Three days on different fisheries

 Friday, May 13, Fields End, Doddington, near March

No matches in the week, so John Smith and I went to Fields End, where I wanted to practice fishing banded pellet and paste, neither of which I do much of.

I take these occasional practice sessions seriously, so took just pellets of various sizes and paste, plus a little leftover hemp which I had frozen, and half a tin of cat meat which had been frozen inside the tin of hemp. And surprisingly - being as how it was Friday the Thirteenth - it went fairly well for me.

I started on a pellet waggler cast about 30 yards in this old irrigation reservoir, and had a 2 lb chub first cast. Four more followed, plus a small carp, until they disappeared. I spent the next hour or two catapulting out just four or five 6mm pellets at a time, but apart from liners and a couple of small roach, I drew a blank. So it was on the pole on four sections, in the deep water, on banded pellet.

This was also difficult, and I had about two small carp; then another session on the pellet waggler brought an immediate near-4 lb ide, which came in like a wet rag. Meanwhile John was taking carp around 4 lb or 5 lb on a top two on his paste. I resisted the temptation to come inside, where I know there are usually plenty of fish, until the last couple of hours. 

Those last two hours saw me start catching quite well on a top two using paste over micros and hemp. I tried Sonubaits One-On-One mix, but it seemed a bit flaky, though I did catch on it - fish up to 4 lb. My home-made paste based on Trigger (a basic boilie mix) did much better, as the various ingredients I have added made it stick on the hook really well, even when wet. First drop with cat meat brought a fish, but then it stopped working and paste was King.

John clicked over 150 lb, while I had perhaps 60 lb, but I left feeling that my confidence in paste was now sky-high, and I spent much of the next morning experimenting. I had been particularly impressed with John's bowl of Supercrush groundbait which made up a nice paste, but I haven't bought any yet - I have four different balls of paste in the freezer for when the occasion demands.

All-round a good day for me, even though the banded pellet didn't work very well. 

Sunday, May 15, Kingsland, Coates, Whittlesey

I forgot to take my phone to this Fenland Rods match, so no pictures. Eight fished and I drew Peg One, the swim in the first corner you come to on the small carp lake. I've always fancied it as there's a big reed bed just to the left (about eight feet away) and in front of the swim. It looks carpy because of the snags, and on this occasion there were hundreds of carp in the swim just to my right - spawning.

I've never seen so many carp together splashing about - they were there until half an hour before the end of the match, drifting in to the side in just a few inches of water. They came in pods of six or eight, and sometimes on their own. I could have netted dozens, and while it was an amazing sight it meant that I couldn't fish the margin, while everyone else seemed to be doing so, and I resigned myself to probably coming last.

A fish first cast
First cast and I managed to drop a floating expander into the mouth of a cruising carp (surface fishing is allowed here, and is very popular with pleasure anglers). Then the fish seemed to go off the loose feed I had put in, though I did see a sad sight...

Four carp were coming up for my floating pellets, but couldn't seem to actually take them in - they were just pushing them all over the swim with their snouts. Then I realised that they all had deformed mouths, and that led me to wonder whether some of the 'liners' I would get were fish that couldn't take the bait in. Food for thought. I spent half an hour trying for another on the surface but then had to give up. The other anglers didn't seem to be bagging.

Fish on corn, and problems
Anyway, I soon went to potting in half-a-dozen grains of corn three sections out, in about three feet of water, and dropping my bait on top. The thinking was that since there were lots of fish around I didn't need to attract them - just tempt one at a time to be curious enough to come in to the dropping bait and perhaps have a go. That worked and brought me a lot of bites, a lot of hooked fish, and some catastrophes. I would hook a fish, play it for a few seconds on my thick orange hollow elastic, but when it came to a certain spot opposite my lefthand keepnet it would suddenly put on a remarkable turn of speed and make for the reeds in the corner.

Time after time I had to grit my teeth and hang on, but more often than not the fish either pulled off, broke the 6 lb line at the hook, or snagged me in the reeds and came off. I was reluctant to use a 10 lb rig I had made up as I didn't want a fish to snag itself in the reeds with that attached. I've never had that elastic stretched so far.

