could find before the match, because I would have chosen a peg a little farther down the lake. In fact the breeze became very cold, and by the end of the match the poor wretches sitting on the opposite bank, facing it, must have been shivering. I was reasonably warm, though, at the end, although my second and third keepnets lay unused on the bank.

Not much wind, but what there was was very cold.

As usual, this match started with a bang when Bob Allen fired up his rockets that could have been heard in Peterborough.

I start on the feeder
In Winter I like to fish the strips at 14.5 metres if I can, as the fish so often seem to hog the middle area. Peter Harrison, beside me on 5, did the same.  I started on a maggot feeder, but when Peter took his first carp after about 30 minutes, on his pole, I followed suit, baiting with two red maggots. I started by using a small pot on the pole to bait with, but after a couple of times doing that I found that it took so long, and I had to be so careful shipping out, that I put out bait in a bigger pot - just a dozen maggots and a little hemp.

The result was a small roach, and then a 3 lb carp foulhooked in the tail, which I played with my heart in my mouth, as I hadn't seen much else caught, and over an hour had gone.

Peter Harrison whupped me on Peg 5, taking about eight fish around 7 lb each.

Peter took two or three more carp, all around 7 lb, and then, at last, I hit a big one. The float just slowly drifted under and the 17 hollow Preston elastic stretched way out, almost to Peter's swim - and he was two swims away. But then the elastic came slowly back, and I could feel that it was a big fish. I had a problem breaking the pole down, and in fact at one point had to push it right out to 14.5 metres again and start taking the sections off one by one. But it worked., and in the landing net I estimated the fish at around 14 lb.

A schoolboy error costs me
Next drop and the float went down and another big fish pulled out the elastic. I immediately started to ship the pole back, tried to take off the bottom two sections, but couldn't do it immediately because of the pressure the fish was putting on the pole. It took me several seconds to take them off, and the fish came off. I should have just held it for 30 seconds, and shipped the pole back when the strain had been taken off it a little. A schoolboy error with fish that size.

An hour or more followed without another bite - I tried corn, and also had a look in the margins where I had potted in dead maggots. I also started another line at top-two-plus-three, with corn, but never had a bite. meanwhile Peter had had another three or four fish. Then a 2 lb F1 came to my feeder, but nothing else.

Oldest man was 90-year-old Joe Bedford, who framed in fifth place.

Approaching the last hour and out of the blue I had a bite on the pole which resulted in another double-figure mirror in the landing net. But, again, the fish seemed to have vanished. Suddenly other anglers started catching - Martin had a couple opposite me, and to his right Trevor Cousins had started catching on a feeder. Half an hour left, and I put the feeder out again, and got a real hummer of a bite - the rod was pulled nearly off the rest.

I lose a cluncker
I picked up the rod and felt an enormous power. The fish just kept swimming - I couldn't hold it. It went across to Martin and I had to call out a warning to him. Then it shot up to where Peter was fishing and turned just in time to avoid fouling his line. Then it went the other way - right across the lake again and almost to Trevor, who must have been 50 yards away. Just before ploughing into Trevor's keepnets it shot back to my side of the lake and threatened to shoot through Steve Engledow's swim, to my left.

I felt I simply had to hold it, and the rod bent absolutely double as I plunged it beneath the surface and refused to give line. Then the inevitable happened - the hooklength broke at the hook. Definitely the hairiest fight I can remember having, ever. Later I assumed that the fish must have been foulhooked - but how unlucky to have that happen when fishing a feeder!!! But whatever it was, it was bi-i-i-g.

Top weight in my team was Peter Barnes with  34 lb 12 oz.

Fireworks at the end (literally)
So when the match finished (signified by a five-minute display of Bob's coloured rockets that were very  impressive) I had just five fish, including the roach, and Peter on my right had about eight or nine, around 7 lb. The favoured pegs were to my left, so I was obviously out of the running, but assumed that Peter would be well up.

 Then Peter told me that someone to his right had caught "all day." That was Mike Rawson in Peg 1 - a swim which can certainly produce in the Summer, and when Mike sat down there at the start and we were discussing it I said I had in the back of my mind that it could produce in the Winter, but couldn't remember any details.

The weigh in
Mike kindly came down to help me get back to the van, picked up my rods and pole holdall, and as we approached his peg there came a shout of "hurry up" from Bob Allen, who takes down the weights but who likes to get away quickly. As we got there I said I wanted to take a picture of the winner, and Bob told me quite forcibly that I was in the wrong place, then, and that Shaun Buddle, who was almost opposite him,  would turn out to have won. 

Shaun Buddle would have won if he hadn't lost
seven big fish. In the end he was fourth.

Now Bob is probably the best angler I know at estimating weights of fish, and working out who has what before we start the weighing. He has beady eyes and, as they say in The Fens, 'he doesn't miss a fart that's let!' 

