I miss a frame place by 1 oz on Oak, Decoy

Peg 30, Sunday, Oct 23
Been busy since this match visiting my two brothers (we meet up only occasionally since one lives and works in Africa). Thunderstorms were forecast for this Fenland Rods event, and there were a couple of spectacular lightning flashes as I drove to Decoy, though none during the match.

There was just a little light rain at the start, and I was lucky that it was forecasted to blow from the South-East later, which would be over my back. I had the shortest walk to peg 30, in the corner of Oak lake, and I managed to fix the umbrella so that it would keep my pole holdall and all my stuff dry, as well as me.

Shaun Buddle told me before the match that he had won here fishing to the corner, on the left, and that was the obvious place to fish, so I started there, at ten metres. The water here was sheltered a little by bushes, and was nearly calm at the start, while on the swims to my right there was a bit of ripple. The skies were dark and I picked out a newlymade rig with a float which had a really bright yellow top, which would show up well against the dark reflections of the reeds.

A dank, dark, day, with my swim sheltered from much of the wind (unfortunately) by
the bushes on the end bank. Most of the other swims had a good ripple (not that I'm moaning!)

The new float worked fine
The float tip was just visible - it seemed to sink lower than it had in my water butt at home. But I could see it well enough, and within 15 minutes I had hooked and landed a fish about 6 lb on corn, about a metre from the reeds, three feet deep. Next one came off, as did the one after that. 

That, unfortunately, was the pattern for much of the day. Within the next hour I had about three fish in the net and had lost six or seven, mostly after I had broken down to my new short top. After an hour, when the rain really started pelting down, I had to take off a small shot so I could see the float better in the melee caused by the raindrops smashing into the water. 

During that heavy rain I had my best spell, hooking about six more, to 8 lb, and landing every one. Most took the corn while I was dragging it along the bottom. Although the rain was, in technical terms, "chucking it down" I heard only one thunderclap.

In corner peg 16 on my bank Mel Lutkin
found just over 40 lb, admired by Joe Bedford!

More lost fish

Then the rain stopped, the water went calm, and I started losing fish again. I think it must have been because they could perhaps see the pole above them, although I had a longish lash. A switch to banded pellet in front of me at 2+1 brought a good carp first drop, then another on cat meat straight afterwards. I thought I had cracked it, but never had a touch for the next 20 minutes. At that point I should have tried the right margin, which I never looked at all day, but the rain must have blunted my brain.

Instead, I kept trying back towards the lefthand corner, with a very occasional fish, but got the impression that the fish were moving away from the bank. Eventually I  made the switch I should have done much earlier in that swim, and with only 30 minutes left I went into the deeper water and had a near-ten-pounder first drop. I the few minutes left I hooked two more, getting both right to the net before they pulled off.  Dave Garner told me (later) that he had won a match fishing the right hand margin this season, which really cheered me up!!!.

Kev Lee - 176 lb in the most atrocious conditions.

By the end I estimated I had 12 or 14 fish in the nets, but must have lost 20, of which only two were probably foulhooked. I then thought back to the start of the match, when an orange-coloured mud cloud was seeping towards me along the bank from the corner, possibly from a pipe somewhere. Later there was another trace of it, and I wondered whether that had been affecting the fish in some way? I'll never know.

The weigh-in
Kevin Lee, on the opposite bank on 12, had started fishing at about eight metres with banded pellet and found fish steadily, with his best spell, like me, being in the heavy rain. Then he came into his left margin with cat meat and ended with a magnificent 176 lb 4 oz , to win, having had the rain in his face. Next angler along, on 14, Dave Hobbs totalled 90 lb 9 oz. Former Club Champion Dave Garner had struggled in corner peg 15, also with the rain in his face.

Shaun Buddle's best fish must have been at least 15 lb.

Over to the Eastern bank and opposite Kevin. on 19, Shaun Buddle had 138 lb 4 oz, while on his left Callum Judge just pipped him by 1 lb 10 oz for second place. I was last to weigh, with 90 lb 8 oz, which was just 1 oz less than Dave Hobbbs, so I ended fifth.

End of the match, the sun has come out, and runner-up Callum shows a nice mirror carp.

Although the top weights were at the other end of this strip lake I felt I should have had more. Not because I lost so many (I didn't feel I did anything wrong ,playing them) but because I should have moved round the swims more quickly. Trouble was I couldn't see those who were catching, so I had no idea whether I was doing OK. Interestingly several others told me they had unaccountably lost fish properly hooked.

BUT I had had a most interesting day's sport, and on the way home I was treated to a lightning show so fierce that I had to lower the visor in the van to stop it blinding me. A day to remember, after all!

THE RESULT

Help from Alan Scotthorne on Six-Island

 Peg 18, Friday, Oct 21
Alan Scotthorne wasn't actually at this Spratts club match, you understand, but it was a recent quote from him I had seen that definitely increased my catch. The advice was from Alan to Tom Scholey, published in the most recent edition of Match Fishing, and described by Tom as one of the best pieces of advice he's ever had. It was, quite simply: "If you think it, do it!"

Now I've always tended to spend too much time, if I know fish are in the swim but not biting properly, trying to catch them, knowing that I really ought to change swims. I'm not alone - who can resist trying to snare those pesky fish waving their tails at you in shallow water next to the bank, but refusing to take a bait of any sort? It becomes a sort of personal challenge, which I nearly always fall for. Today was different - I made several changes much more quickly than I usually do, and  in the end they paid off, so thanks for that, Alan.

Trevor makes the draw.

Peg 18 used to be the 'flier' on Six-Island, but recently other pegs have been just as good. However, on this day I was invited to draw the Golden Peg out - and 18 stuck to my fingers! So no pressure, then...

