Win in the Willows; But Beaten By Beastie

 Peg 1, Willows, Sunday, June 26
A quality field of five lined up for this Fenland Rods club match, the entry having been depleted by illness, injury, work, holidays, wives, fire, pestilence, earthquakes and other common obstructions to fishing that have to be borne by even the most ardent angler.

We decided not to run a Golden Peg, and to fish the odd-numbered swims on Willows  from 1 to 9. I thought that was unfortunate when I walked round to John Smith on peg 9, who had the strong wind at his back, with calm water immediately in front of him, while in peg 1 I had it bang into my face. A good Raspberry Ripple is never a guarantee of having a good swim, of course, but I believe that when fish are finicky - as they are at the moment - they often gravitate towards rough water when they feed. They will still swim around in calm water, of course, but they are les inclined to feed well there. It's good conditions for mugging, and catching out the odd fish that instinctively grabs the bait, but I'm not good at that.

My left margin was next to tall reeds. The island is at about 8 metres.

My right margin. Allan on 3 is the first one round the corner, past the aerator.

A good start
So in Summer I will almost always opt for a swim with a good wind on it...and peg 1 certainly had that in Spades! I could fish to the island in front if me with nine metres, and started there, getting two or three small F1s and a skimmer bream on a 4mm expander, before having a look in the left margin with corn. The result was roach to about 4 oz - better than nothing but not what I hoped for. But a drop out into the deeper water, about eight feet from the bank, brought a 12 lb common (we weighed it later) on cat meat, but not much else. Forty minutes gone.

The next couple of hours were spent mainly on the longer swim, but with a few drops into a deepish hole to my right, where I hit my second 'proper' carp of about 5 lb, and lost another. I also had a look in the right margin, with corn, and among the roach there were a few F1s to 2 lb. So halfway through the six-hour match I had about 30 lb, but had had lots of half-hearted bites which looked as if they were from roach but which almost always turned out to be from small F1s when I hit the fish.

I saw Allan catch a good fish or two halfway through the match.

'Crack'
A quick look on the longer swim brought a bite or two from small fish, but when I lifted the pole into another bite Snap! the Number Six section broke near the top end, making it impossible to telescope it.

Luckily I had been using a dolly butt on the end, which I was able to reverse into Number Five section, and take another fish or two, but still with missed bites, some of which took my corn, so  I knew then that the bites were not from roach but from carp or F1s taking the bait between their lips and somehow taking it from the hook when I struck, without my feeling a thing....

Then, slowly, the fish seemed to take the bait more confidently. I had seen Allan Golightly on Peg 3 land a couple of good carp and suspected that I wasn't making the most of what we had all agreed was probably the best swim today. So I reverted to the tactic that has worked well for me this season - potting in micros and hemp to attract fish, then putting in just three or four grains of corn and dropping my bait on top, in the right margin.

Ninety minutes to go
That worked quite well, and with 90 minutes to go I started on my second net. A 3 lb F1 went in, and then I hit another big fish in the snout - and when they are hooked like that they are the Devil's own job to land. While I was playing that fish Kevin Lee, who had a terrible fall a couple of weeks ago, breaking some ribs and injuring a lung, paid us a surprise visit, just in time to see me land it - around 10 lb. Kevin sauntered round the lake, speaking to everyone, and by the time he had left Allan on the next peg I had landed another 8 lb in two fish.

Dave Garner's catch of 43 lb 3 oz taken his usual waggler and cat meat.

When that swim slowed I took a chance and put bait into the shallow left-margin swim I had tried earlier and Yes - carp came in. Two more proper carp around 5 lb were my reward. The wind undoubtedly helped, but there was a downside in that there was a definite undertow taking the rig out from the bank, while the buffeting wind made it difficult to hold the rig in place and to lift it that tiny amount which often produced the bite.

I was also adding an occasional F1 to the net, and by the time the match finished I reckoned I had nearly 40 lb in that net, with 37 lb in the first. It's difficult to estimate accurately when some of the fish are only a few ounces, so I erred on the safe side when I started the second net. I thought it likely that some of the others had similar catches, and that the four good fish I had lost (possibly foulhooked) could have cost me dear.

The weigh-in
Even before we started the weighing Allan said "Well done" to me - so he obviously had some idea that the others had all struggled. I was first to weigh - the second net, taken in the last 90 minutes, to my amazement went just over 50 lb, and the first was 46 lb 2 oz, total 96 lb 2 oz, and that led all the way round. As I had guessed, John in the calm water had struggled his way to just 26 lb 9 oz, taken mainly up in the water on a waggler, cast across to the island, in the ripple.

Mel Lutkin - runner-up with 51 lb 2 oz taken on paste, cat meat and worm.

So a satisfying win for me, but I have to get the Number Six section mended, together with a Number Three I sat on a few weeks ago. I have three spares for that (I always carry a spare short Number Thee), so I didn't bother to take it in as soon as I broke it. 

