The Vets National, followed by a disaster on Yew (Decoy)

 Peg 5, Snake Lake, Makins, Wed, July 27
This was the Veterans National, for anglers from 65 onwards, and about 80 of us fished. My peg 1 on Snake was opposite an island - a nice-looking swim - and an angler was drawn on there; then we were on 3, 5 and 8, on the East bank, with two on the end bank, and the rest opposite us. I knew nothing about the lake, except that the angler on my right, from Kent, said he had walked round the whole complex the previous day and on this lake the anglers on the opposite bank were catching fish.

The draw, once started, went through quickly and as far as I know there were no problems with the Angling Trust organisation. I was looking forward to it as I have a reasonable record in Veterans Nationals, having been in the money several times.

My swim 5 - fairly featureless but there are plenty of fish in Makins.

I started out at 11.5 metres, with pellet, and took three bream in the first hour or so, before coming in to have a look in the margins with corn. The  angler on my left, on 3, also took two or three fish out, before coming back in. I had nothing for about another hour, and another foray out to 11.5 metres brought only a liner.

But then I started to get bites in my right margin, on a top two, and eventually a 5 lb carp came in. From then on I stayed mainly in the margins, where corn took about three more, with another three coming off. To my right the angler seemed to be struggling, but the angler on 5 did suddenly catch three carp very quickly, and I thought I would be on for a thrashing.

A move to the left margin saw some more bites, when, strangely, I started hooking bream which came off. I would hook a fish, and plainly see it under the  surface, and then it would just come off. Once I hooked a fish very briefly, quickly pulled out, and the 3 lb bream leapt out two feet from the surface. I had put in dead maggots, which I thought the bream might prefer over corn, but after that I took only tiny perch, plus one more 5 lb carp came from that swim on cat meat before I turned back to the right margin. 

Steve Fitzpatrick, former editor of Angling Times,
and myself (the one in a filthy bib and brace).

The last hour saw me fish another two feet farther along the bank, and another four or five carp came in, on corn, with another two or three lost. I later wondered whether I should have kept moving along the bank, as perhaps the fish were backing off. As so often happens, right at the end they were feeding better and I had a fish on when the match ended, which I managed to land.

The weigh-in

I had a nice surprise as the weighers-in approached - one was no other than Steve Fitzpatrick, who I worked with at EMAP when he was on Angling Times. He later became editor of Angling Times, and now works for the Angling Trust. He was a good man-manager, very popular, and a hard worker - the Angling Trust have hired themselves a gem in Steve.

My fish weighed 24.475 kilos, while the angler on my right didn't weigh, and the one on my left had  11 kilos, with the angler on 1 weighing 20 kilos. Converting my 24 kilos to  pounds is: 24x2 = 48; then  add one tenth (4.8)= total 52.8 lb plus about 1 lb for the 425 grams.

The result from Snake (top) and Reptile. Pegs 9 and 11 were on the end bank of my lake.

On the opposite bank sat Tony Watling, from St Ives, near me, and he won the lake with 57 kilos fishing in the margins. He had fished an open on the Sunday and was drawn on the same bank on this lake, and told me that all the top weights on Snake had come from his bank (pegs 13 to 23), while mine opposite had fished very badly. He said that he thought my 24 kilos was a very good weight from my bank. I'll take that as a compliment from a vastly-experienced match angler.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Peg 30, Yew, Decoy, Friday, July 29
It was great to see Wendy back in action, for the first time since injuring herself in February. I would have preferred a peg in the middle, rather than in the corner, but since the carp in Yew are on the large size it's always possible to get a big weight If they suddenly turn up, and you can do that from any peg. There was a little wind, though for the first half of  the match I had no ripple, which was strange as what breeze there was, was blowing into my corner.

I started out trying to mug fish with a lassoed 6mm pellet, but never had a take. Down the lake Trevor Cousins started in the same way, as I expected he would, and in fact managed to take several good fish, from 8 lb upwards, before a ripple came in his swim and he could no longer see the fish. 

The wind was blowing into my end of the lake, but there was no ripple in the corner I was fishing until the last hour..

After my first fruitless attempts I went out to 13 metres, fishing in a little cut-out in the reeds to my left, the end bank. But the reeds are very tall here, and leaning over, so it wasn't possible to get right into the bank without risking  being tangled up in a reed. I fed, therefore, just with a small tosspot, about three feet from the bank, in between four and five feet of water, and first cast I hooked, and landed, a 9 lb common on a 4mm pellet.

Disasters!
In the next 90 minutes I hooked eight more fish from that swim...and lost every one!!!