Fog, rain, cloud and sun
The fog was quite thick on the journey to Decoy, and rain was forecast, and indeed some did come down while we were setting up. I got an umbrella up quickly, and luckily a few minutes later the rain stopped, and we had only a few more spots during the match. The sky was overcast at the start, but the sun came out later and it was a very pleasant Autumn day, but the fishing was hard.

Fog at the start, but it slowly cleared. Peg 18 is only about 10 metres to the far bank.

I started on the pole at 2+1 with banded 6mm pellet - I have a lot of confidence in that method now after tuition by Ben Townsend. It took half an hour to get a bite, and then I lost the first fish, almost certainly foulhooked. To my left were five other anglers in this end of the lake, with another five round the corner I couldn't see, and my five didn't seem to be catching anything.

I land a foulhooker
Next fish was also foulhooked, about 6 lb, hooked in the pectoral fin, but it ended up in my net. However after an hour that was all I had, though I had had some tiny knocks, showing that fish were in the swim, so I switched to fishing the far bank, which in this swim - the narrowest on the lake - was only about 10 metres away. Again it took half an hour to get a bite, on corn, but no fish. However three F1s came in the next half-hour, but I also lost three, which came off after just a few seconds.

With about 11 lb in my net I wandered along to my left to see John  Garner, who said he had five fish for 2 lb 8 oz, and he said John Smith, to his left, probably had just one good fish. Back to my swim, and after another 45 minutes two or three more F1s, best 4 lb, came in. I was getting touches all the time, and the corn was so cold to the touch that I wondered whether a different, smaller, bait would do better for the F1s. 

Maggot was the obvious choice, and for once I didn't waste time - I switched to maggot straightaway, but the result was a tiny perch, and I went back to corn. I was pleased that I didn't just carry on, all th while wondering whether maggot would work. Bu I couldn't see things getting any better, and the wind was getting stronger, so minutes later I switched to a swim to my left in the deep margin.

A fish first drop

First drop and another F1 came in on corn. A similar patter then followed - a 3 lb F1 next drop, then another a few minutes later, and a 3 lb mirror. I was getting knocks, and several times I lost the corn without feeling anything - a sure sign that carp were holding the bait in their lips. I couldn't induce a bite by lifting the bait, but I did get some by dragging it along the bottom, fishing about two inches overdepth. One more F1 came in and I felt I had to do something, so put in some casters I had riddled off that morning into the really shallow swim to my left - it was only about 12 inches deep there.

The winner, Bob Allen, was camera-shy, but Bob Barrett, third on Peg 11 
with 51 lb 3 oz,had no such qualms, 

Within minutes I saw a couple of swirls, and dropped in my shallow rig with corn - nothing! Mud came up, which is always exciting, but I spent no more than ten minutes there. Next I put casters and hemp farther out on the next shelf, about three feet deep. There I got bites, but no fish. So it was quickly back out to the deeper swim again, and an 5 lb mirror was my reward.

A perch on corn
Again I had lots of knocks on corn, so put on a big worm. Result...a tiny perch. Back immediately to corn and the result was...another tiny perch. On corn! That one worm, which I had taken off the hook when I unhooked the perch, must have leached smell into the water which was still attracting perch. No other explanation. Thanks goodness I hadn't put in any chopped-up worms. 

An hour to go and I had an estimated 28 lb. I had lost another fish or two, one of which was a big F1 clearly hooked in the mouth. One or two I had landed had been hooked under the chin, so they definitely weren't taking the bait properly. But I was pleased that I was landing these hard-fighting F1s in half the time I would normally take, following Ben's advice.

A make a vital change
Next thing I saw John Garner landing a good carp; then another; then another, all from the deep margin. I assumed he was using cat meat (he was) but I couldn't see why better fish wouldn't take my corn bait, and I was still getting liners. HOWEVER I remembered that quote and got off my box, picked up a cat meat rig, put in a few cubes, and dropped in a cat meat bait. There was just 30 minutes of the match left.

No more than a minute later I was playing a  7 lb mirror; then next drop another the same size. Suddenly the sky became so dark that I had to take off some shot to be able to see the float better, and wasted two or three minutes doing that. No bites in the next few minutes so I changed to mussel and hit another big fish which came off after a minute or so. Five minutes to go and the next fish, also on mussel, was a small F1; then no more time, and the match finished. John Garner had had at least one more good carp, I saw.

The weigh in

Within seconds of the match finishing the rain started (hence so few pictures) - light drizzle at first and then much heavier. All our gear was soaked, but by the time we had finished it had almost stopped, so the weighing in took place in comparative comfort. I admitted to 45 lb.

On Peg 1 Peter Barnes had one fish with half an hour to go, but added four in that last, frantic, 30 minutes, and totalled 25 lb 10 oz. Round the corner, then, to the anglers I hadn't been able to see, with Mike on 4 weighing 29 lb 13 oz and and on peg 6 Bob Allen had fished paste all day for a brilliant 79 lb 15 oz. He said he had dripped in half-a-dozen pellets first cast, followed it up with a lump of paste dropped on top, and and been playing an 8 lb mirror within 20 seconds!

Joe, at 92 years old, can still catch 'em. He was fifth
with this 42 lb 14 oz catch, taken on feeder.

The next three anglers, Joe, Bob and Wendy, had all fished the feeder all day, mainly close to the bank, for weights of  42 lb 14 oz, 51 lb 3 oz and 26 lb 9 oz, putting Bob into second place and 92-year-old Joe into third. To my considerable surprise I then weighed 52 lb 12 oz, just pipping Bob. John Garner's last-hour sprint on my left had taken him to 42 lb 8 oz, while our organiser Trevor on 24, with the wind in his face (which he and the rest of us thought would be best) had a roach and two carp and didn't weigh in. 