My dilemma
I wonder whether the sunlight and the Ultra-violet light have combined to degrade the pole, in which case other breaks might soon follow. I've had it six years (over 400 matches), and it was secondhand when I bought it, so I may have to start looking around for another.

It's a Browning Z12 - a top-line pole - but I rarely use it at 16 metres, so may decide that I don't need that class of pole in future. The problem is that the best 14.5-metre poles (ie light and strong) are those made at 16 metres. Decisions, decisions!

THE RESULT

THE END

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Peg 22, Beastie, Monday, June 27

And so to Beastie (as Samuel Pepys might have written if he'd ever fished at Decoy), where the wind was still a blustery South-Westerly, with rain forecast. Nevertheless I would still have picked Peg 18, facing the wind, as my preferred swim, as I've had several good catches from there, including my best--ever match weight..

Having had the best peg in our match the previous day I was hopeful of a repeat. So 11 of us from the Spratts club, panting in anticipation, watched Trevor do the draw. First name out of the lefthand bag was Trevor himself. That was followed by: "Peg 18" and a barely-stifled groan from the rest of us. No matter - pegs 30 and 29 were still in the bag  but they went to Peter Spriggs (30) and Bob Barrett (29). I was drawn Peg 22.

Horrible margins

Pegs 21 to 24 are rated highly by the top locals, who favour fishing either a feeder across to the island 50 yards away, or a long pole, as the margins along here are not ideal - the bank has crumbled in several places, giving a horrible bumpy bottom against the bank. But I would be forced to fish with a maximum of five sections, so first of all I put up a feeder rod, cast to the island, and clipped up.

Peg 22, with the island about 50 yards away, and calm water on the inside.

The water was fairly calm for the first few metres out, as the wind was over the right shoulders of the three of us on this bank, so a feeder cast into the rougher water by the island was the obvious choice as a starter. However, by the time the match started I had fancied fishing a pole as fish were moving not too far out.

A great start for Trevor

First drop with a 6mm expander brought nothing, so I quickly changed to a 4mm, just in time to see Trevor, on 18 way over to my left, already playing a good carp, hooked in his right margin, which he put into his keepnet. I had a 3 oz bream almost immediately, and as I was putting it into the net I glanced up to see Trevor playing another good fish. He told me later that after those two he had mainly F1s for the next hour or two.

Back to my swim for another small fish or two, and a quick look into the first level spot I could find to my left, about eight feet out from the bank, brought just a tiny tap or two on corn. Back out, and a 6 lb carp took corn, and for the next hour I concentrated on that swim, with the occasional small F1 or bream coming in, plus another carp around 5 lb.

I take a wander

After a couple of hours, with 20 lb on my clicker,  I wandered up to my right to John Garner on 24, who said he had about 11 lb. Martin Parker, on 26, had flat calm water and said he had just a small perch. So perhaps I was not doing too badly. And as I knew John had started on a feeder I thought that perhaps I hadn't made a bad choice by not yet using it.

Back to my swim, and I found that if I fished about one inch overdepth with corn, and allowed the float to move against the wind, with the undertow, until it started to go under the surface, I could just hold the top up, and hold it there until a bite came. Moving the bait didn't work well - I had to be patient.

One more nice carp came, plus F1s, and I lost three probably foulhooked, which I felt I really needed. Then, sure enough, it rained.

Torrential rain and gnomes

Two or three small showers were followed by 15 minutes of torrential rain, when the heavens opened, and it was coming down so hard I thought it was hail. John Garner and Martin Parker had put up their umbrellas, but I hadn't, and Joe Bedford, Alan Porter and Trevor couldn't, as it was in their faces. I peered out from under my peaked jacket hood and the three of them sat there, hunched up like garden gnomes!

After that the wind died down just a little, meaning I had even less ripple. But fish still came from the long swim, until with 38 lb lb on my clicker and an hour to go I had another look in the lefthand side swim on a top two.

Now the tiny little taps eventually turned into proper bites, and two or three big F1s, best 3 lb, came in. They gave quite a distinctive fight - it was obvious they were not huge carp, because they didn't pull out a lot of the 13 hollow elastic, but they just would not give in. They fought like little barbel.

Mussel works at the end

Twenty minutes left and I put in some chopped mussels and put half a mussel on the hook. Immediately a 4 lb F1 took the bait, then another couple of F1s, and next drop a beautiful golden common carp around 8 lb also came in. Last fish was a 4 lb common. I thought I probably should have been more positive and fished that swim earlier, but you can't do everything, especially when you are putting fish into the net.

The weigh-in

I wandered up to Trevor's swim, to find that my phone, which I had forget to charge overnight, had no charge left after taking a picure of my swim. So no other pictures. Oh for the old-type mobiles which would go for days without being charged...

My first "38 lb" net went 46 lb and the second net, started with an hour to go, went 26 lb - total 72 lb 13 oz, which was already behind Trevor, who had 97 lb 1 oz, having lost some very big fish under the bridge - the main hazard in that swim.