One was almost certainly foulhooked, and it took me into the reeds (though I got the rig back) but the others just appeared to be big fish, which made some strong runs, but not the screeching take-offs you associate with foulhooked fish. In all cases the hook just pulled out, and I suspected that in the heat, which was now rising really high in the blazing sun, the fish were not taking the bait properly. Then I landed a fish, which took corn, but at that point the bites just stopped.

Joe Bedford celebrated his 93rd birthday by fishing...

The pole was now so hot, laying on my rollers behind me, that it felt as if I was burning my hands when I pushed it out, and in any case scum was building up in the swim, so I cut my losses and just dropped my rig out in front of me on a 2+1, on the edge of the scum, baited with a grain of corn. To my surprise I had a bite, which turned out to be a 3 lb barbel. 

Carp on dead maggots
I immediately put in some dead maggots, baiting with a bunch of six dead reds, expecting more barbel, but in the next hour or two it lured three or four more carp, best about 10 lb, including one foulhooked in the pectoral fin. Unfortunately I also lost another five or six, including a huge fish foulhooked in the tail which I had almost in the net three times before we parted company. The maggots also tempted two or three tiny perch.

...and he included definitely the prettiest fish caught in the match.

A late burst
Twenty minutes to go and I dropped a shallow margin rig, baited with corn, beside the reeds to my right. But the float sank farther than it should have done, so I had a re-plumb, and found that the shallow swim I had plumbed up suddenly dropped straight down to five feet.

 I had no confidence the fish would be in shallow water so took a chance and pushed the small float up the line, and dropped it into the deep swim, right against the shelf. Sure enough the float went under and another carp was on. This one was successfully landed, and immediately I had another bite and another big fish. Third drop and I hooked another fish, which I was still playing when the match ended.

I shouted "Fish On"...and two minutes later shouted "Fish Off" as the hook pulled out again. I had lost no fewer than 16 fish. Not my day.

Trevor, second on the day, brings in a net to be weighed.

Why did I lose them?
 I was using 13 hollow elastic, which allowed the fish a good long first run. However, when I was using the pole at 13 metres it was impossible to tell quickly whether the fish was foulhooked because as soon as the fish was on I had to dip the pole tip under the surface to hold the fish away from the reeds. This means I couldn't see how much elastic was coming out, or how fast, until I lifted the pole up.

However, on almost every occasion, stripping the elastic back got the fish in towards the side quite quickly and I felt confident in almost every case that I had the fish under control. Generally if a fish is foulhooked it makes that screeching run and doesn't come back towards the bank very far before it is off again. That wasn't happening on this occasion - the fish just seemed to be very powerful, refusing to come to the net before the hook pulled.

The weigh in
I was first to weigh, and the fish went 58 lb 6 oz. I couldn't see anyone else because of the high reeds, so had no idea who had caught what. In fact Bob Allen on pegf 25 won the match with 94 lb 9 oz, including two really big fish which looked as if they were both approaching 20 lb, but we didn't weigh them separately. Trevor Cousins was runner-up with 85 lb, with Dick Warrener third on 80 lb 2 oz. I wish I could mug fish like Trevor - he nearly always uses red pellets; I wonder if that is a factor?

Bob Allen, winner with 94 lb 9 oz, including two 'munters.' I've never known anyone better 
than Bob at estimating his final weight. He's always very close, and had estimated this catch at 92 lb.

So I finished fifth out of the nine, but it's a match I definitely had the chance of winning. Next match Sunday on Oak lake, which is similar to Yew. Until we get some good rain I expect the fishing to still be difficult, and the fish finicky. We are pegged from 16 to 30, and I would be very happy with 21.

THE RESULT

30 Mac Campbell          58 lb 6 oz

28 Wendy Bedford         18 lb 7 oz

26 Joe Bedford               33 lb 10 oz

25 Bob Allen                  94 lb 9 oz        1st

23 Trevor Cousins          85 lb               2nd

22 John Garner               54 lb 7 oz

20 Alan Porter                57 lb 11 oz

18 Dick Warrener           80 lb 2 oz        3rd

16 Bob Barrett                60 lb 3 oz

So difficult in the high wind

 Peg 24, Yew, Decoy, Sunday, July 24
I awoke in the morning to be met by a howling wind - a bit different to the baking-hot, clammy weather which has ruined my tomatoes. The wind persisted all day, blowing down the lake towards corner peg 16, where Shaun Buddle sat. Shaun is so consistent that I immediately made him favourite to win, even though Pete The Meat was also fishing. Peter Spriggs is on a golden run at the moment, not only winning matches, but managing to draw Golden Pegs as well, which he did for this match. He was on 29 today - not a peg I would have chosen.