That left me in second spot, thanks to that vital last-hour change, when many times I wouldn't have bothered - but the Golden Peg was a roll-over, of course.

A visit to Specsavers due?
Steve (aka Ivy) Tilsley is a local legend who posts his results on Facebook, and from time to time he announces a Twat In The Hat award for memorable acts or comments on the bank. I wouldn't be so cruel as to do that...but if I was it would go to John Smith. As we were packing our gear away after the match John said he had about 13 lb - possibly 15 lb.

His weight?  It was 25 lb 14 oz, with one fish that must have weighed almost 13 lb on its own!!! I think a visit to Specsavers is on the cards.

THE RESULT

1 Peter Barnes           25 lb 10 oz
3 Martin Parker          DNW
4 Mike Rawson          29 lb 13 oz
6 Bob Allen                79 lb 1 oz        1st
8 Joe Bedford             42 lb 14 oz     4th
11 Bob Barrett            51 lb 3 oz       3rd
13 Wendy Bedford     26 lb 9 oz
18 Mac Campbell       52 lb 12 oz     2nd
20 John Garner           42 lb 8 oz
22 John Smith            25 lb 14 oz
24 Trevor Cousins      DNW

Back to Beastie with a Bang

 Peg 18, Thursday, Oct 13
That session with Ben Townsend on Sunday, learning how to play fish more quickly, came in handy on Thursday when I found myself in the one swim on Decoy where it is essential to get the fish under control quickly. Peg 18 is next to the bridge on Beastie, and it has proved to be the graveyard of many a matchman who failed to prevent big carp from diving under the bridge and breaking their pole. I know 'cos it has happened to me in the past.

YES! A peg I really fancied - an unusual state of affairs for me lately.

Peg 18 is only about 30 yards from Peg 16, where I was pegged the previous Saturday, but the differences in the two swims could hardly be greater. You have a typical margin swim to the right on 18, with overhanging reeds, but turn to the left and the bridge is literally six feet from the platform, and often that's the area where the fish hang out. No matter - I like the swim, and it can hold a lot of fish on occasions. 

BUT frankly I didn't fancy my chances of winning - out of the 13 of us fishing this Spratts match, Trevor Cousins was on famous peg 30, and Peter Harrison, who has been having some really big catches lately, was on 4. It's probably not as good as 5, but Peter was quite capable of winning from it from there. 

I draw a good 'un...
ALSO Bob Allen had asked me to draw out a peg for Peter Spriggs, who also can't stop winning. Bob's argument (which I strongly refute) was that since I reckon every peg I draw, or have drawn for me, is rubbish, perhaps I could do the same for Peter.

Well, that theory went up in smoke when I drew out Peg 2, where Callum Judge had won on Saturday with over 180 lb! I rate that peg highly as well, and everybody knows that. So a groan went up, in anticipation of Peter winning, and as I surveyed my swim 18 on this lovely calm Autumn morning I reckoned that with the pegs those three anglers had drawn I would probably be fishing for fourth place.

Peg 18 - lots of features! No Raspberry Ripple, but that didn't matter as it was a lovely, windless day. A lot of the fish, mainly F1s, came from next to the scaffold pole, on corn. The white bag I always have holds a bottle of water, which I take everywhere as my saliva glands have been damaged by radiation.

The start

I left the rods in the van because on a flat-calm day like this I fancied a day on the pole - in the Fens such calm days are a rarity. I had five different tops made up because the depth varies so much in this swim. Plumbing around in front of me I found a hard bottom in five  feet, on four sections, and started there with banded hard pellet. To my left Shaun Buddle on 17 and Dick Warrener on 15 were both into fish inside the first half-hour, while I had just one F1 of 1 lb. I had one or two liners, and felt that the fish were coming to the feed, but I didn't want to waste a lot of time there.

My best-ever match catch came from this swim, fishing to the right margin, so that is where I next came. But after 45 minutes fishing corn I had had just one more small F1, a 2 lb bream, and a carp of 5 lb. I was chuffed to get that into the net within about 20 seconds - much more quickly than I would normally.

Great to see bream. This net, by Dick Warrener, weighed 38 lb.

The bridge swim
Next it was round to the bridge, and I started right next to the scaffold poles nearest to me. In the next half-hour two or three more F1s came to corn, best well over 4 lb, then out of the blue, a mirror of almost 10 lb took the bait. I had that in front of me within 30 seconds and a minute later it lay in the landing net. But that swim seemed to dry up and I went a little deeper, and found fish, mainly F1s.

The channel under the bridge is much shallow right next to the bridge - perhaps three feet, and it deepened by about 18 inches as you came away from it. From that moment onwards I had to drop in all over the area, with the different rigs, as I couldn't get any number of fish from the same spot. And I couldn't decide how they wanted the bait presented - just touching bottom or laying hard on. Several fell to my special method, which can be deadly, but even that wouldn't work all the time.

How to recognise an F1
Now that F1s are becoming so big  they can easily  be confused with commons. Someone asked me recently how to easily tell the difference. The easiest way is: F1s have no barbules by the side of their mouth. Commons and mirrors have one each side.

My long top put to the test
Mostly I was fishing my normal-length Browning top two, which can't bring the fish under control quite as quickly as the shorter tops I bought recently. So when I dropped in right next to the bridge and another big mirror was hooked, it really tested the top two. The fish went under the bridge, but dipping the pole top right under the surface, and hanging on (and gritting my teeth) saw the fish turn and come back into open water. That also ended in my net.