Despite his murmurings of dissent I got a picture of Mike, just in case Bob was wrong. To be honest, though, I now assumed that Shaun had probably won. The really good thing about that incident was that we knew we had the real Bob Allen with us, and not some clone substituted by aliens, cos no-one does "Hurry Up I Want To Get Home To Tea" quite like Bob does!

A great catch 
Anyway, Mike weighed 83 lb 1 oz and was obviously chuffed, because irrespective of the result it was a cracking weight on the day. Peter Harrison weighed 57 lb 2 oz, a little less than I had assumed, and my five fish weighed much more than I had assumed - 34 lb 3 oz. The biggest fish must have been almost 16 lb. I actually finished seventh with that.

I took a picture of 90-year-old Joe Bedford with his five for 44 lb 15 oz and we made our way round to Shaun on the other bank. His catch totalled 51 lb 4 oz, so he hadn't won. But he told me that he had lost seven big fish, which would be why Bob thought he had. Then on to Trevor, whose last-hour purple patch on the feeder had brought him 70 lb 10 oz.

Mike's red letter day
No-one else could  beat those weights, so that left Mike as the winner of our biggest match of the year, and his first Spratts match win. Now Mike has nearly an hour's drive to Decoy, and on the way he used to like to stop for a Costa Coffee. But Covid suddenly meant that he had to order his drink by using an app on his mobile, and that created a problem, 'cos something went wrong the first time he tried it, and now Costa was off the menu.

Mike's first Spratts win - 83 lb 1 oz of beautiful Decoy carp from Peg 1, which was at the
other end of the lake from the pegs most of us fancied.

How fortunate, then, that one of the prizes was a coffee-making machine, which can make Costa Coffee, and Mike had first pick of the prizes!! He is now the proud owner of it, and will be making his Costa at home before he leaves in the morning, and bringing it with him. That's Success.

PS. Just as well I don't hanker after a Costa Coffee because I would have no idea how to even download an app to my mobile, let alone use it. If I need something like that doing I get my 14-year-old granddaughter to do it for me. 

The full results, including the four-man teams.

Different baits
Afterwards Terry Tribe, who has been in hospital poorly sick, came to see the presentations, and he asked why I hadn't used worm as a change bait over the maggot swim. I have worm with me, from my own wormery, and agreed I should have done so. In fact all sorts of baits took fish - Mike used maggot on a feeder, insisting that a flourocarbon hooklength was the reason he did so well. 

Joe Bedford had used hard pre-drilled pellets for his fish, while Trevor had used double sweetcorn, and Shaun had taken some on paste and others on pellet. So although the water must have been cold, the fish were obviously not feeding only on small baits.

The presentation
The new owners of Decoy did us proud, with lovely hot potato wedges, and mince pies. Everyone had a substantial prize, and the team winners were announced as Mike Rawson,. Steve Engledow, Shaun Buddle and Wendy Bedford (who caught her one fish 15 minutes before the end of the match). 

I've taken so many pictures of Trevor smiling with a winning
catch that I thought I'd offer a different side - his backside.

I forgot to take a picture of the prizes, but did remember to remind everyone of Mark Parnell, who we lost this year, and of Ted Lloyd, who at nearly 94 simply can't now summon up the energy to come to the matches. And without exception we all thanked Trevor for doing us proud yet again - this is the most friendly club you could ever imagine, thanks entirely to Trevor, who books all the matches and then runs them with no problems of any sort. We are very lucky.

I then wolfed down the last of the potato wedges, followed them with two mince pies, and made my way to Judy's cafe, where a cup of tea awaited. And so ended a great season with Spratts. I'm booked in Sunday to fish with JV club on Cedar, but I am not looking forward to it if the forecasts of Zero degrees and high winds are correct. Here in the Fens there's nothing between us and the North Pole.

THE RESULT

30 Peter Spriggs            8 lb 13 oz                    1 Mike Rawson            83 lb 1 oz    1st
28 Alan Porter             34 lb 1 oz                      3 Mick Ramm               22 lb 2 oz
26 Wendy Bedford        8 lb 12 oz                    5 Peter Harrison             57 lb 2 oz    3rd
24 Martin Parker          20 lb 12 oz                   7 Mac Campbell            34 lb 3 oz
22 Trevor Cousins        70 lb 12 oz    2nd         9 Steve Engledow          13 lb 1 oz
20 Peter Barnes            34 lb 12 oz                   11  Joe Bedford            44 lb 15 oz    5th
18 Shaun Buddle           51 lb 4 oz    4th          13 Bob Barrett               7 lb 14 oz
16 John Garner            11 lb 6 oz                     15 Bob Allen                  17 lb 11 oz

Fenland Rods Championship results

 Here is the final points table for the Fenland Rods AC Championship., Fifteen points are given for a win, 14 for second etc. All matches count.

Interesting that although I won overall, I had won only three matches, while Kev Lee won seven, and Peter Spriggs won nine. Dennis Sambridge, who is not now well enough to fish, also won three.