I drew 24, not as far down as I would have liked, but some of the carp on Yew are now so big that a couple in the last 15 minutes can propel anyone from being an also-ran to an immediate frame. My swim was like all the others - windy, with it coming in from the front left, and so fierce that fishing beyond three pole sections was almost impossible for much of he time.

The wind was strong to start with...and blew stronger as the match went on!

Kevin gets an early fish
I started on a feeder, with a washter and then a pop-up, as did Dick on my left, but when I saw Kevin Lee, two anglers to my left on 26, playing a fish on a pole, which I knew he had hooked in the margin, I swapped to a  pole. Dick did the same and soon had a fish himself, close in, while I had just one bite in the deep margin on cat meat, which I missed (probably a liner).

Eventually I had to try farther out at three sections, and used a 2gm Tipo float, with corn, and about an hour later Success! A 2 lb F1 came in. It was difficult to decide where the loose feed was finishing up - I had expected some sort of undertow in that wind, but the float stayed still, not even blown along by the wind. This fish took several yards downwind, to my right, but  nothing else came from that area.

A change works after a fashion
Halfway through the match and I had that one fish, while I think Dick had had a couple more. In desperation I changed down to a 0.75 Drennan Tuff Eye and to my surprise this was almost as stable as the 2gm float, and I though I now detected tiny movements which could have been fish.

There were barbel in Callum's catch, but they 
turned out to be camera-shy!

As an experiment I put out a good pot of pellets, hemp and corn, and immediately thought I saw more little float movements. That happened several time, so I had to assume that fish were, at least, coming to the feed. Eventually another F1, about 4 lb, took the float under, and that was the start of a goodish spell when I had another F1, and a 3 lb ide, followed by a 4 lb carp and two bigger ones around 10 lb, in about 90 minutes. Dick had some at the same time. All my fish came when I either dragged the bait against the wind or lifted the pole and let the wind blow the line to drag the bait to the right. 

Yes, Shaun was bagging!
With about two hours to go Shaun came walking past to his van past for another net, but I knew he had started with three, so he was clearly bagging - no surprise as, although Peg 16 has fished poorly in our matches recently, it has always been when there's a Northerly wind, leaving that end of the lake calm, and today it was a South-Westerly.

An hour left, and I had seen our guest Dave Hobbs on my right get a fish on feeder and another on the pole, while Callum, down on peg 19, had had several on pole. Later I found out that they were mainly barbel. In fact next door, Allax Golightly had forgotten to bring his cat meart, so Callum gave him a tin and Allan caught enough barbel on it to come fourth!

Dave Garner somehow fished cat meat on
a waggler in that wind for 55 lb 11 oz.

I lose a big 'un
 I had already tried the shallowest water I could find, near the platform, without rre4sult, and was pondering changing back to a feeder when I suddenly had another carp, my last, which went into my second net and which later weighed 9 lb 4 oz. Then I hit another big fish which I played for several minutes before the hook pulled out. I'm guessing it was hooked on the outside of the mouth, as it didn't act as if it was foulhooked, and I just couldn't control it properly - it lumped around the swim at will.

I had been confident that the fish would come on in that last hour, but they appeared to have vanished. Just like that!!

The weigh in
Pete The Meat was top down to me with 72 lb 15 oz, while Kevin Lee, who has won our club championship more times than anyone else, never had another fish after that first one. He said he had just three bites all day and that solitary carp weighed 3 lb 15 oz. His excuse was that after throwing the match away a week previously by going over our 50 lb limit in three nets he wanted to make sure he wasn't over today!

One of Dave's biggest fish which we weighed at over 13 lb.

I weighed 50 lb 4 oz, which was second down to Allan Golightly on 20, who had 56 lb 13 oz; and the next three also beat me, ending with Shaun in 16 who totalled a magnificent 186 lb 11 oz taken on cat meat. In one net he had just one fish, and that weighed 19 lb 4 oz! So I ended sixth, which I didn't think was bad, as four of the top five weights came from those last four pegs, and had I landed that last fish I  would certainly have framed. Peter Spriggs, in my opinion, did incredibly well to take third spot from his peg at the 'wrong' end of the lake.

So although there was a very big weight, overall, the fishing was very difficult, with every fish a minor triumph for the rest of us, probably because of the huge differences in temperatures and wind direction. Hopefully things will settle down a little now.

Here's Shaun's whopper - all 19 lb 4 oz of it, which will probably win our club's annual cup for the biggest fish.