Dick's carp - this 34 lb consisted mainly of four big ones.

Shaun and Dick seemed to be catching slowly but steadily, and I assumed that they were probably beating me. I guessed that several of their fish were bream, as they came in quickly, but looked a good size. You can amass a big weight of bream fairly quickly if they keep coming, and run to 3 lb, which they do in Beastie.

Hardly a good bite all day

I lost about six fish, which all came off within two seconds of being hooked, so I must assume they were foulhooked. All day the carp, and mainly F1s, played about with the bait for ages, and I hardly had one good bite where it dived straight down. The bites looked like roach, but I had only three roach, on corn, plus one gudgeon (on mussel), all day. It was very frustrating.

Cat meat fished on my special method took a good carp in the deeper water in the centre of the channel, where I have had fish in the past, but it seemed to me that the fish were being spooked every time one was hooked, as it was rare to get two in two drops in the same place, and cat meat in the channel didn't tempt any more.

Change to mussel
In the last 90 minutes I changed to mussel, which worked slightly better (but that could have been because it was later in the day) and took some more, including another around 8 lb, but the fish played about with the mussels as well. I put a third net in when I reckoned I had about 80 lb and the first fish in was the best, at around 11 lb. A little before the end I went back to corn, and fished it a few inches off  bottom, which did bring three more F1s.

I felt I had not fished it well, particularly that I hadn't changed bait enough times, because sometimes that can bring an instant result. Also I hadn't gone back to the long swim in front of me, where there had been fish earlier (even though I couldn't catch them).

The fish come in to tease me
All day, in the flat calm water, I had fed sparingly, mainly with just the small pole pot. At the end I threw in the remaining handful of corn, the tiny amount of hemp I had not used, and a handful of micros, down beside the platform in about a foot of water, which I had not fished. 

Less than five minutes later fish had come in and big swirls of mud were coming up! I'm sure they know when a match finishes!!! But should I have fed more heavily?

Callum Judge - runner-up on 23 with 97 lb 6 oz
taken on mussels fished mainly off bottom.

The weigh in
By the time I had packed away the rigs and got the trolley into the van the scales were round to me. Peter Spriggs was leading, but I was surprised that he his weight was only 78 lb 14 oz, and I thought I had more than that. Someone told me that Callum on 23 had had a good day. Those pegs from 21 to 25 have a good reputation, and they often dominate the Opens, though I have never done particularly well from them. So I though Callum could have continued his good run and had a really big catch, which he is capable of doing.

Both Dick and Shaun had in the 70s, and my three nets totalled 118 lb 10 oz, which was leading - one net was about 2 lb over the limit and I wondered whether that would cost me a frame place. Callum had fished mussel all day, off bottom being best, and he ended with 97 lb 6 oz.

On 30 Trevor Cousins had mainly just a few large carp, one on the feeder and the rest he had mugged. He said that the fish had been just under the surface almost all day in front of Joe on 29 (who at the age of 92 was never likely to fish a long pole shallow) and that with the sun behind him he (Trevor) had been able to see the occasional fish drift into his swim. But as his weight was just 61 lb I ended as the winner, with Callum runner-up.

Most of Joe's 18 lb catch was this 11-pounder.

Last to weigh - our organiser Trevor with 61 lb, mainly taken mugging. These two weighed over 24 lb. 
Thanks for everything you do, Trev.

Next match Friday on Six-Island (which has five islands, honestly). Normally I would be fishing at the weekend, but a Special Birthday falls then, and the family have ordered me to stand by for a surprise. To refuse would be highly dangerous to my health...

THE RESULT

2 Peter Spriggs           78 lb 14 oz        3rd
3 Peter Barnes            44 lb 3 oz
4 Peter Harrison         75 lb 7 oz
5 Bob Allen                45 lb 14 oz
15 Dick Warrener       72 lb 15 oz
17 Shaun Buddle        76 lb 7 oz            4th
18 Mac Campbell     118 lb 10 oz          1st
22 Bob Barrett            25 lb 14 oz
23 Callum Judge        97 lb 67 oz          2nd
24 Mike Rawson             DNW
26 Martin Parker        73 lb 11 oz
29 Joe Bedford           18 lb 14 oz
30 Trevor Cousins       61 lb     

A bad start, and a bad finish on Beastie - plus where's the cup?

Peg 16, Saturday, Oct 8
I love Beastie lake - every swim is different. Even so everybody knows I like certain pegs more than others - 2 and 18 in the main lake and 9 and 13 at the back of the spit; but these latter two were left out because not everyone likes those pegs. We had been allocated 2 to 18, and that meant that of the rest, only peg 7 was left out, with the rest round to 18 on the bridge. The wind was cool, but it soon warmed a little and overall conditions were fine, with no rain.

The sun was right in front of us, so I shot this facing left, where
Dave Garner's platform was only about eight yards away.

Unfortunately I didn't get 2 or 18, but my peg 16 had the option of casting to the island and it has nice margins. My plan was to start on the feeder, but when I plumbed up at 2+1 on the pole I found a small depression and a fish hit the line, so I decided to start on the pole. On my left Dave Garner fished his usual waggler with cat meat and had a good first hour, with four or five carp. 

I had one or two  indications, with just a small F1 and a roach taking my corn, and after almost two hours I estimated Dave had 30 lb and I had 1 lb! Of course I should have gone onto the feeder, especially since Mel Lutkin, on 17 to my right, also had some carp, on a feeder. But having dripped corn into the swim for some time I was reluctant to come away, in case it suddenly came to life.

Lots of action in the first hour...but unfortunately not in my swim!