My first pick-up with JV club

 Peg 2, Six-Island, Decoy, Sunday Nov 21

I'm  not superstitious, but whenever I see a pair of magpies, or one on its own, I always say: "Good Morning, Mr Magpie." It's only polite, bringing bad luck if you don't. And in the first three miles on the way to this match I said it five times. Seconds later I saw something for the first time in my life - a Parliament of magpies.

No-one knows exactly what causes them, on occasion, to get together, but there must have been at least 15 in and around a bush beside the road. Quite a sight. I mentioned it to several of the anglers when I got to Decoy, and none of them had ever seen it.

Reg Barker, the crack Wisbech matchman, would actually turn his car round if he saw a magpie on its own while he was going to a match, and look for its partner! Now that is superstition...

I also repeated a notable sighting of four policemen together (rare in most of the country except at minor traffic accidents). There's been a protest outside a research establishment near me for months, and almost every time I drive past the temporary road signs, tents, cars, campervans, distracting notices, flashing lights and portable toilets, there are policemen there, sitting in a car or standing round it, or marching down the road to keep the peace, which is not difficult when everyone is still in their tent.

The match is moved 
Then on to Decoy, where the JV match had been moved from Cedar to Six-Island. There was a cold North-Westerly blowing right into just three swims - 1, 2 and 3, Number 1 was not taken, and I was allotted number 2, with Ron Cuthbert, a long-standing angling mate, on 3, to my left. All the other 12 anglers had either a backwind, or one roughly from the side. 

At the start there was just a cool breeze, into Peg 2, but it soon picked up.
Lee Kendall on 22 is opposite, just to the right of the island.

I started on a bomb with a grain of corn, without a bite in half an hour. Then on to 13 metres to the island in front of me, facing a little to the left, where I had three quick bites on two maggots, all of which I missed. They must have been roach or liners. But then even they vanished and within a short while the wind, which was then slightly from the right, picked up and I couldn't fish at 13 metres properly.

Some big fish had rolled way over to my right, in front of Roy Whincup on 25, and he was fishing a maggot feeder in that area. I saw him  land one early fish. He had a long, 12-inch hooklength, rather than the short one so favoured now by so many, which made sense when he told me afterwards that it enables him to pull the feeder after a short while, so the hook bait then lays where the released maggots are lying. Pulling a feeder less than a foot is actually quite difficult, as most anglers will realise.

Lost fish
I put a pole rig out a little to my right on five sections, where I had plumbed up to find that a gradual slope down  meant that this area was about eight inches deeper than the track in front of me. It was also facing almost right into the wind, which made it easier to control the pole, but was a lot colder than fishing to the left. 

Lee Kendall was opposite me and took just two for 12 lb 2 oz.

Putting in no more than about eight maggots at a time, and fishing just touching bottom, with an 18 hook, brought me a 2 lb F1. Then a look out in front of me at the same distance, but with a shallower rig, brought another, foulhooked in a fin. It was the only bite there, in the shallower swim.

That gave me the idea that perhaps the fish were off bottom, so I went out to the right, off bottom, and promptly hooked a 6 lb mirror, which didn't fight an awful lot before finishing in my net. Next drop I foulhooked a big fish which left me with a scale the size of a florin. Next drop I lost another, to find that the maggots had gone, so perhaps it was hooked properly.

More fish lost
Then next drop I foulhooked yet another and lost it, and the maggots were intact. Then all bites there ceased, and I spent the next couple of hours altering the depth, in vain, and trying in the shallower water, with corn. Not a sign of a fish, but I was getting colder and colder, even with my padded Imax jacket on. Then, out of the blue, a five-pounder came in, and with an hour left I tried laying on a bit more, and that brought another fish about 6 lb. I then saw Roy landing a fish, but I'd seen Ron on my left catch only one, and Lee Kendall opposite land just two.

Trying to work out what Lee did

Lee's first fish came to the pole, and I saw him then go straight down the margin to fish next to the platform in the next swim. Soon he went out to his island, and I wondered whether he had caught the fish on the island, but rested that swim for a few minutes after catching his fish, or whether he had caught the fish in the margin, had one more quick look, and rested that swim by going out to the island. No way of telling. (Later he told me he had caught it in the margin).

Barry Webb on 18 took a 12-pounder early in the match on
Peg 18, but caught only one more in the next four hours.

Half an hour left and I was so cold that I packed away three of the four rigs I had out, because I was on scales, which warmed me up a little. I then picked up the bomb rod, baited it with two maggots, and flicked it into my pole swim. Within a couple of minutes the rod jagged round and another six-pounder lay in my landing net. Then the match finished.

What I should have done
Next day I thought I should have tried a piece of worm, which can often work in the Winter. I didn't try the mussels on a rig with a bigger hook because in these conditions I tend to think that fish will take only a small bait. But looking back, five minutes trying would not have hurt me. My excuse is that the cold freezes my brain!