To my right John had struggled to 23 lb 8 oz, while Martin, having landed a 12 lb salmon from the Tweed last week, came down to earth with five carp up in the water for  28 lb 3 oz. Then round to favoured pegs 29 and 30.

Good weights from 29 and 30

On 29 Bob Barrett had, I assume, fished his favourite feeder, probably cast to the island, for 95 lb 14. Next door peg 30 would have also had calm water for some way out. But Peter Spriggs is a very good angler, and it's a peg with nice margin features, so I was not surprised that he won with 109 lb 11 oz on the pole, even with not much ripple.

Pegs 3, 4 and 5 would have had rain in their faces, but  even so they all caught fish, with the top weight there 61 lb 11 oz from Peter Harrison on 5, which left me in fourth spot, and I was happy with that, given that the three pegs I most fancied took the top three weights.

Next two matches are on Yew, which tends to be the moodiest of the four strip lakes, but the carp are big, and they dominate, with fewer bream and barbel than on the other lakes. As attendances at the Fenland Rods matches have been so depleted this year the Club Championship will be almost meaningless, so I might concentrate on mussels for next Sunday's match, as I know they can take big catches of big carp.

THE RESULT

3 Bob Allen                  31 lb 15 oz

4 Peter Barnes             50 lb 3 oz

5 Peter Harrison          61 lb 1 oz

15Joe Bedford            34 lb 7 oz

17 Alan Porter            41lb 2 oz

18 Trevor Cousins      97 lb 1 oz          2nd

22 Mac Campbell       72 lb 13 oz        4th 

24 John Garner           23 lb 8 oz

26 Martin Parker        28 lb 3 oz 

29 Bob Barrett            95 lb 14 oz         3rd 

30 Peter Spriggs        109 lb 11 oz        1st    

Two matches in two days on Six-Island and Yew (Decoy)

Peg 16, Six-Island, Friday, June17
This was that forecasted heatwave day, fished in bright sunshine; but a stiff cool wind made it just a warm Summer's day. Unfortunately for me that wind was over my right shoulder, giving me and Trevor Cousins, fishing 14 on the righthand bank, very little ripple. It didn't bother Trevor, as his main tactic was always going to be mugging the big fish you could see swimming aimlessly around just under the surface. 

The high banks behind and to my right gave me a fairly calm surface.
But I always prefer to have a bit of Raspberry Ripple. (Don't we all?)

However, the wind was blowing right into the far corner along the Northern bank, towards corner Peg 9,  and I guessed that that could scupper our chances of winning. For once I was right!

First cast Trevor mugged a fish that looked to me to be about 6 lb as he landed it. But I didn't see him get any more in the next half-hour. During that time I tried fishing just a single grain of corn down the track and then across to the island on 13 metres. The wind made perfect presentation impossible, though about 90 minutes after the start I somehow foulhooked a carp about 5 lb in the tail, but managed to land it.

I could see Bob Barrett on 12 catching fish on a
feeder. He ended with 62 lb 13 oz.

I concentrate on presentation
After that I concentrated on presentation close-in rather than trying to fish long, and eventually hooked a small F1 down in the left margin, where it was almost as deep as in the middle. I also had a look in the shallower margin farther along, hoping that one of the 'proper' carp that occasionally swirled there might have a go, but they didn't. All the time big mirrors and commons were swimming about in threes or fours, but not actually spawning, that I could see.

The next three hours I spent fishing as delicately as I could in the left margin, feeding literally two or three grains of corn at a time, for the F1s, and they came slowly, with fish to 3 lb, plus a few roach. The bites were tiny, and I ended up using my special method. I don't think I would have seen most of the bites unless I had. The bankside grass was blowing across my field of vision a lot of the time, making it very difficult and |I had to really concentrate. 

Alternating two swims
I had just one F1 from the longer shallower swim. After an hour or two I also put the occasional grain of corn into a new swim in front of me, on a top two, and  then alternated between these two swims, taking fish from both. I couldn't see Dick to my left nor Trevor catching a lot, so I kept doing that, taking the odd F1 until the last 40 minutes, when I looked in the shallower right margin as I could no longer see the big fish swimming about. To me that nearly always signals that they might come in and start feeding.

Shaun Buddle framed YET AGAIN in second place
 with 87 lb 3 oz from Peg 8.

First drop I had a 3 lb F1, and then decided I simply had to catch a better fish, so put on a mussel. Sure enough after five minutes I was playing a ten-pounder, and a few minutes after that was playing another the same size. Both ended up in my keepnet, and then the match finished.

The weigh-in
I caught up with the scales just in time to see Peter Spriggs, on Peg 6, weigh in the winning catch of 157 lb 7 oz, taken about six feet out from the bank on prawn. The wind here was strong, and as I had thought, put a lovely wave on the surface. 

Two swims to his left (the even numbers were used all round this part of the lake) Shaun Buddle was second with 87 lb 3 oz, and with Peg 10 not used, Bob Barrett  on the opposite bank was third with 62 lb 13 oz taken on a feeder from Peg 12.