I break a section
I lost about five rigs, and each one meant that I had to get off the box, pick up my special long hook, and try to at least get the elastic back. I managed that, and sometimes got the float back as well; but one time as I moved around the box I must have pushed against my Number Three section and it broke clean in half. Luckily I always carry a spare short Number Three, but it's still annoying.

I have never, ever, in 65 years fishing, hooked fish with such strength. I have to assume that as they were willing to feed, the fish I was hooking were full of the fishy equivalent of testosterone and ready to spawn, though none of them seems to hold spawn. Perhaps they had just done so.

I had tried cat meat but it was nibbled away by the little carp about 1 oz each, with just one coming on sweetcorn - and that was foulhooked! But to my right I knew Kevin would be using cat meat, and he was catching now. I resisted the temptation to put in a load of bait to bring a bite as I know that would just bring in the tiny fish.

If that sound arrogant, then all I can say is that there's not point in getting experience over many years if you don't take notice of previous lessons learned.

Ready to pack up
After an hour and a half I had 25 lb, then bites tailed off, and then they came back and the same thing happened - lost fish. I was so fed up that with 50 lb in the net I got up and had a walk to Dave Garner in the famous Peg 17, on its own, who said he had 120 lb on cat meat, but had lost fish in the same reed bed. Back to the swim and after another couple of lost fish I was seriously thinking of packing up, so had a walk to Kevin Lee, who had 90 lb. That short walk settled me down a little.

Back to my swim and I did the only thing I could - I got out the strongest solid elastic I had - Middy blue (think it's about 18-20) and cut off a foot to tighten it right up. That did the trick! The last two hours brought about another 50 lb, though even then a couple took me into the reeds in the left margin and I lost the hook. I could see them wallowing in the reeds before they came free - only about 4 lb.

The weigh-in
I had just got into a rhythm when the match ended and was amazed to see the weights up to me - much lower than I had assumed. Kevin Lee on Peg 3 to my right had 170 lb 4 loz, and I know he had a lot from the margin, and my 105 lb 11 oz was second with just Dave Garner to weigh. He had a magnificent 204 ln 3 oz on cat meat, leaving me third. You could have knocked me over with a pole float.

Result: 

1 Mac Campbell        105 lb 11 oz        3rd

2 Allan Golightly        79 lb 6 oz

3 Kevin  Lee                170 lb 4 oz       2nd    

4 Peter Spriggs            84 lb 11 oz 

5 Martin Parker            50 lb 8 oz

6 Callum Judge            83 lb 12 oz

7 Dick Warrener            41 lb 5 oz

17 Dave Garner            204 lb 3 oz        1st

Monday, May 16, Elm Lake, Decoy

I got into a bit of a Tiswas, thinking the match was on Oak (that's next week) so when 21 came out for John Smith I told him he was on a flier. In fact 21 on Elm is not at the end I would have chosen - I would have picked anywhere from 8 down to 12 and the opposite bank from 13 back to 17. Peg 6 came out for me, and I didn't expect to win from there. Still, I was going to enjoy myself.

Calm water near our bank for a lot of the time, but a nice ripple later.

There are barbel on Elm, so after putting some micros and corn out to five sections of pole I started inside on maggot over deads and hemp, to my left, which was the most comfortable side as the sun was in from the right. The cool wind was behind or from the right most of the time. I got liners immediately, but they wouldn't turn into proper bites. Eventually a 3 lb carp came in, then a bream about 2 lb.

More bream

I concentrated on the bream and four more came in, with the last one of about 3 lb doing a passable imitation of a leaping trout. But no carp. To my right Peter Harrison seemed to be struggling for a fish, sometimes fishing long and then closer, and eventually in the margin.

In the middle two hours of the match two carp about 4 lb came from my long swim on corn, then an F1 from the margin on maggot, and finally another 3 lb carp on the long swim. I now had 22 lb. To my left ninety-something Joe Bedford had had four quick fish on a feeder, which left me wondering whether I should have used one. Another three came in later, but I felt that perhaps things would get better in my swim on the pole line.