The weigh in
Ron and I were appointed to weigh, but Lee Kendall came over to help, bless him, and I had managed to pack up most of my gear by the time we started. I was first to weigh - 28 lb 14 oz - to which Lee said: "Well done, Mac. I've got only two fish." Then Ron brought in his net and he also had only two, for 8 lb 12 oz.

Roy Whincup stuck to a maggot feeder all day on Peg 25, ending
with 54 lb 8 oz for second place, taken on a good-sized size 20 hook.

Round to 4 where Steve Tilsley, a former European Police Pole Champion, who I met many years ago when reporting on the Police National, had caught just six roach, and didn't weigh. But on this bank, from 4 to 9, Ron and I both remarked how much warmer it was - it felt ten degrees warmer. He there was a 45 lb 8 oz from someone I didn't recognise, down on the weigh sheet as Spalding Raver. I doubt that's his real name!!!

The winner
Opposite, Ernie Lowbridge on peg 11 won with 64 lb 1 oz, mainly taken on a top two plus two. The wind was blowing into these pegs a little from the left, but they, also, were much warmer than where we had fished, as a high bank and trees gave a bit of shelter. After weighing Ernie, with the weighing well advanced, I felt able to ask to take a picture or two. 

Round to Roy Whincup (no relation to Jon) and he had a lot more fish than I suspected. He fished the feeder all day, in the vicinity of the sunken island, and said he had three early on, then a big lull, and then a better spell towards the end. He finished with eight or nine fish for 54 lb 8 oz and second place. He must be one of the most consistent anglers locally, as so often he finishes in the frame.

THE RESULT

Happy with fourth place in  only my second match with the club. Mustn't peak too early or they could ban me!!

I ended fourth, went back to the cafe for the presentations, and with three in the main payout I won my section, bringing me my first brown envelope from this club, which I was very happy with in the circumstances, as there are some fine anglers in JVAC.

A brown envelope - always the target but never the
most important  part of the day.

My next match is the Spratts Christmas match on Oak, with the wind forecast to turn to South-Westerly on that day, and not as strong as it was for Sunday. So I wouldn't mind facing it, on pegs 16 to 20, or opposite on 11 to 15.

From now on I am likely to fish the Wednesday Pidley Over 60s matches, or the Friday Over 50s on Decoy (or both), with JV on the Sunday.

A last-hour job for me on Cedar, Decoy

 Peg 8, Cedar,  Decoy
A thick layer of ice on my windscreen greeted me when I left home. But things looked up at Decoy - the suspension-busting pothole in front of the gates has been filled in, and I see some of the platforms are bearing shiny new frames. The new owners are doing well, in my opinion, and I am told that they intend to shore up the banks on the four strip lakes which have been eroded by fish, the wind, and voles.

Sixteen fished this penultimate Spratts match of the season, and when Peter Harrison said he had won a match the previous Friday on Peg 13 with 119 lb I obviously fancied drawing there. But my hopes were dashed when it went to Trevor Cousins, and Peg 8 was drawn for me - partway down the West bank. The wind was a cold South-Westerly over my right shoulder, and the anglers on the opposite bank must have been frozen.

There was a lovely-looking bush just down to my left, and I thought there must be barbel under there, so I kept dripping in maggots while I started on a maggot feeder. which produced a 1 lb F1 after about 30 minutes. Then, because Sean to my right had had a fish on the pole, I had a look under the bush. In fact all I had nothing there all day, despite trying it several times.

You'd think there would be barbel under that bush, wouldn't you?

A terrible spell fishing long
I was having to use my Browning Sting at 12 metres because my Xitan was being repaired. It's a floppy pole, but strong. However it wobbled about so much in the wind that I didn't feel confident in feeding via a small pole pot, so had to put out a few maggots and hemp with a bigger pot. Four hours there produced just two roach, when I went down to two maggots, and three more which dropped off. They were the only bites I had.

Meanwhile Sean had had three early carp out long, and opposite him Martin Parker on 21 had also had about three in the first hour or so, and I guessed he was on maggot. Now, with a little over an hour left Martin had just had another couple, and proceeded to catch another four or five before the end of the match. A check by me found that Mick Linnell, to my left, had not had a bite, and Trevor in the corner had had a couple of small bream and a couple of roach. Opposite me Bob Allen hadn't had a bite.

Mick Linnell, on 10, had not had a single bite with a hour to go.

The nine-metre line holds fish!
I eventually decided I would have to concentrate on another line, so came in to nine metres, fed just four grains of corn, and waited. No bite, but when I pulled up I hit a fish which must have been foulhooked, as it came off and left the corn in place. So I repeated my feeding pattern and up came a 2 lb F1. Then a 3 lb bream which fought so hard I thought it was a carp. I'm convinced that the floppy pole was the cause - the stiffer the pole the less fish are inclined to fight.