Trevor had found six fish mugging, and added a few more to total 44 lb 8 oz, and my catch, thanks to those two late big fish, gave me 60 lb 12 oz for fourth place. I was very happy with that from a swim out of the wind.

Peter Spriggs, way ahead of everyone else with 157 lb 7 oz.

THE RESULT

1 John Garner         31 lb 3 oz

3 Alan Porter          30 lb 4 oz

4 Bob Allen            33 lb 13 oz

6 Peter Spriggs      157 lb 7 oz    1st

8 Shaun Buddle       87 lb 3 oz    2nd

12 Bob Barrett         62 lb 13 oz  3rd

14 Trevor Cousins   44 lb 8 oz

16 Mac Campbell    60 lb 12 oz   4th

18 Dick Warrener    20 lb 2 oz

20 Peter Chilton       27 lb 3 oz

22 Joe Bedford         13 lb 5 oz

24 Martin Parker      49 lb 4 oz

Peg 16, Yew, Saturday, June 18
It was the dreaded Peg 16 again for this waggler-only match. The wind had changed overnight from South-Westerly to North, meaning that Peg 16, in the corner of this strip lake, was flat calm, while the other swims, at least from 20 to 30, had at least some wind on them. That left me and Dick Warrener on 18 in the doldrums. With Kevin Lee recovering from a fall and Mike Rawson slowly recovering from a stroke, that left just eight of us on the bank (and I hadn't been looking forward to fishing this match anyway so it might as well have been just seven!)

Corner Peg 16 - flat as a pancake. Dick's swim on 18 wasn't much better.

An early start

Because wagglers are apparently easier to set up than poles the match started at 9.30 and was due to finish at 3.30. Of course I was behind (as always) and by 9.30 I had just two of my three waggler rods ready, but started anyway casting a pellet waggler fished at 18 inches deep over to the dozens of big fish that were swimming around like sharks, with their dorsal fins just showing.

I know they were big because they were also swimming around in front of me in threes and fours, and did that for five hours. In that time I eventually managed to drop the lassoed pellet on my rig in front of a pod of four, one of which smashed into the float and, to my eternal surprised, I found myself playing a four-pounder. hooked in the mouth. 

Dick Warrener managed to magic out three nice carp.

A kingfisher the most exciting moment

Next drop, and within ten seconds something hooked itself. It charged off and kept charging, and was probably two swims away when the hook pulled, with the fish well on its way to Bedford. 😒 In the next four hours there was just one notable incident which I remember - a kingfisher flashed out from the reeds to my right and shot over to the anglers on Oak lake. 

Frankly I was bored stiff, as without a pole I knew I couldn't present a bait delicately enough for the smaller fish like roach and F1s to take a bait in these conditions. And every now and then the rain started. I felt I honestly needed luck to catch a fish, and I hate leaving it all to luck! But I did fish really hard. Honest.

Callum Judge on Peg 20 found two early fish on cat meat fishing just beyond his rod tip.

Casters

With two hours to go and just the one fish in my net I started to throw casters out in front of me and to my left margin, where I had repeatedly put in my rig and cat meat, which had repeatedly been ignored by any fish that might have swum past. The casters had been riddled off that morning and the previous morning, from the maggots in my fridge, and to my delight most of them were sinkers. It seemed a pity to waste them, so into the water they went.

Three fish in total for Callum, weighing 25 lb 15 oz.

I had earlier also got up and put together my third waggler, a lighter rig baited with corn, which felt better.  Several times I came up with weed on the hook, and twice I pulled in a length of nylon, one of which was attached to a twig. Then, with about an hour left, things suddenly changed. 

Things change

From going around in threes and fours, the fish were swimming past on their own, and more slowly than earlier. That is a sure sign that they have finished whatever they were doing together and will, at some point, start looking for food. I also started getting liners, especially in the swim in front of me. Putting the casters in kept these liners coming, and I tried coming a few inches off bottom. The liners stopped, so I came shallower. Still no more liners. But when I went back down on the bottom the liners started again.

It was then I realised that they weren't liners, but fish knocking the bait. Twenty minutes left and I felt I had a chance of catching another fish or two. Dick, next to me, had two on cat meat dropped in beside the marginal reeds. Then I hit a fish in the margin which came off immediately.

Martin Parker - fourth with 29 lb 13 oz. He's had a poor 
season by his standards, but his results improved in
these two difficult matches.

Snagged!!!

 A minute or two after that I hit a fish from the other swim! But it was staying in the same place, kicking like mad, and not moving away sideways. Almost as if I was playing it through a drainpipe. Then it came off, and I am sure there is a length of nylon down there that the fish had been snagged on.  Bother!

Five minutes left and I looked up to see Dick playing something. A look back to my float and I was just in time to see it dancing along under the surface before diving.  I struck, and this one stuck - a double-figure mirror. I landed it, re-baited, dropped back...and within three seconds the match ended. I thought I would almost certainly come last.