My next match is Wednesday in the Veteran's National on Makins Fishery, between Coventry and Leicester. The lakes are (for those familiar with the fishery) Lake 5 on Phase 1; Lagoon, Lizard, Crater, Snake and Reptile on Phase 2; and Derwent, Severn and Thames on Phase 3. Lake 5 is the largest lake. I practiced on this for a previous National there, and caught fish on a slow-sinking bomb, while the other lakes are almost all pole-orientated.

Three matches for the price of one...

Sunday, July 10, Six-Island
While I was bopping away and doing the hand-jive to the Bluejays, in company with other assorted Septuaganarians, Octonogrians old people, Fenland Rods were lining Six-Island lake at Decoy, where Peg 11 turned up trumps yet again. There are no obvious special features on the peg, but for some reason, especially in Winter, it often provides the winning weight. Of course, it helps if you've got an angler of the calibre of Peter Spriggs on it!

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Sunday, July 17, Damson
I dread to think how many times I have, in the past, been sea fishing or trout fishing and not caught a lot only for a local to say: "You should have been here yesterday". It was like that for this match, which I missed because I wasn't feeling great after contracting a Summer Cold, which is still hanging about on my chest. Plenty of fish for all...and "I wasn't there" (as Max Boyce nearly used to say).

The result was great, but skewed - the winner was Pete The Meat (again), with a super 216 lb 3 oz, taken mainly in the very shallow margins (and he was Golden Peg). The runner-up was Kevin Lee, who went over in his nets, being eventually credited with  185 lb 13 oz, but the weighers-in added up the totals of his nets and worked out that, if he'd not gone over, he would have WON by 10 oz!! Stupid Boy!

On end peg 17 Dick Warrener spent the morning watching Kevon fill his nets, and wondered what he was doing wrong. Then, suddenly the carp turned up and  Dick made hay, with 154 lb 8 oz for third. Nice One, Son. The nine of them averaged over 120 lb.

-

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Thursday, July 21, Elm, Decoy

I wasn't feeling 100 per cent for this Spratts match, and have been having a problem with my right shoulder and right hand, but the heatwave had passed and I decided I would just go and have a pleasant day's fishing and enjoy myself, and not bother about the result. Well, that panned out exactly right, as you will see...

Peg 4 was my home for the day - fine by me as it meant I had some Raspberry Ripple, with a cool NNE breeze into my face from the left. You can't beat a bit of Raspberry Ripple in Summer! Given a choice I would, of course, have opted for 8 or 9, which have all-year-round form. I've also done very well on 12, in the corner, but it was almost flat calm today.

My peg 4. The shallow margins are not easy to fish, with few flat spots. The reeds to
the left looked nice, so I fished there for barbel, but never had any at all.

An incredible first cast

As I wasn't bothered about the result I decided to start on a hybrid feeder, just to see what happened. After putting in some pellets, corn and hemp out at 11.5 metres, I went on to the feeder...and it happened immediately. LITERALLY within two seconds of the feeder hitting bottom, before I had put the rod on the rest, the tip flew round and I was playing a 4 lb mirror, hooked on a yellow washter. I reckon that's the quickest I have ever had a fish after casting in a feeder.

So back out, and the inevitable - no more bites for 15 minutes. A change to the pole in the the deep margin to my right, with corn, also brought nothing. In the next hour I tried dead maggot in the left margin, where I had put in maggot and hemp, and got bites immediately, from tiny perch. An hour gone, and just 4 lb in the net. 

Alan Porter, opposite me, had all his fish on a feeder
with a yellow wafter. We weighed this one at 15 lb 9 oz.

Then I hit a fish in the right margin, which came off. I had a thick orange bungee elastic on, and decided to change it for a much lighter Map 13 I had in another top two.

The F1s fought so hard
The next hour brought two F1s of 2 lb and 3 lb, which fought like the devil - I think others found the same thing, because now there was splashing in some swims, especially on 7, where Peter Spriggs was fishing. I assume that the lower temperature, plus the fact that the aerators had been on all night, had upped the oxygen content.  

Two hours gone and John  on my left had one fish, and I told him I thought that Bob Allen, on my right, had two. "Tell him that's two too many," said John. So I delivered the message, and found out that Bob also had just one. At least I wasn't last, though both Alan Porter and Bob Barrett, opposite, had three or four fish each on a feeder.

Another look in the longer swim brought just a liner, so I persevered in the spot I'd had the two F1s and slowly, very slowly, bites came. One or two fish came off, but on the whole I was happy with the new elastic, even though it was taking me ages to land the F1s. Then I hit a carp which was probably foulhooked and eventually broke me on the hooklength as it picked up speed in preparation for taking off and jetting over the nearby River Nene.