That was followed by a double-figure carp and then another F1. There was a tow against the wind and I  found it best to fish about three inches overdepth, allow the float to drift with the tow, hold it still for a minute, then lift and let it drift a little farther along.

Mushy mussels

Now on Oak I could see Peter Maskell, pleasure fishing, playing fish after fish, and I knew he would be using mussel. So I took mine out, which had been in the fridge since Sunday, when I had taken them to the JV match. But they were all mushy, and it took me some time just to get half of one to hang on the hook.

In fact I had two bites on mussel, but each time the bait was intact so they must have been liners. Clearly I must take the mussels out of the freezer on the morning of the match for them to remain solid enough for them top be hooked properly. Lesson learned!

I saw Wendy landing this fish in the last minute or two -
 it turned out to be 11 lb 7 oz,  and put her in sixth place.

My last-gasp five-pounder
With just two minutes left I reverted to a grain of corn and hit a 5 lb carp, and while I was playing it I saw Martin Parker landing yet another, and Wendy, to his left, netting a big fish. Yet again it was to be a last-hour job.

On my left Mick Linnell, biteless,  had started to pack up with an hour to go, but then his feeder rod was almost pulled in, and he landed the first of five carp taken on a wafter. To my right Shaun, the other side of a tree, appeared to be fishing in the margins, so I guessed he had had another fish or two. I eventually landed my last carp after the match finished.

The weigh in
I was late packing away because of playing that last fish, and my back was hurting...when in the distance I espied an angel in the form of a scruffy angler (name of John Garner) gliding towards me. He offered to take my holdalls and bait back to the van, an offer I gladly accepted, and I was able to wheel the trolley to the van and get back just in time to see me weighed in - 23 lb 7 oz, which was third up to that point. John was leading with 40 lb 6 oz, and Shaun second, but I guessed that Martin Parker had more than them.

Martin Parker won with 53 lb 1 oz, and said that for most of the match
he had to wait about half an hour for a bite. He fished at 13 metres all day.

Mick Linnell's late spurt brought him 25 lb 11 oz, pushing me down to fourth. Trevor had carried on struggling in the corner for 9 lb 10 oz. Then we moved to the opposite bank, where the weights were well down until we came to Martin. He had fished at 13 metres all day, and took his first two carp on a hard pellet, then about four on maggot, followed my the rest on worm. 

He had caught a fish in the margin after the halfway mark, but then went straight out to 13 metres again; caught a fish there, and came back into the margin, resting the swim after a fish had been hooked. At this time of year that's sometimes a 'must' as the flashing of a hooked fish undoubtedly scares others. He ended with ten or 11 for a winning 53 lb 1 oz. So I ended in last frame place - fifth.

THE RESULT

26 Mick Ramm                7 lb 4 oz                        1 Mick Rawson            DNW 

24 Bob Barrett                 DNW                             3 John Garner              40 lb 6 oz            2nd

22 Wendy Bedford           21 lb 11 oz                    5 Peter Harrison            18 lb 10 oz

21 Martin Parker              53 lb 1 oz         1st        6 Shaun Buddle            26 lb 4 oz           3rd

19 Bob Allen                    2 lb 4 oz                        8 Mac Campbell          23 lb 7 oz            5th

18 Joe Bedford                 8 lb 13 oz                    10 Mick Linnell            25 lb 11 oz         4th

16 Peter Barnes                10 lb 6 oz                    11 Peter Spriggs               18 lb 7 oz

14 Alan Porter                   8 lb 1 oz                      13 Trevor Cousins            9 lb 10 oz

What I should have done!
I should have come in to nine metres earlier, but had stayed out as far as I could because in the past that's where the majority of fish have been found on the strips when it's cold.

 My next match is with JV club on Cedar on Sunday, followed by Spratts' Christmas match, with prizes, on Oak on Wednesday. No matter how cold, I must try mussel - Peter Maskell came down to me after our match had finished and estimated he had had 150 lb on Oak, fishing just four sections, and all he used was mussel.

JV club give me a great welcome

 Peg 6, Elm, Decoy
I've never been on a cruise, but I've spoken to several who have, and it's obvious that it's not just being on the sea for two weeks that they remember - it's the whole experience: eating, meeting new people, visiting new places, learning new things, watching fiery sunsets, dinner with the captain etc etc...

 Well that's why I go matchfishing. It's not just a question of going out, catching fish and going home. And that's why my first match and experience with JV Angling Club was so enjoyable. They drew under cover in the cafe, where you can get a coffee, they took all my details and gave me a club book with all the venues. The anglers were chatty on the bank before we started, and after the match there was no tearing hurry to start the weighing-in, which meant I could take pictures and follow the scales all round.

Fairly calm at the start, but the cold North-Easterly picked up during the match.