I change elastics, and then...
Then the pole swim came to life, with a carp around 9 lb which stretched the 13 hollow elastic far too much for my liking, almost into Dave's swim, then almost into Mel's swim. With that in the net I switched the rig onto a stronger orange bungee elastic...and Sod's Law decreed that my next ten fish were bream! They stretched that elastic about six inches (!), but at least none came off. They weighed from 2 lb to 3 lb.

Dave had slowed down a little, and when my swim slowed down I had a look in the margins, which I thought would produce, as the wind was blowing into them from the front right; soon the sun was in front of us, and neither Dave nor I could fish where we had been, and now the left margin was fishable as the sun had moved round.

But that lovely-looking left margin didn't produce, while the right one gave me a couple of F1s and a few roach. Disaaaaster was looming...

When this was in Dave's landing net it looked to be at least
20 lb to me. But when we weighed it, the scales showed 15 lb.

Scrapping around
I scrapped around on corn for another bream or two, in a new, shorter swim in front of the keepnets, and eventually thought I'd try cat meat in the lefthand margin. A Miracle...a carp of 5 lb. Two or three more followed, and a change to mussel brought even quicker bites from another two or three. Thirty minutes to go, and I was steaming!

Then a real disaster - I played a fish well over 10 lb for some minutes, and had it almost in the net, but it eventually came off. Next drop a smaller carp came in, followed by a foulhooker which played me for a long time before waving goodbye. Meanwhile Dave's swim had come alive and was was netting them quickly.

Five minutes to go and another big fish was on my pole...and that was possibly also foulhooked. It lumbered around and felt huge, and I thought that if it was hooked properly it would take me absolutely ages to net, so I took my time as the match was almost finished. Then that one, too, came off. A terrible end just when m swim had perked up. Mel didn't catch much in the afternopon, and I guessed that I had perhaps beaten him. I had clicked 60 lb, which I guessed was well behind Dave, who had landed a fish which looked to me, from a distance, to weigh 20 lb.

I needed only one carp for third place.

The weigh-in
On Peg 2 Callum had had his catch of a lifetime - a brilliant personal best of 183 lb 9 oz, which won. Very well done, mate. On 5 Kevin Lee was fishless after three-and-a-quarter hours, but then found carp in his margins and hammered them to the tune of 159 lb 7 oz, which took second place.

No-one else could challenge those catches, but the next weights were bunched - Peter Spriggs 81 lb 14 oz; Dave Garner 81 lb 5 oz; Dave Hobbs 79 lb 11 oz, and me with 78 lb 10 oz which left me in sixth place. Just one of those lost fish would have boosted me to third. Ce'st la vie. (That's French for It's A Bugga).

Next day I was due to met Ben Townsend for a tuition session (see below), hopefully on how to land carp more quickly - as I know I take longer than most others.

WHERE'S THE CUP?
Our chairman John Smith didn't fish the Beastie match, but asked me to ask the others to bring the cups they won last year to the next match. Of course I couldn't remember who had won them, so I consulted the blog entry for last year's match, to see who had won what.

Yes, the Club Cup went to Allan Golightly; the Bedford cup went to Peter Spriggs, and John had told me the biggest-fish cup had gone to Matthew Lutkin. I couldn't for the life of me remember who had won the Club Championship...but the blog told me. The winner was pictured there holding the cup. It was me!!!

Here's last year's winner. Now I remember!

So I looked for the cup at home. Couldn't find it. My wife said she'd not seen it for years, since I won it the first time. We hunted high and low (well mainly high actually, since it would have been displayed on the top of the china cabinet). Not there. Where was it? Had we been burgled? Had I left it somewhere after being presented with it?

The only possible answer was that I took it to be engraved and left it there, because I was given it after the last match, so it couldn't have been engraved earlier. So today, Monday, I took a trip and Yes, there it was on the engraver's shelf. It had been there almost a year.

BUT I'm not the only local idiot. Next to it stands a Challenge Cup (sport unknown) which has been there, awaiting collection, since 2019!

A DAY WITH BEN TOWNSEND
I've known for a long time that I would do better in matches if I could land my carp more quickly. Other anglers almost all land their fish more quickly than I do. I tend to play them too gently, often for several minutes, which is not only bad for the fish, but exhausting for me as well (particularly now I have a problem with my right arm and hand) and I knew that Ben could help. 

He's a class act - fifth in the World when he fished for one of the England Youth teams when he was 17, and he's been getting some huge weights in big matches, as well as putting hugely-informative videos up on You Tube, detailing matches he has been fishing. 

So on Sunday we met up at Decoy, expecting to go on to the low number on Willows, because the other lakes were all booked; but Ben found out that Cedar was unexpectedly free, and we agreed to sit there, choosing Peg 4. I wasn't out to catch a lot of fish - just to get a few in as quickly as I could.

My new gear
I've just acquired two of the Browning short tops, and after seeing one of Ben's videos I put Matrix Slik elastic 14-16 in one and 16-18 in the other, and I set one up with a 0.5 gm float and a banded pellet. Ben suggested this, which was fine with me as I don't fish banded hard pellets enough. Behind us on Elm lake the anglers in the JV match were finding sport pretty slow, but I took a picture of Chris Saunders managing to land a good carp hooked in the tail.

Chris Saunders was enjoying himself on Elm lake playing  a fish foulhooked in the tail.

It took us perhaps 20 minutes to get a bite on pellet, fishing close to an overhanging bush, where we expected barbel. Ben sat on my basket, got a bite, and within 15 seconds a 5 lb carp was in the landing net. I honestly felt that I had already had my money's worth, just watching that. He had almost tricked the carp into diving headfirst into the landing net. The rig was on 5 lb line.