Peter Chilton had to contend with hardly any ripple
in his Peg 12, in the corner. 

Cat meat brings bigger fish
That decided me to change again, to a 17 hollow, which worked very well. In fact I now started landing the bigger fish over 4 lb far, far more quickly than the F1s, which were still turbo-charged. A change to cat meat brought the occasional bigger fish, best around 8 lb, which I put in my second net, but I had to wait longer for bites.

The best spell came when I re-adjusted the depth from about an inch overdepth to having the corn just touch bottom. Then a tiny lift of about a quarter of an inch brought some immediate bites from both F1s and bigger carp. I was really enjoying it, although I suspected that John, on my left, had probably caught me up as he had a lot of splashing, as there was from Peter Spriggs' swim to his left. Alan opposite had had fish on a feeder and when I looked up he was now on a pole in the margins, so I thought he was bagging. In fact he told me afterwards he never had a fish on the pole.

Joe Bedford celebrates his 93rd birthday on July 31st...
but he can still catch 'em. This net went nearly 60 lb.

A frantic last ten minutes
I couldn't believe that the dead maggot swim wouldn't produce barbel, but it never did. Ten minutes to go and I had about 25 lb in the second net, with 40 lb in the first. Then a six-pounder took cat meat, which was netted really quickly with my pole tip under the surface, which brought the fish to the top, followed by an F1 on corn (I was having to wait too long for bites on meat and with so little time left I needed some quick fish). 

Three minutes to go and I hooked my first barbel, about 2 lb, on corn, which left me with only seconds on the clock after I had landed it. Barbel are so annoying - you know the fish is not huge, but they will not give in. I was lucky enough to land it on the first breather it took - when they come straight up and you have about two seconds to net them before they dive down again.

Back out and only seconds later I got a bite, and the elastic came out. This was possibly bigger; then the match ended and I took my time. Indeed it was the best fish of the day at nearly 10 lb. I popped it in the keepnet a few minutes after the match finished. Probably 40 lb-plus in that net.

The weigh-in
John Garner said he had about 80 lb, and I said I did, too. Bob Allen was the first to weigh - 95 lb 10 oz, so he had beaten us both and there was now no chance I would frame, as I was sure that John, Peter Spriggs and Alan Porter had also beaten me, and probably some others as well..

The weighing party came to my swim and John brought out my first net, accompanied by wide eyes from everybody watching, and a few smirks as they looked at me. My heart dropped - there were far more fish in the net than I had assumed. 

Me doing a barely-passable impression of Ken Dodd.

A make them all a gift...
Trevor announced: "56 lb" and a few ounces. That would be knocked back to 50 lb. Then up came the second net...and the same thing happened!  "57 lb" and a lot of ounces. Total 100 lb, and I had gifted about 14 lb to my fellow-anglers. Big-hearted, or what? Then John weighed in his 80 lb which turned out to be 92 lb. He is nearly as bad as me.

Peter Spriggs had sensibly got four nets out, and totalled 139 lb 11 oz, for his umpteenth win in a row, followed by Trevor, who had used all three nets for 105 lb 15 oz! Several near-100 lb nets followed, and it seemed to me that had all had bigger fish than I had, with far fewer F1s. Then Dick Warrener, also using his three nets, totalled 102 lb 13 oz, which also beat me. Allan opposite had, as I had thought, got over 90 lb - in fact he weighed in 94 lb 3 oz

The pay out
I finished fourth, and Trevor thanked me for putting him in second place, which I should have had, and to rub it in he clipped some money to the weighing-in board as I photographed it, so I could be reminded of what I had lost. How kind.

BUT in fact, I actually wasn't bothered. I'd had a really nice day's fishing, and an unexpected fourth was better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. 😀

Trev shows me what I should have won!!

My next match is Sunday, on Yew, where the fish can easily average 10 lb. Then on Wednesday it's the Angling Trust Vets National on Makins. I'm not keen on that as a venue, because Lake 5, which is being used, is so different to Phases 2 and 3, which are mainly pole orientated. In the past the big lakes have produced the winner, though I concede that it's possible to get big weights from the other lakes. 

In fact the last time I fished the Vets National I was top on my 15-peg lake and, to be honest, a good angler with a decent pole (which I didn't have then) could have got a much bigger weight and perhaps have won the match. I'm not sure if that peg is still in as I think it was on Reptile, which has been altered.

RESULT BELOW:

Shaun in corner peg 13, had  99 lb 8 oz (in three nets).

Peter Barnes had fish early when others were struggling,
but then they disappeared.

Trevor found out some real clonkers.