Then - best of all - nearly all the anglers, many of whom I know (and most of whom are better than me), adjourned to the cafe for the results, where everyone was very free with the information about how they caught (or didn't catch). Frankly just that 20 minutes was worth all the money and time spent. I learned an awful lot - none of it guaranteed to do me any good in the next few matches, but all of it worth remembering. Finally, I was invited to their subsidised Christmas dinner! What a reception for a newcomer...

Trevor Dunkley, to my right, had three carp and half-a-dozen bream for his
25 lb 10 oz total, taken mainly at 13 metres.

Houston - I had a problem!
The match itself was, for me, dire. I managed just three bream and a carp for 12 lb 7oz, losing two foulhooked carp. That was last on the lake, except for a DNW, and almost last in the match, which was a pairs event held on Elm and Oak, with the pairs being drawn after the result. 

However, I certainly wasn't upset, as I had a sort of good excuse - my 11-metre pole section broke before the start, it couldn't be telescoped, and so far as I could ascertain almost all the fish on my bank were caught out at about 13 metres or more. Meanwhile I was limited to less than 10 metres. And also, as I had half expected, the better swims on our lake were at the far end, just past me.

Lee Kendall won our lake with 77 lb 14 oz, from Peg 14...

...including several barbel like this one, all taken on maggot.

We had a cold North-easterly in our faces which probably accounted for the fact that few, if any, fish were caught in our margins, while opposite most of the anglers caught some fish in their margins, which were shielded from the wind. Top on our lake was Lee Kendall on Peg 14, who fished long to the platform on his right with maggot for 77 lb 14 oz, a lot of his fish being barbel. And every one of the anglers I spoke to afterwards had caught their fish on maggot.

My old mate Ron Cuthbert took his 42 lb 4 oz in his left margin on Peg 16.

My first bream came to pellet, the second on corn, and the carp and the final bream on dead maggot. One interesting fact was that Smug Whiting on Oak took a section-winning 65 lb 7 oz between about noon and 1 pm and never had another bite. That shows me that the fish are in pockets, as you would expect now temperatures are falling.

The result of my lake. Lee Kendall won the pairs when drawn with Smug who was on Oak 24.

The result from Oak lake, which fished a little better than Elm.

For those interested, here is the Jon Whincup Winter League result from Beastie Lake,
held on the same day. As you can see, the weights are definitely falling in the colder weather.

So my first JV match was a really good experience, and I expect to fish with them every Sunday during the Winter. My next Spratts match tomorrow, Tuesday, is on Cedar, where I expect to be concentrating on maggot. Obviously.

Five hours for seven fish on Damson, Decoy.

 Life never ceases to surprise me. On one hand there are protesters glueing themselves to roads hoping that someone being held up in a vehicle will die, giving them publicity without the chance of any single one being found guilty of causing the death. And on the other hand there’s Kwik Fit at Huntingdon; bear with me.

My brother was recently over from his home in Africa, and while driving from London to see us his front wheels started shaking at 60 mph. A trip to my local Kwik Fit saw the mechanics there put the car on a ramp and check all the wheels. They didn’t need balancing, they said – the problem was a loose joint in the steering, which should be looked at but which was not dangerous. While the car was there they noticed a nail in a tyre, so took the wheel off and changed it for the spare.

The cost of this hour’s work? “No Charge”. Oh that fish were as obliging as that!

Peg 6, Damson, Monday. Nov 8
This Spratts club match was the  most recent occasion on which fish had their chance to humiliate me...and they did it in Spades. Nothing the matter with Peg 6 - Shaun Buddle had been third on it the previous week, and before this latest match he was showing me an amazing video he had taken there the previous Friday, on a practice session.

Warm and flat calm - a memorable Autumn day (for all the wrong reasons)

This video showed a pod of perhaps 30 carp to about 4 lb right in front of the platform, playing on the surface. It stayed there, he told me, all day. After a short, boring session catching them (it was so easy) he decided to time himself catching 50 of them. It took him just 90 minutes...

Then, just before our match, it happened again - a dozen or so good fish started playing in the margin of my Peg 6, oblivious to us watching them. Just before the match started they drifted off to Peg 7, where Trevor Cousins waited, in trembling anticipation, to start the match.

The fish didn't stay long
It took just minutes for the pod to melt away completely when we started, but Trevor made hay in that time, catching four or five quickly on a banded pellet. What happened to me? Sure enough as soon as my rig hit the surface fish appeared...and tried to eat my float! They ignored the expander, giving me lots of bites which were obviously liners. But I caught not a single fish in that first 30 minutes.

Trevor Cousins was into action within seconds of the match starting.

Deflated was not the word, because Shaun on Peg 5 to my left was also hitting fish, in the deeps, on a very soft paste. I went out to the deep water on a 2+1 with corn and eventually took one about 1 lb. Trevor was still catching odd fish in the shallow margins - perhaps one every ten minutes, so I came back and managed two on cat meat.