Next it was my turn, and I did as instructed, and honestly, within 15 seconds of hooking on, I, too, had a 5 lb carp in the net. There was no question of pulling the fish's head off - I felt I hadn't put on any more pressure than I normally do. Then we changed to maggots, and I managed just one barbel, which took longer to land (as they do) and after that I went a bit farther out, and had a few more carp on banded pellet.

Ben also suggested how I fed, which I was happy with, and it worked. We seemed to be catching better than the anglers in the match behind us. The wind was now quite strong. I also changed the long Number Three for a short one with the short top, to see how it felt.

I guess I had probably eight carp in total, but not all came in as quickly as that first one. Ben explained that all fish fight differently (as we all know) and it wasn't always the biggest fish which caused the biggest problems. It was a matter of keeping the fish under control and trying to stop them getting up a head of steam. Sometimes you have to be a bit patient.

Halfway through the session we changed to my normal long top twos, with 17 hollow elastic, and it certainly felt different. Not all came in as quickly as the first one, but I still landed them all in a fraction of the time I would normally take. All a matter of technique.

I was very satisfied that I now had a feel for what I was doing, and we packed up after about three hours. So far as I was concerned it was Mission Completed. A brilliant day so far as I was concerned. I got more than my money's worth.

Wot a Windy Wednesday on Oak

 Peg 12, Wed, Oct 6
You can have too much of a good thing, you know! Everyone knows I like a good Raspberry Ripple, but this was ridiculous, with a howling wind from the South West  - the remains of Hurricane Ian - for the first four hours, before it died a little. With just 15 Spratts anglers entered, we fished pegs 1-15, where the wind was from the right but slightly behind us, because some rain was forecast. That was fine with me, and the wind was really warm at that point.

My peg 12 -- I had to wait until the heavy gusts had passed before taking this picture.

Most laid their trollies on their sides, to prevent them being blown along the bank, though mine has a battery so I stood it upright and laid the pole holdall across it, to hold it down; and of course pole roosts were out of the question - tops had to be laid in the grass, protected by any holdalls or bags not required during the match.

A good area, I reckoned
I was happy with my Peg 12, as that's usually a good area on Oak, and with the roughest weather at our end of the lake I started on a hybrid feeder, with hair-rigged sweetcorn on a bed of micros, cast across to the far bank. A good choice, as a 5 lb mirror took the bait just ten minutes after the start. Another came 20 minutes later, and then a third just after the hour. After two hours I had about six for 50 lb, and had lost one, which came off, and I haad put in a second net. By now the sun had gone in and it was much cooler.

Joe Bedford prepares to put an early carp into his net.

To my left Joe Bedford had had around the same number of fish as me, on a feeder cast to around the middle, and to his left Trevor Cousins was also catching on a feeder cast right across. On my right Alan Porter, after a slower start, was now also catching the occasional fish on a feeder, cast short of the far bank. There seemed to be fish on all lines.

Playing on a feeder rod
The far bank on the strips is at least 40 yards away, while the platforms are  around 12 yards apart, so if a big carp hooked right across decides to kite to one side when it's hooked, you are in trouble. My fish all seemed to want to run to the right, and I am sure that two or three of the biggest ones must have shot through Alan Porter's swim on my right...but somehow they never fouled his line.

It may be that a more powerful rod would have been better at controlling those fish - my Matrix Method feeder rods are nice to handle, but are several years old, and not really made to handle double-figure carp at distance, so I will have to up grade them. It's not fair on other anglers if I do allow my fish to foul their lines. More expense!!

Alan Porter, on Peg  11,  plays a fish on feeder under a threatening sky.

A break
During the really big gusts of wind I could feel the box almost being lifted up, with me on it, but luckily nothing was blown into the water, though I had to keep the lid of my side tray firmly closed after opening it.

A strong gust of wind threatens to blow Joe's landing net out of his hand.

A long wait for fish Number Seven resulted in my deciding to have a look on the pole, but just at that moment the tip went round again, and  when the fish came to the surface I could see it was around 10 lb. But suddenly the line went slack - the hooklength had broken, and I am afraid I said a naughty word. The Quickstops were ones I had tied myself two or three years ago, probably on the 5.5 lb line I used to use; but the fish are bigger now, especially on Oak, and I decided to put on a commercially-tied hook length.

But the wind was so fierce that I had terrible trouble getting the hooks out of my box without other stuff being blown away. It must have taken me two or three minutes holding bits and pieces in the box while finding the hooks and taking them out. However, eventually the new hook was on and a couple more fish came, around 8 lb, the last one landed while heavy rain pelted down.

Is Joe England's oldest regular matchman?

I look on the pole
Then I saw Peter Harrison, two to my right, catching fish from the margins on a pole and decided I simply had to look there. The water was still very rough so I took out a bigger rig than usual - a 3 gm float, which I have always found works better than lighter ones in rough water. The wind was from the right, and there was a terrific undertow left to right in the deep channel just a few feet from the bank. First drop in the left margin with corn saw the float dive down, but it must have been a liner.

My new short top
I was using my new short Browning top for the first time, with 16-18 Matrix Slik elastic, and felt very comfortable with that. I was soon to find that using the short top (1.9 metres long against the usual 2.6 metres for a typical top two) was an advantage in the high wind when landing fish.

Soon after that I changed to mussel over hemp, with small pieces of mussel also dropped in,. and a 10 lb mirror obliged. I spent the next hour here for about four more, best 10 lb, and then a speculative drop out in front of me, on 2+1, brought a 2 lb F1 and, later another good carp or two.

Alan Porter - 70 lb 1 oz in his two nets, on a feeder.