The weigh-in

Dave Garner on 28 had about a dozen, fishing well out, but they were small and totalled 30 lb 13 oz. Most of the others had about three fish, but Mel Lutkin on 24 had seven on paste, for a winning 38 lb 2 oz. 

Mel Lutkin with his winning catch of 38 lb 2 oz, all taken on paste. How did he do that???

I did come last, and will think seriously about fishing a waggler-only match again.  The lack of wind on the water did for me, I think, but a pole might have helped, and would certainly have offered me more options. After all, you've got to enjoy it, haven't you?

THE RESULT

Next match is on Willows on Sunday; then Beastie on Monday. and Please Can I Have a Ripple - Raspberry or not?

I needed one more decent fish (as did several others) on Magpie, Pidley

 Peg 28, Magpie, Pidley
Peg 28 on the island at Magpie, and Golden Peg to boot! I was very happy with the draw until I saw that the swim, together with Pegs 1, 3, 5 and 30 (which was on my right), was calm in the bright sunshine, while the far four pegs, 7, 9, 11 and 13, had ripple in the West wind. In the event those ripple swims didn't fish as well as ours in the calm, So what do I know?

Nice to have sun, but a bit of Raspberry Ripple would have been nice!

I freely admit that while I caught fish, I should have had more. But I was exceedingly happy with the first hour, because I fished banded caster shallow - something I have not done before. And it worked! Six or seven carp and F1s from 1 lb to 3 lb in the first 45 minutes in four feet of water at about eight metres, set me up for the morning, though then they just refused to take the bait, although I could see them swirling, and I don't know why, as the weather conditions seemed the same. Had I fed heavily enough? I'd changed depth several times, finishing at about ten inches, but after that I couldn't get a touch. I had been putting in about 30 or 40 casters every minute - was that enough? I soldiered on for another 20 fishless minutes before having a look in the margins, already considering the day a success whatever else occurred.

Martin Parker, opposite on 5, had the best legs on display!

Into the margins

Now all the experts in magazines and on video insist that the margins should be left for later in a match, but on this lake they have always been a target much earlier for most match anglers. And yes, today I found some fish, after about ten minutes, in the right margin, about three feet deep, which I had primed with small cubes of luncheon meat, while also putting corn into the left margin. I had seen Dick on Peg 30, fishing three sections in front of him and landing a couple of good fish. I couldn't see Dick himself, but I could see his landing net go out. Later that preyed on my mind, as I had intended to start a swim there but never got round to it.

As time went on I gravitated farther along the right margin, just a couple of feet, where the water was a little deeper, towards the reeds, but I never had any sort of purple patch, and the fish were mainly less than 2 lb. I also lost two or three foulhooked - the fish seemed to be off bottom but knocking the bait about. I guessed that the others were finding it difficult, but I could see only John Garner and Martin Parker, on the opposite bank. Martin had some fish on feeder early on, but I didn't see much after that.

A beautiful-looking common of 13 lb 12 oz was my best fish.

Corn takes a good-un
A switch to the left margin with about two hours left, using corn, brought more fish, and I assumed that would be the case for the other competitors. That brought two or three nice sessions on corn, and occasionally cat meat, when I had fish in successive casts. I started alternating between the two, as the fish seemed really finicky, and that worked well. I included one on corn we later weighed at 13 lb 12 oz, which is big for that lake. It was a beautiful-looking common, and Dave Garner opposite nearly wet himself when he saw it in my landing net.

You would think that a fish like that would fight harder than the three-pounders, but in fact it came in quite quickly. As always I laid the pole level with the water surface when I hooked it, and it obligingly came to the surface, waving its tail at me. It was soon over the net, but as I prepared to lift it the fish kicked and made off. Fifteen seconds later it was over the net again, but not quite in position,  and it literally kicked itself over the rim. But 15 seconds later it glided in. Mind you, it found its energy in the net and I had the dickens of a job extracting the hook.

With 20 minutes left I made the decision to stay in that left margin swim, but to come in closer to the bank - just inches away, which produced another two fish. In fact I should have already been putting corn or pellets out at three sections in the deepest water, ready for a switch. I suspect that cost me the match.

Dave Garner, fishing a waggler and cat meat ,
caught the bulk of his fish in the last hour.

The weigh in
I estimated I had 70 lb, but felt I should have been able to get more, so was amazed when the first three (from 13 back to 9) all weighed in the 40s, with Callum on 7 then totalling 52 lb 2 oz. Then Martin Parker, who has had a torrid time this season, brought 95 lb 1 oz to the scales from Peg 5. It was one he fancied, as it has a good reputation, but I thought that was still a very good performance on a difficult day.

Dave Garner on 3, fishing his usual waggler and cat meat, had 50 lb 10 oz and he was followed by Shaun Buddle, who has been sweeping almost all before his this season, particularly in the two clubs we both fish with. Shaun threatened to overtake Martin, but his 92 lb 9 oz put him into second place.