Royally hammered
Then over an hour passed in which I was royally hammered both side and I never had a fish. I really did try. Honest. One more came on soft paste in the deeps, where Shaun was still catching fish every few minutes. Then another in the margins on a small piece of meat, at which time several fish from 4 lb to 6 lb started feeding in the shallow water to my right. It seemed impossible that I wouldn't catch there.

So I went overdepth, laying line on the bottom, and sure enough big fish came in...and ignored my bait. Then a bite - and I foulhooked a four-pounder which literally must have been asleep because it came in sideways, my hook in its dorsal fin, and was in my net in six seconds flat. Trevor was not impressed!

Shaun Buddle, on my left, was using a very soft paste, put into the deep water using a paste cup.

Then mussel hooked me a fish, which promptly came off. That left an hour in the match, in which time I lost another on paste, and took two more about 1 lb on cat meat in the margins, and another of 4 lb. Five hours...seven fish. I was convinced I would be last.

Martin Parker, former NFA Veterans National Champion,
struggled to 25 lb 15 oz on Peg 3.

The weigh in

On Peg 1, the one we all wanted,  Bob Barret had fished his usual feeder for 39 lb 2 oz, followed by Alan Porter, who had also had some on a feeder, with 44 lb 14 oz.. Shaun on Peg 5 said he had 46 carp, and they weighed 82 lb 4 oz. That was less than I had assumed, because they were smaller than the ones I had. My pitiful seven fish went 21 lb 5 oz, which was a lot more than I had estimated.

Trevor to my right weighed 50 lb 2 oz, having taken a couple of fish in the deeps, with all the rest from the margins to his left, where a few floating reeds came a sparse amount of cover for the fish. Then more weights followed, all a bit above mine, until we came to Peter Spriggs on 13, who had hammered out 119 lb 2 oz, mainly on cat meat, towards the corner. Give him a half-decent swim and he will make full use of it. 

Very well done, Peter - the latest in a succession of big weights which have blown the rest of us away.

Shaun Buddle led the field right the way down to the last Peg 13.

Plenty to smile at. Peter Spriggs wins yet again. Henceforth he will be known as End Peg Peter.

I was tenth, and it was frankly it was probably the worst club match I've fished for years - I can't remember the last time I was beaten both sides. I later realised I could have tried potting in maggots for those big margin fish, and I wondered if I had put in loads of bait whether that would have worked - but both sides of me used hardly any loosefeed at all. It's a funny old game...

My next match will be my first with JVAC at Decoy. No idea which lake they are fishing. There are very good anglers in the club, so I look forward to another roasting. 😉

A windy end to a good season for me - Damson, Decoy.

 Peg 11, Sunday, Nov 1
The forecast was right - high winds, and some rain, and we sought shelter from the rain behind Kevin Lee's van to do the draw. Thirteen of us fished this final Fenland Rods match of the season, pegged along the Eastern bank of Damson Lake, from pegs 1 to 13. It was the Les Bedford Memorial cup, to be presented by Wendy, his widow, and is always fished on Damson as it was Les' favourite Lake.

The first draws were greeted with groans - Peg 2 to Mike Rawson, and Peg 1, the favourite, to Peter Spriggs who doesn't make mistakes when he's given a fancied swim.

Peg 1 is narrow, with an aerator, and would have some shelter today from the Southerly winds, but chairman John Smith had told me he also rated Peg 13, in the far corner, which is snaggy but has been known to produce the winner - he has won himself there. My peg 11 had a tall bush to the left which looked inviting, but the wind was left to right, and presenting a bait there with any degree of good presentation would be difficult.

The match started in a strong wind, but the rain had stopped.
Both came back later with a vengeance!

A great start
Just before the match started the rain had stopped, and there was a big ripple on my swim, and I remarked to Callum, on my right, that if conditions stayed like that they would be great, because the wind was very slightly behind us. First drop into the shallows on my right saw a 1 lb-plus carp immediately on a 4mm expander, and two followed quickly - 5 lb in five minutes. Then, as happens so often on this lake, they vanished completely.

The next half hour saw one small fish from down the steep shelf to my left, and I decided I had to go out to the deep water - about 7 feet deep, on a top three. There was a big undertow against the wind, which was increasing, and dragging an expander or piece of corn along saw me with more fish to 2 lb, and 20 lb in the first 90 minutes. Callum, meanwhile was struggling for a fish.

Dick Warrener on Peg 5 had his umbrella pole bent
out of shape during the match - so why was he smiling?

Torrential rain
Heavy rain followed, and I was glad I had taken time to put my FlatBack umbrella up, sideways to the wind to my left, with two guy ropes and a storm cap screwed into a bank stick to steady it. Even so when the wind picked up from strong to ferocious (probably the strongest winds I've ever fished in) I could feel my box being moved around, because of course my brolly was clamped to my box, which was on the platform. Callum, with no umbrella, was absolutely drenched.