A mistake
On the pole three fish came off and one broke me - that was because the rig, complete with olivette and two 2AAA shot, was on the usual straight-through 5 lb line I was using a couple of years ago. Now I make all my rigs up on 10 lb line. When the fish broke me I put on a  size 12 hook to 7 lb hooklength, , but I was still nervous playing fish on that 5 lb main line, and took took too much time, although no others broke me.

Eventually I got up and went to my holdall and took out a lighter rig on 10 lb line. By now the wind had died down a lot, and this new rig, on Preston 17 hollow elastic, worked fine. I managed to snick another three or four fish on that rig, on mussel, alternating between the margin and the 1+2 line, and was playing a seven-pounder when the match ended. That went onto the third net I had started with 45 minutes to go.

I estimated I had about 130 lb, and I determined to make re-make that 3gm rig on 10 lb line, as it looked so good in the rough water.

Martin Parker - these two fish weighed
around 24 lb.

The weigh-in
With only the two pole tops and the single feeder rod to pack away I was back at the van earlier than usual, in time to see the start of the weigh-in. Mike Rawson was on peg 1, which was sheltered from the high winds by bushes on the end bank. When I saw how sheltered it was I would have been very happy there. He once won from the peg, but had a disappointing 36 lb 11 oz on a feeder on this occasion.

On my walk back I had seen two or three platforms which had at least four nets pegged to the bank next to them - it looked like I would definitely finish out of the frame, even though from 2 to 5 all had just two nets, headed by John Smith on 4 with 78 lb 9 oz, some of which were taken on a waggler fished well out - the wind wasn't quite as bad here as it had been further down the lake.

Callum Judge on 7 was the first to break 100 lb, then John Garner on 8 totalled 86 lb 10 oz...which sent Bob Allen into paroxsyms of joy, as it meant he had won the £1 side bet with John. Peter Spriggs had four nets to weigh, and totalled 135 lb 5 oz - I thought he had beaten me. 

The winner - Peter Harrison with a magnificent 250 lb.

 

Then to Peter Harrison's swim...and he had used five nets. Every one of those was over the club's 50 lb limit, so he ended with 250 lb. taken on feeder to start, and then on pole, mainly in the margins, on cat ,meat. What a performance in those conditions!

A nice surprise for me

Alan on my right had 70 lb, and I was just over the 50 lb limit with my first net, but ended with 140 lb 6 oz, with the last 50-minute net holding 42 lb. I was very happy that I had beaten Peter, especially fiter seeing his four nets in use. So I was second up to now, but with Trevor still to weigh. Next door Joe, who as all the club members know, is nearly 93, totalled 80 lb 3 oz. Is he the oldest practicing and regular matchman in the country? 

Then Trevor, who had feedered all day, topped my bag with 156 lb 14 oz, to come second, leaving me third. On the end corner peg Mick Linnell had had a torrid time, with not a single fish in the first two hours, but came back with a bang after that and weighed in 97 lb 9 oz for sixth place. The higher numbers had fished best, as they often do.

Callum - that fish in front was way over 10 lb, but we didn't weigh it.

John Garner. I hadn't taken his picture for a while, so I thought: Why not?

Shaun Buddle (left) and Mick Linnell watch as the team
lift out Mick's nets and weigh them.

Conclusions

I was very happy with how I fished in that wind, keeping everything simple and managing to not get blown over (which was a real danger) when I stood up to get something out of my box or holdall. 😀 I lost six fish, including those two breakages, so I had hooked enough properly to come second, as I don't think any of those lost fish were foulhooked - I took great trouble to wait until I was sure the bite was a 'proper' one.  I have already tied up Quickstop hair rigs on 10 lb line, and my next job is to re-tie that big rig.

Next match on Beastie on Saturday, when we currently  have pegs 2 to my favourite18. Then a day with Ben Townsend on Sunday, hoping to improve the time spent playing fish on the pole.

THE RESULT

1 Mick Rawson             36 lb 11 oz

2 Bob Barrett                 70 lb 9  oz

3 Martin Parker              55 lb 8 oz   

4 John Smith                   78 lb 9  oz

5 Shaun Buddle              62 lb 3 oz

6 Bob Allen                     97 lb  oz

7 Callum Judge             116 lb 10 oz          5th

8 John Garner                 86 lb 10 oz

9 Peter Spriggs             135 lb 5 oz            4th

10 Peter Harrison          250 lb                   1st

11 Alan Porter                 70 lb 1 oz

12 Mac Campbell          140 lb 8 oz           3rd

13 Joe Bedford                80 lb 3  oz

14 Trevor Cousins          156 lb 14 oz       2nd

15 Mick Linnell                97 lb 9  oz

Just so everybody knows!

The trouble with forecasts - on Oak

 Peg 4, Sunday, Oct 2
The trouble with forecasts and predictions is that they can make you look stupid (or in my case more stupid) when circumstances change. You see, I said in the last blog that any of the pegs on 1-15 Oak were capable of producing the winner. I had checked my blog for the past five years and almost every match on 1-15 Oak from October onwards had been dominated by feeder, often with maggot as bait, cast across to the Eastern bank, and on the whole all those pegs 1-15 have been pretty consistent.

Many years ago Prime Minister Harold Macmillan was asked what dominated his political decisions, and his answer was: "Events, Dear Boy, Events." Well, it's the same with match fishing - when we arrived at Decoy for this match on Oak, 1-15, the club was told that the whole lake was free, and the decision was taken to use the whole 30 pegs, on both sides...that really put the cat among the penguins!

My building site. The nets are put in 15 minutes before the start.