RESULT

East bank                                                                                West bank

23 Bob Barrett         76 lb 4 oz                           2 Bob Allen             95 lb 10 oz

21 Alan Porter         9 4 lb 3 oz                          4 Mac Campbell    100 lb            4th

19 Peter Barnes        28 lb 10 oz                        6 John Garner          92 lb

17 Dick Warrener   102 lb 13 oz      3rd             7 Peter Spriggs       139 lb 11 oz   1st

15 John Smith          56 lb 14 oz                        9 Joe Bedford          50 lb

13 Shaun Buddle      99 lb 8 oz                       10 Trevor Cousins   105 lb 15 oz    2nd

                                                                        12 Peter Chilton       61 lb 2 oz

                                                      

You can't beat a good John Smiths when it's hot

 I'm not a connosseiur connossur conno  not an expert on beers but in a previous life I was occasionally invited to fish a special journalists match at the  John Smiths festival (previously the Courage) at Evesham on August Bank Holiday.  And occasionally I partook of their excellent beer. I found you can't beat it - smooth and reliable especially in the heat.

And obviously fish at Decoy feel the same way, for in the latest Spratts match on Willows, fished in the heat, the winner was, inevitably, John Smith (always smooth and reliable 😇).  I wasn't there (see below) but am told he eventually caught some of the fish showing near the surface by putting out a waggler towards the island, from peg 19, and ended by catching mainly F1s, but with three carp around the 8 lb mark, on meat in the margins, weighing a total of 121 lb 15 oz, to win handsomely.

Peter Spriggs was second with 80 lb 15 oz from peg 11, taking fish to 11 lb at 7 metres to start with, on meat, corn and paste, and then also finding similar fish in the margins. Shaun Buddle completed the podium ( or he would have done if they'd had one) with 77 lb of mainly small carp on paste close in, from peg 7.

THE RESULT

1 Peter Barnes           40 lb 6 oz
2 Trevor Cousins       57 lb 15 oz

4 Martin Parker         32 lb 14 oz

5 Dick Warrener        57 lb 2 oz

7 Shaun Buddle         77 lb                  3rd

8 Bob Barrett             25 lb 7 oz

10 Bob Allen              29 lb 1 oz

11 Peter Spriggs         80 lb 15 oz         2nd

13 Alan Porter            38 lb 14 oz

15 Peter Chilton         65 lb 10 oz         4th

17 Joe Bedford           26 lb 8 oz

19 John Smith         121 lb 15 oz           1st

So what was I doing?

I had missed the Fenland Rods Sunday match to see the greatest Rock 'n Roll band in the World - The Bluejays. Then I was dog-sitting, and had to miss the Spratts match as well.

The Bluejays play Rock 'n Roll as it should be played - exactly as the originals played it - Elvis, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, Chuck Berry... If you weren't alive in the 1950s you have probably never experienced hearing PROPER Rock and Roll for the first time. It's orgasmic! Their drummer had a car accident on the morning of the concert, so they had a stand-in and he was fantastic.

I later had a quick look on the net and was flabbergasted to see some of the songs now designated Rock and Roll - including The Beatles' Strawberry Fields Forever!!!!! How on earth does that compare with Shake, Rattle, and Roll, or Rave On?

No - this was 90 minutes of pure magic. And they are coming to the Princess Theatre in Hunstanton on September 11. Even if that's a match day, I will be there...

Then, bugga me, this morning I am informed by Her Majesty's Bluebottles that I committed the mortal sin of driving at 36mph in a 30 mph limit on the way home .Perhaps the fine I will have to pay will at least help pay for a cup of tea as they sit and answer their next call from the victim of a mugging and decide not to follow it up. Every little helps.

Two more difficult matches on Yew, Decoy

Peg 17, Sunday, July 3
I didn't fancy my peg 17, which provides shelter from a wind with North in it - ideal on a cold Winter's day, but not so good in Summer, especially when the fish are 'iffy', as they are at the moment. A couple of weeks earlier I had had corner peg 16, which remained flat calm all day, and I came last on it. I would have preferred around 20 to 26, which had a bit of my favourite Raspberry Ripple. but I had casters with me, and intended to try a bit of shallow fishing with them.

Just seven of us fished - and it was brilliant to see Kevin Lee back in action only about three weeks after breaking ribs. And although the field was small, every one of them has won multiple club matches in the past, so nothing could be taken for granted. In fact my swim wasn't completely flat calm all day, as there was some ripple at times, and in the end I doubt it made a lot of difference because fishing was hard all the way along.

My building site/rubbish tip at Peg 17. when there was some ripple.