Bob Barrett was on 23 - the worst end of the
lake, but had one very big fish in his 26 lb 1 oz

Ninety minutes left and the sun had moved round sufficiently far for me to look in the right margin, where the shallow swim didn't yield any bites when I had a quick look there. So it was into the deep water about six feet from the bank. And there I had a bite (which I missed) on corn over corn.

My best-ever carp?

A little later and all hell broke loose when I hit the next bite. I thought at first I had hooked a bream, as a fish came slowly towards me. Then it sort of stopped and took a deep breath, and plodded off towards the middle of the lake. I was on hollow 10/12 elastic and in no time it was stretched out about 35 yards - I know this because the fish splashed almost in front of Bob Allen who was opposite - he looked up and probably didn't realise I was attached to a fish which was about to jump into his keepnet.

But the hook held and over the next few minutes I would strip back the elastic so the fish was about ten feet away, then it would turn and go and have another look at the far bank. Backwards and forwards we went, with the fish playing me quite expertly. Then, though I could hardly believe it, the fish started to come to the surface for a few seconds and I thought I might possibly land it after all. I could see it was a mirror.

My big fish was really broad across the shoulders and 
looked about 17 lb. Sorry about the anguished look on my face!

My juggling act

My problem was that the fish was so big it wouldn't be possible for me to scoop it out as it cruised past. And indeed I had to lay it on the surface and literally juggle it into the net because when its head was well into the net a lot of its body was still outside. Then just as I started to lift the net the fish came alive again and threatened to drag the net out of my hand. But luck was on my side and it came in.

When I looked at it in the net I was astonished how broad it was across the shoulders - I estimated it at 17 lb. So I had 39 lb in the first net.

Not finished yet

Minutes later I foulhooked another fish which shot off for the far bank but came off and trashed the float. I took the opportunity to change the 10/12 hollow elastic for a 13 solid, put on another rig and dropped in again - less than 15 minutes left. Now Peter Harrison was starting to catch fish as well.

John Garner, fourth with 81 lb 10 oz, with a barbel.

Ten minutes later a 3 lb carp took my corn bait. Two minutes left and I dropped in again...and hooked another biggie. This one didn't go quite so far as the first, but it insisted it wanted to pay a visit to the platform on my right, which was unoccupied. It must have reached it eight times, but always came back to me. That was landed several minutes after the match finished and was about 10 lb - a common.

The weigh in and a change of name

As I had thought, the best weights were all past me to the left, at the Northern end of the strip lake. Peter Spriggs won with 95 lb 6 oz from Peg 10, not on his usual paste, but on cat meat. So now he's not Peter The Paste, he's Pete The Meat! 

Winner with 95 lb 6 oz, and no longer Peter The Paste,

Peter Spriggs will henceforth be known as Pete The Meat!

Happy to come second - Shaun Buddle.

Alan Porter, third with 86 lb 3 oz from Peg 17.

Peter Chilblain Chilton shows just how big some of the barbel have grown.

RESULT

24                                                                            1

23 Bob Barrett        26 lb 1 oz                                2 Trevor Cousins        32 lb 9 oz

22                                                                            3

21 John Smith          29 lb 7 oz                             4 Peter Harrison            50 lb 12 oz

20                                                                            5

19 Bob Allen            30 lb 12 oz                             6 Mac Campbell            59 lb 10 oz

18                                                                            7 Joe Bedford            41 lb 2 oz

17 Alan Porter          86 lb 3 oz      3rd                   8 

16                                                                             9 John Garner            81 lb 10 oz    4th

15 Peter Chilton        60 lb 9 oz                              10 Peter Spriggs        95 lb 6 oz        1st 

14                                                                            11

13 Shaun Buddle      91 lb 6 oz     2nd                   12 Martin Parker        26 lb 10 oz

Shaun Buddle was second in corner peg 13, and I was happy to be sixth and top weight on our end of the lake. with 59 lb 10 oz, but we didn't weigh that big carp. My previous best, weighed, was 16 lb 8 oz. I think my position was the best I could have expected from that swim. But it seemed that almost everyone else had barbel, while my tactics of targetting them had brought unexpected bream. It's a funny old game.