No matter - there are lots of big carp in Oak. But over the years the East bank, which faces the prevailing winds, has tended to fish better than 1-15 on the West bank, and today was no exception. A lot of fish were caught. Peg 1 is in the first corner, and I have won from there in the past, but with both banks in I had hoped to avoid 2 to 5. However, Fate decreed 4 for me.

I go out to the ripple
I had a spare platform both sides, though to the right, peg 3 platform was not really fishable because of intervening reeds. The wind was from the left, slightly behind, but it meant that the best ripple was on the far side for much of the match. I decided to start well out, at 1l.5 metres, in the ripple, with corn and expander (though not both together). On my left Mike Rawson had an early fish on feeder and to his left James Garner, who has something about him that attracts fish, also had a good hour with a fish or two.

Mike Rawson was soon in action to my left, on Peg 6, with a fish on a feeder.

There was a very light undertow from right to left, and I soon changed from corn to expander so the bait could drag along the bottom.

No fish came for ages, and I was amazed at how cold the expander was, because the wind wasn't cold. A look in the lefthand margin brought nothing, but at least it showed I had the float shotted correctly. I then spent some times towards the platform on the left, at 11.5 metres, with corn, but never even had a liner, so I went back long. 

The fish hook themselves...
In the next two hours four fish literally hooked themselves, before I could even strike. One was foulhooked and came off, and three ended in my net - carp of 9 lb and 7 lb, and a 2 lb F1. After three hours that was all I had. 

Callum, opposite me, overtook me with his last fish of the day.

Opposite me Callum Judge had  about three fish, I think, but James had started catching quite well on 2+3 with cat meat. After those three fish in three hours I had a long blank spell! I tried starting another swim at 2+2, where James was now fishing, but never had a bite. It took an hour to get another carp, on corn from the left margin, and I had a look to the right, even though I didn't fancy it because it was bobbly - going from about 12 inches next to the bank down to four feet, but with very few flat spots.

Hemp the main attractor
However, after a few minutes of just dripping in three or pieces of corn, I had an indication, and five minutes later a mirror carp of about 6 lb. Two or three more fish came, but I had to feed, otherwise I never had a bite. Hemp was the main thing to attract them, I think. I kept resting that swim by looking in the left margin, where cat meat brought a good bite first drop, which I missed, but no more bites there.

Peter Spriggs with just one of his six nets of fish. 

Back to the right margin with corn, and in the last 40 minutes mussel brought four or five more fish up to 7 lb, two more lost foulhooked, plus a 4 lb tench landed, which was the final fish of the day. Although I had liners it was fairly easy to spot these, as the float moved slowly along or dragged slowly under. The frustrating bit was seeing the quick dives which were obviously fish playing with the bait.  Occasionally if I left it I would then get a proper bite about a minute later. But lots of times I had that dive under, or a quick pluck, and the fish then left it alone. Why?

Rumours at the weigh in
The word went round, as the weigh-in started, that Peter Spriggs in the corner peg 16 had six or seven nets in. But first to weigh was Allan Golightly in 1, who had had a good day with 96 lb 14 oz, fishing roughly opposite the second bush on the end bank. I knew I could not beat that, and admitted to 70 lb. In fact I ended with 78 lb 4 oz.

James was top on our bank from a peg I didn't particularly fancy - peg 7. A very good performance, that. His father Dave had 84 lb, on a waggler, then we all moved, expectantly, round to Peter Spriggs in the corner on Peg 16..

This was just one of many big double-figure fish Peter ended with.

Peter in the Corner
Peter had had only a couple of fish from the corner of the lake, but had found fish in his deep left margin. He had had a good start, but then he went for an hour and 40 minutes without a single fish  before they came back, and he really made hay using cat meat He had taken only five nets with him, and had to borrow a sixth from an angler sitting behind him and fishing a match on Yew lake.  That angler waited until we had weighed Peter in before he could retrieve his net...

Even so Peter went over our club's 50 lb limit on four of the nets, which included fish to 16 lb. The last net went in 40 minutes from the end, and it had more than 50 lb in, thanks to a big last fish, which Peter put in there because he had no more nets. His total was 298 lb 2 oz, but had all his fish counted he would have had about 314 lb - the catch of a lifetime. Obviously he had won. 

A beautifully-conditioned common for runner-up  John Smith. 

To his left John Smith had taken most of his second-placed 156 lb 10 oz on a waggler with small pieces of cat meat, while to his left Kevin Lee had 136 lb 12 oz, which didn't even frame. In corner peg 30 Shaun Buddle had fished long to the corner with mussell and ended fourth with 147 lb 4 oz. I ended ninth out of 12.

What went wrong?
Afterwards I couldn't work out why I didn't catch more, because I thought I hadn't made any silly mistakes. Then, after seeing others weigh in, I realised that my fish were smaller than the average - almost everyone else had big fish over 10 lb, with a much bigger average weight than I had. Also, I don't recall seeing anyone else with F1s, and I also wonder if that tench heralded the fact that the carp were not feeding well - that had happened in the past at Decoy. Perhaps it wasn't all down to me!

Kevin Lee is our hardest-working club member - he weighs in every match for us.

His reward in this match was 136 lb 12 oz, which didn't even frame. But look at

the size of that fish!

HOWEVER let's get things in perspective - 78 lb would have been more than I used to catch in a season when I fished the Fen drains for roach in Wisbech association matches. In those days 1 lb of fish per hour would be enough to frame in most matches. So although I like to frame, I realise that catches like I now get would have been unbelievable 40 years ago. We are so lucky.

Next match is Wednesday, back on Oak. I imagine we will have enough anglers to fish both banks, so I'd like a peg from 16 to 30, preferable from 16 to 22, or 30 in the coner. Pretty Please!

THE RESULT