One fish shallow
I started with 10 minutes on a bomb and pellet, because recently Jim Reagan had won a match on here using that. Nothing came of that so Plan A came into operation. I had been catapulting out casters, and first drop on them with a banded caster, on a long pole (my Number Six section bust the previous week had already been mended by Will Hadley), saw a 5 lb mirror snatch the float under, and it ended in my keepnet. Too good to be true? Yep - the next 25 minutes fishing shallow with caster brought not a single touch, so plan B was now operative.

On peg 21, to my left, Callum Judge had occasional fish all day long.

Barbel come to the hemp/caster
Corn dripped into the side, with micros, to attract carp, eventually brought...a 2 lb barbel. Immediately I put in hemp and casters, which is a deadly combination for barbel, and over the next two or three hours it brought about six more, up to 4 lb on bunches of dead maggots, plus a 10 lb common carp foulhooked. Barbel in particular have a habit of foulhooking themselves, and indeed I lost two or three foulhooked, but landed one, which was the biggest at around 5 lb.

Callum included a barbel or two in his runner-up catch, and
also that beautiful golden mirror carp.

I could see carp swimming around in the calm water, but if I so much as flicked a single caster at them they shot away, so although I did try fishing a caster shallow a couple of times, on a long pole, nothing came of it. 

Disaster 
Next to me on 19 Dave Garner, fishing cat meat or corn for carp, had just one fish with an hour to go, and I had spent the previous hour without a proper bite of any sort. Then I hooked a really big fish, which I could see was a cracking double-figure carp. I played it for a couple of minutes and was confident of landing it when suddenly, just to my right about ten feet from the bank, everything went solid.

I couldn't work out what had happened, because my float was three feet above the surface, so the  fish must have snagged two feet down...in nearly six feet of water! For a few seconds I could feel the fish tugging; then it stopped. I increased the pressure, and slowly more of my rig came into view, and with it a pole float, still attached to nylon. Clearly I had snagged an old pole rig which was still attached to something on the bottom. Eventually I got the whole rig back, but not the fish. I said something like: "Oh dear, Oh dear" to myself.

Allan Golightly had a net fall in the water between finishing
and weighing in. He lost an estimated 28 lb of fish. which would
have put him in second place. Unlucky or what?

A little later a final barbel came in, on cat meat which also tempted just two carp around 8 lb, while Dave had, I think, three carp in that final spurt. I ended with eight barbel and just three carp, but I had lost about three fish, probably foulhooked - you can't always tell.

The weigh-in
My 11 fish weighed 58 lb 1 oz, which I was happy with, as I guessed that everyone had struggled. Next door Dave Garner's three late carp gave him 34 lb 6 oz. and then Callum beat me by 8 oz on peg 21. But Kevin Lee celebrated his return to the bank with a win on peg 27 with 78 lb 5 oz, and I believe a lot of that came late in the match. 

I ended third, and just hoped that in my next match, also on Yew, in two days time, I could get away from that Northern end on the East bank.

Kevin Lee - winner with 78 lb 5 oz.

John Smith with a typical Yew mirror.

Above: Me with fish!!!

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Peg 18, Tuesday, July 5

"I don't believe it!" or words to that effect went through my mind when Trevor drew my peg for me. What are the odds of getting pegs 16, then 17, then 18 on Yew, in succession? Especially when there were 12 pegs in the bag, on both sides of the lake. And when we got to the lake the three or four pegs at that end, including mine, on both sides were all flat calm while the rest had a lovely wave on them.

BUT in fact during the match the wind drifted round more Westerly, so I had a good ripple anyway, in my face, for some of the time, while Peter Spriggs opposite in the corner had nothing, and Martin Parker, in the corner on my right didn't have much either. And with that in my face I decided not to start fishing shallow, as I wasn't sure I could get my casters very far out into the wind.

Peg 17 - my little home on the prairie.

A cunning plan

On the Sunday the fish had been in my left margin on 17, and that swim was now to my right, about 15 yards away, so I decided to start that side, fishing for barbel, hoping that they would roam along the reed bed towards me. And it worked! Casters and hemp did the business and I had a 2 lb barbel on dead maggots inside ten minutes.

But they were very finicky, and lots of bites didn't develop - just twitching and slowly pulling under, and I foulhooked a couple and came back with a small silver scale each time - typical barbel scales. So I moved to the left margin, and soon had another barbel there, and moved back to the right margin, where I also put in dead maggots, which brought in the small perch. After catching half a dozen of them I decided to leave that swim alone, and went out to eight metres where I had put in micros and corn.