I believe that most of the others who had put up umbrellas had to take them down because of the wind, while Dick Warrener's central pole was bent out of shape by one massive gust. Then the wind turned through 60 degrees, to come into us from the left, and the undertow vanished...and my fish vanished with it. Meanwhile my cushion blew into the water once, and into my keepnet once.

Blue skies shining on me...
I waited until the wind had abated slightly before I dare get off my box to see a man about a wee dog, and Kevin next door told me had had just three fish. So I was perhaps doing OK as Callum had only four or five, including a couple on a feeder. Another hour with nothing followed, but eventually some blue skies arrived and I took a chance and took down the umbrella. That enabled me to use my landing net at the full four-metre length, as I had been using just one section because of the restrictions of the umbrella.

Mike Rawson enjoyed himself on Peg 2,
weighing in 31 lb 6 oz for seventh place -
one more fish would have put him fifth.

Four pole sections was the most I could handle in the wind all day, but that did produce a couple to corn. However with 90 minutes remaining I still had only about 25 lb. I put maggots into the shallow water and got bites immediately - from tiny roach. I gave that ten minutes before deciding that the carp wouldn't come that close in. Then I tried drawing a grain of corn in slowly along the bottom, from four sections out right into the deep shelf, which could be reached on a top two, and suddenly had a fish right against the shelf, where I hadn't had any previously.

I find fish at the bottom of the slope
I had to make something happen, so I started putting in half-a-dozen grains close in, and that brought the odd carp. In the next hour I had eight or nine to 2 lb, and three on the last three put-ins, best 3 lb. The match finished just as they had really started to feed. I estimated I had about 40 lb in my two nets.

 Presentation was difficult all day because of the wind, and I messed around with the shot, finding, strangely, that most fish came when there was only one size 12 Stotz on the last 18 inches of line. And whenever the wind dropped a little I seemed to get more indications.

Shaun Buddle on Peg 6 brings in his third-placed catch.

I never lost a fish all day, and thought I had done OK, as Callum had struggled right to the end. However, Dave Garner in the corner peg 13 had had some carp down the shelf towards the end. And at that moment, as the match finished, the wind started to definitely ease, following the Law Of Sod.

The weigh in
I managed to get down to Peg 1 to see Peter finish weighing and was astonished to see that while our pegs still had a big ripple on, the end four or five  here had almost a flat surface. They obviously had had to contend with the same gale-force wind and rain that we all endured, but someone pointed out to me that the high bank opposite and the huge straw stack beyond it had, when the wind turned, given their water some shelter. Whether that helped presentation I know not, but I strongly suspect it did a little.

Anyway, Peter weighed in 134 lb 10 oz, to win easily. Like good poker players, he takes advantage of any luck going, which is why he has such a good record. Beat Peter and you'll almost always frame. But today nobody could!

Dave Garner caught much bigger fish than the
rest of us, using a waggler and cat meat.

From there the weights dived, with Shaun Buddle on 6 weighing 47 lb 14 oz, while I ended with 45 lb 10 oz. In the corner Dave Garner had fished a waggler out beyond the range of our top fours, and had found much bigger fish on cat meat in the first hour or two. That shot him into runner-up position with 84 lb 3 oz, and I finished fourth.

A mistake
I spoke to the top three afterwards and they all used cat meat or paste. But I didn't. I stuck to corn, which was probably a big mistake, as a heavier bait would have been presented differently to a grain of corn, and that might have worked for me. So I admit to Operator Error. My excuse is that the wind blew away my brains!

After the match

Winner of the Les Bedford Memorial cup, Peter Spriggs,
with part of his 134 lb 10 oz catch.

We have voted not to have a presentation evening because current Covid rules would not make it viable for us, so presentations were made on the bank. Peter received his cup from Wendy, Allan Golightly received his Club Cup, won on the first match of the season while he was literally fishing in the face of a snowstorm, and the Handicap medals were presented and hung round out necks. Peter was third, I was second, and Callum the winner. I was still knackered after packing up and didn't think to take pictures.

The Club Champion

The final result announced was the Club Champion, which is based on the results of all our matches - no poor matches dropped. The idea is to reward the anglers who support the club most by fishing the most, but none of us except Mel and John, had any idea of who it might be. In fact Peter was announced as third, Kevin (who has won several times) was second, and I was first.

Me, sporting my second-placed Handicap medal and the overall
Club Champion cup. A good season.

So to great fanfare and a roll of drums ( I couldn't actually hear them)  I was presented with the cup by Mel, in the absence of his son Matthew, who collates all the results, but who was absent today citing the fact that he has just given birth to another baby boy. Well, you know what I mean. Congratulations to them.

I have, in fact, won this cup once before in 2015, and I think, from memory,  that since then I have never been lower than third. Kevin had at least two weeks off this season, while I can remember taking only one week off, so to some extent there's a certain amount of luck attached to winning the cup. And perhaps that's as it should be!

Next match next Monday with Spratts, also on Damson. I should have a waggler ready, but it's not what I'm best at. No - my best bet is to get Peg One...