Caught out on the clicker
Then round to me on the island, and I had severely underestimated my catch (had I forgotten to click?). It went 90 lb 2 oz on the scales. I tried to hold the big fish for a photo, but it obviously didn't like me (why would it?) and wriggled such that I had to put it in the landing net for the picture.

Dick Warrener fished a real tidy match, on my right, to beat me, with 92 lb 8oz.

Shaun Buddle - 92 lb 9 oz for runner-up spot (just!).

Finally there was extreme tension on Peg 30 (even more than wondering who Michael Owen's daughter will end up with on Love Island) when Dick Warrener threatened to overtake Shaun but the scales settled on a weight which left him an agonising ONE OUNCE short in third. So I finished fourth and (not for the first time) felt I should have started a longer swim, or even tried a change of bait during the slow spells. I could have put on worm, maggot, mussel, hard pellet, expanders, or paste. But I am an idiot.

Next match Friday on Six-Island at Decoy, followed the next day with a waggler-only match (rod and line -plus float fixed at the bottom only) on Yew. Not looking forward to that, but it's good for me to be forced to give it a go as I don't fish rod and line enough.

Martin Parker - winner with 95 lb 9 oz from Peg 5.

THE RESULT

Tight at the top...I was actually on Peg 28 and Dick Warrener on 30, approximately opposite 3 and 5.

A cold. strong wind makes it difficult on Cedar, Decoy

 Peg 24, Cedar, Decoy, Thursday, June 9
Yippee! A peg I really fancied, as it's near the car park end (the South end) and the West wind would be in my face. Unfortunately when we got down to the lake we found the wind there was quite cold, and jackets and fleeces were donned by most of us as we unpacked our vehicles. My hooded sweatshirt was fine but as the wind increased I had to put on a fleece...and I was still not warm.

To my left on corner peg 26 was Peter Spriggs, who has an enviable record everywhere, but particularly on that peg, where he has won in the past, and to my right was Shaun Buddle, who is having the run of his life, and winning almost every match he fishes. He can't stop catching fish! 

Nice-looking margins in my Peg 22, but hardly any flat spots.

Only one tiny feature in my peg
The whole time I was tackling up I didn't see a single fish move, and at the start the water seemed dead. My only real feature was a tiny bush just to the left of my platform - the rest of the margins, while looking superb for shallow fishing, actually turned out to be like Everest - tiny flat spots and deep drop-offs. The only decent area I could find was about two feet deep to my left, against the bank, at four sections of pole.

But while I stuck to my match plan the fishes didn't! Half-an-hour at five sections in front of me - the longest length I could reasonably fish in the wind - produced not a sausage (not even a chipolata). Then 20 minutes on a maggot feeder cast to the middle gave the same non-result. But I had one cast down the left margin and got a liner - my first of the day. At least there were some fish there.

So it was to my left on the tiny flat spot, which I had primed with dead maggots. Bites! From tiny little perch. But with hope truimphing over experience I kept catching them, until I got fed up. It's not fun hooking half-ounce fish on an 18 elastic. I had to change plans.

I could see Bob Barrett on the opposite bank catching fish
 on a feeder and pellet in the margins. Why didn't I try that?

A barbel at last
Out to my right, still at two feet deep, I let the bait swing into the underwater moonscape with no result except frustration. In desperation I dropped the rig in right beside the platform, and I thought the float dipped a little. So I did the right thing for a change, and plumbed up...to find it was at least four feet deep. Float up the line; maggots in; drop in; float goes under immediately; 4 lb barbel dashes out towards the middle!!! 😁

Safely in the net; drop in again; float smashes away even before the bait has hit bottom; barbel on; barbel off!!! 😧 Bugga. And no more bites there. Nor just beside the little protruding bush to my left, in the deep water, which I had primed with maggots hoping for barbel.

Trevor Cousins had 75 lb 15 oz for 7th place.

Now a perch
Now things became surreal - I caught a carp about 5 lb, but I'm blowed if I can remember how. But it was definitely there, in my keepnet and, buoyed up by my success I determined to catch another, so went into the shallow maggot swim with corn. First drop I hit something, probably a foulhooker, and next drop a 1 lb perch took the corn. A PERCH ON CORN? Well, the biggest perch I ever saw was 4 lb from the South Holland Main Drain, and that took a piece of bread...unfortunately I didn't catch it.

Now halfway through the match and Shaun went to fetch his jacket from his van and said he had 30 lb and Peter Spriggs had 40 lb. I had about 10 lb, was being banjoed, and definitely not singing. And you can't give those two a 20 lb-plus start in match and get away with it.

The bottom suddenly dropped away down to
five feet..Just Like That!

I then had a proper plumb up where I caught the perch, and was astonished to find that inches past where I was fishing at two feet deep the bottom dropped off down to about five feet. Just Like That! I hadn't plumbed up properly - a schoolboy error.

I had to have a look there, with corn, and slowly started to get tiny bites and then the occasional carp from 5 lb to 9 lb, losing only a couple.

Mike Rawson also had fish on a feeder and pellet - why didn't I try that?