That long swim never even got ne a bite so it was back to the left margin, where another two barbel around 2 lb took dead maggots, A switch to cat meat brought a 3 lb barbel, and then bites dried up completely for a couple of hours.

Peter Barnes had three late carp in his 35 lb 11 oz.

Dead maggots - a mistake

But they were very finicky, and lots of bites didn't develop - just twitching and slowly pulling under, and I foulhooked a couple and came back with a small silver scale each time - typical barbel scales. So I moved to the left margin, and soon had another barbel there, and moved back to the right margin, where I also put in dead maggots, which brought in the small perch. After catching half a dozen of them I decided to leave that swim alone, and went out to eight metres where I had put in micros and corn.

That long swim never even got ne a bite so it was back to the left margin, where another two barbel around 2 lb took dead maggots, A switch to cat meat brought a 3 lb barbel, and then bites dried up completely for a couple of hours.

Bites on corn, and a minor tragedy

I had now changed to corn, and it appeared that the carp were starting to move in, as I started getting bites on corn. Unfortunately I lost about five fish, two possibly foulhooked which both broke me. Then I had a real disaster, which was entirely my fault.

Joe is 93, but stuck it out for his two fish, and was still smiling!

I had a 17 hollow elastic in, and had sort of noticed that the crow's foot knot at the puller was a bit small, and I had no bead on. But I was concentrating on catching fish, so did nothing about it. The next fish, probably a big carp lumbered out and kept going as I added a section or two. Next thing everything went slack - and I had no rig. Neither did I have elastic - the fish had pulled the knot through the side puller, and on its way out it had taken the end bush on the top section. I was left with nothing. I felt rally guilty, even though I m sure the barbless hook will drop out.

The result is that I have started to check all the elastics, and to make up a rig or two on really strong line, because the carp in here are getting bigger and bigger.

Last to weigh, Bob Barrett almost framed with his 49 lb 8 oz, taken on a feeder.

Carp on the long line

Back to the swim and eventually I went out to the eight-metre line and immediately the float dived and I was playing a carp that, in my landing net, looked to be at least 15 lb. Next drop an eight-pounder came in, but no more. Peter Barnes n my left on 20 had just two fish on a feeder at  this time. I now turned to a tiny marginal swim I had found to my left - four feet deep for about a foot from the bank  before it  dropped down into nearly six feet, where I had been flicking grains of corn all day.

In the last hour that tiny swim produced two more carp, best about 10 lb, and a 3 lb F1. I was surprised that the fish would come up onto that tiny shelf, but it just shows that you must try everything. I ended with five barbel and five carp, having lost a total of eight fish; but I imagine that everybody else would have lost fish because they have not yet settled down after spawning - and I suspect they are loping to spawn yet again.

Trevor, runner-up with 76 lb 7 oz. He always seems to
be able to mug fish - a skill which eludes me.

The weigh in

On Peg 5 Trevor Cousins had mugged six fish late, when they started to come along in twos or threes. He has told me, in the past, that it's better to drop a bait in front of more than one, as it creates competiton, and the fish are more likely to respond that the fish swimming along on their own. Trevor weighed 76 lb 7 oz. 

Winner Peter Spriggs (Pete The Meat) foulhooked this 19 lb 2 oz fish in the tail!!!

John Smith and Peter Harrison both struggled to about three fish each - a sure sign that it had not been an easy day -  but in the corner Ppeter Spriggs had fished meat for a wonderful 107 lb 15 oz, taken in the margins, mainly to the left. That catch included a 19 lb 2 oz mirror hooked in the tail!!

Round to my bank, and I was pleased to be top weight on that side of the lake with  56 lb for third spot. If I hadn't been broken twice it might have been enough for second place. To my right Martin Parker, who had only one fish after three hours, had a late burst fishing in the corner and finished with 47 lb 12 oz.

AND can anyone tell me why, suddenly, the pictures on this page won't go where I want to put them?? Hopefully a new page, for the next match, will see it all back to normal?

THE RESULT

East Bank                                                                West Bank

26 Bob Barrett          49 lb8 oz                                   5 Trevor Cousins        76 lb 7 oz         2nd

24 Dick Warrener     17 lb 14 oz                                7 John Smith               18 lb 3 oz

22 Alan Porter          53 lb 2 oz        4th                     9 Peter Harrison          21 lb 12 oz

20 Peter Barnes        35 lb 11 oz                                11 Bob Allen                  3 lb 10 oz

18 Mac Campbell     56 lb              3rd                      13 Joe Bedford             11 lb 7 oz

16 Martin Parker      47 lb 12 oz                                 15 Peter Spriggs         107 lb 15 oz        1st