Fish at the bush
When bites tailed off there I re-fed the bush swim, which I had previously tried with maggot hoping for barbel, with corn, and now found fish there as well. In fact I had quite a good spell there at one time, on corn, taking three fish in three casts, best 10 lb. Just one then came to cat meat. Slowly I began to catch Peter and Shaun, though one big fish which I played for some time tricked me into shipping back to the top two.

That fish must have had bl**dy good eyesight to see what I was doing through that huge ripple, because no sooner had I grabbed the top two in my excited little hands than it shot into the bank on my left, turned left, and dived straight under the platform, where the hook pulled out. I'm sure it was a big carp, not foulhooked.

Carp were in the snags
The swim by the bush was very snaggy, as I had expected, and every now and then I'd hook something and have to use my extending hook to free the rig. Sometimes I pulled up long twigs or chunks of old root. But the carp were hanging around there.

Shaun Buddle, to my right, was third and had some early
fish on mussel. Why didn't I try that?

A 6 lb carp in the last ten minutes completed my day in the wind, but I assumed Peter and Shaun had beaten me, because of my poor start, while on the opposite bank I had seen Bob Barrett, on Peg 7, land some fish on his feeder, cast down the margins, and he had three nets in. I had three as well and estimated my catch at 95 lb, while Shaun admitted to about 120 lb.

The weigh-in

The anglers right opposite me had struggled, until Bob Barrett weighed in 113 lb 14 oz on his favourite banded pellet, with every fish from the margins, under a bush to his right. Next to him John Garner struggled with 27 lb 12 oz, but in the corner Peter Harrison had fished a pole in several different areas of his swim for 93 lb 9 oz.

Plenty of help at the weigh-in.

Over to our bank, and in the bottom corner John Smith on 14 had 47 lb 12 oz. He said later he had fished towards the corner on his right for far too long, and had taken most of his fish on corn, in the deep water just to his left, in the last 45 minutes. 

Next to him Mike Rawson fished his favourite feeder with banded pellet and took every one of his fish on it, for 47 lb 3 oz. That made me think that perhaps I should have gone back on the feeder when the early pole swims failed to produce. On the other hand Bob Allen, on 20 with 81 lb 7 oz took every one of his fish on paste, which I didn't use either, even though I had some with me.

Inevitably Shaun beat me with 103 lb 9 oz, with my fish going just 96 lb. But top dog on the day was Peter The Paste with 125 lb 13 oz, while I came fourth out of the 13 fishing. I can't be too disappointed in that - just one good 20-minute spell would have seen me well up the list, so I feel I gave myself at least a chance of winning.

Peter Harrison in corner peg 13 was fifth, just 2 lb 7 oz behind me.

Peter The Paste - the winner with 125 lb 13 oz on a difficult day.

Next match Sunday on Magpie at Pidley. My basic plan is luncheon meat one side in the margin and corn the other side, with a long pellet swim. Luncheon meat is banned at Decoy, and I used to fish it a lot when it was allowed, and found it most versatile, as you can alter the exact size of the bait. So I look forward to using it again. But the conditions will decide my final plan for me - I've had 200 lb in the past on Magpie, and it's always a joy to fish, with lovely huge platforms on the bank. No doubt the wind, forecast to be Westerly, will be the main factor.

THE RESULT

East Bank                                            West Bank

26 Peter Spriggs             125 lb 13 oz      1st           1 No angler   
24 Mac Campbell             96 lb               4th           3 Alan Porter          59 lb 4 oz
22 Shaun Buddle            103 lb 9 oz       3rd           5 Martin Parker       41 lb
20 Bob Allen                    81 lb 7 oz                        7 Bob Barrett         113 lb 14 oz   2nd
18 Trevor Cousins            75 lb 15 oz                      9 John Garner         27 lb 12 oz
16 Mike Rawson              47 lb 3 oz                       11 Joe Bedford        20 lb 5 oz
14 John Smith                  47 lb 12 oz                     13 Peter Harrison     93 lb 9 oz

I fall short (not for the first time) on Damson, Decoy.

 Peg 3, Wed, June 1
Happy with Peg 3 on Damson, because the larger fish often tend to show up in the first four swims. Thirteen of us fished this Spratts match (I should call it Spillers, really, since that was its last name), in a light head wind from the right and showers forecast. In the event there wasn't much rain at all.

Shaun, next to me, prepares to weigh his catch. My swim looked much
like his - bank; platform; water; fish (hiding, in my case).

Next to me, on 4, was Shaun Buddle, who is having a great season, and he started out in the deep water - about seven feet in depth- and started catching fish almost immediately, on paste. I preferred to start close in, in the shallows, and first drop had a 1 lb F1 on a banded pellet. It was longer than most F1s, and was followed quickly by several more, all like peas in a pod.

Possibly new stock?

The fact that those fish were all the same size and shape, and colour, and many had an orange spot on their chin, made me wonder whether they are part of a recent stocking, possibly from the nearby stock pond. Anyway, after 90 minutes they had become more spasmodic, as they often do on Damson lake, though I had liners of some sort almost every drop in, but Shaun as still catching similar fish regularly. No pictures of my swim (which was mainly water anyway) as I forgot to take one!

Soon I tried corn in the shallows, but it was never as effective and with about 40 lb after two hours I went into the deep water where Peter The Paste, to my left, had also been catching regularly, with some better fish to 5 lb. However, despite fishing really sensitively for half an hour with corn over micros I never had a touch, not even a liner. Very strange.

Peter Spriggs, on my left, had some small fish to 
begin with, but some bigger ones later in the match.

Fish on cat meat
Back inside I took another fish or two before going out not quite as far - right at the bottom of the slope - with cat meat, which I could reach on a top two. The difference was remarkable, with half-a-dozen fish very quickly before they slowed up. One or two were a bit bigger - up to 3 lb. Then, with time ticking away I tried paste and yes, it took several more. Mussel immediately hooked a big fish which came off, but then the rest of the fish in that swim decided mussels were off the menu.

 By now Shaun had slowed up badly and I had visions of overtaking him, but suddenly I was having to wait five minutes for a bite, and even then I missed most of them. Peter was still catching steadily and Alan Porter, on 5, who had taken a lot of fish on feeder early on, was now on a pole and catching quite well. 

Alan Porter had some better fish early on,
on the feeder cast right across to the far bank.

My excuses for no action shots 😢
I now resolved, since my bites had slowed up (though still getting liners all the time), to get a picture of Shaun in action, for your delectation; but for the rest of the match his fish either came in so quickly that I hadn't time to grab the phone, or I was playing a fish at the same time as he was! To my left Peter Spriggs was totally obscured by a small tree, and all I could see was his landing net snaking out and bringing back mirror carp. Not an inspiring picture for you to feast on. Just Man Landing Fish without the man!

The end came with Shaun piling corn into the shallow margin, fishing paste, and heaving out about eight fish in the last ten minutes while (not seeing that), I concentrated on trying to winkle out one or two more on paste. In the event they made no difference - I was comprehensively beaten both sides.

Bob Barrett also had a busy time on the feeder!

The weigh in

On Peg 1, the favourite swim, Joe Bedford, I know, tried both feeder and pole for 18 lb 8 oz, which was bottom weight; but since he's 92 (or possibly 93 now) and still capable of framing, you have to say the day was a success for him. How many others of that age wish they could still catch fish, of any size?

Peter The Paste used his favourite, home-made bait (guess!) for his 101 lb 9 oz, which was less that I had assumed. My fish went 85 lb 12 oz, but I knew the next two had beaten me - Shaun with 116 lb 7 oz and Alan Porter with 97 lb 4 oz. That net included one or two much better fish, to 6 lb.

Peter Harrison on 10, casting a feeder to within a foot of the island time after time at the start, weighed in with 106 lb 4 oz, while Trevor Cousins on Peg 12 fished (as I guessed he would) with banded pellet all day in the shallows for 99 lb 3 oz.

Last man to weigh, Dick Warrener, in snaggy Peg 13, shows me 
his seventh-placed catch of 75 lb 9 oz, and a smile.

Completed, the weighing sheet showed Shaun to have won. His rescent results have been so well deserved, as I know how much time he has been spending on getting his gear and bait just right. 

Shaun was followed by Peter Harrison and Peter Spriggs. I was sixth, and have to admit that after a fantastic start catching six fish on the same pellet in a lasso, in about six minutes, when the pellet came out I found that the lasso wouldn't slip open, and I lost time putting on a band. Trevor has told me in the past that the lasso is quicker than a band because the pellet slips out far less frequently. I must re-make one or two ready for next time.

The good bit
So far as I am concerned there were two real plusses for me - I practiced on Fields End a couple of weeks ago using banded pellet and paste, both of which I have neglected for years. But at least in this match both caught fish, and in particular I was chuffed that my paste (a secret recipe, Peter) worked well, and has given me bags of confidence for using it in the future. 

It doesn't work, Trevor.
Trevor Cousins tries, in vain, to encourage the scales to move up a little.
But No, don't mock the afflicted!!!

My next match may not be until Thursday, as the weekend sees me attending a village lunch with many others (some of whom no doubt would rather be fishing), in order to prevent World War Three breaking out in my front room.

THE RESULT

1 Joe Bedford            18 lb 8 oz
2 Peter Spriggs            101 lb 9 oz        3rd
3 Mac Campbell          85 lb 12 oz
4 Shaun Buddle           116 lb 7 oz         1st
5 Alan Porter                97 lb 4 oz           5th
6 Mike Rawson            23 lb 13 oz
7 Peter Chilton             49 lb 2 oz
8 John Garner               42 lb 14 oz
9 John Smith                70 lb 4 oz
10 Peter Harrison        106 lb 4 oz        2nd
11 Bob Barrett              74 lb 7 oz  
12 Trevor Cousins        99 lb 3 oz         4th
13 Dick Warrener        75 lb 9 oz