Probably at the wrong end on Damson (that's my excuse).

Peg 3, Tues, Aug 29
If this blog seems a little rambling it's probably because I seem to have been wafted into some sort of parallel universe - almost real but not quite. I read, now, that when I'm in a waiting room at Addenbrookes hospital, expecting to see my consultant, a nurse is likely to come in and not shout out "Robert Campbell", but "They" or "Him" or "It" (they are pronouns, apparently). This would obviously be followed by 60 people all standing up expectantly, followed by a five-minute consultation with the nurse and 59 people sitting down again; and ten minutes later 59 people would stand up when the nurse shouts "They", and 58 would eventually  sit down.

The last scene pictures me three days later, still in the corner, reduced to a whimpering, gibbering idiot still waiting for my name to be called...

On top of that, according to some of our magnificent university student,s it's Britain's fault that some countries have anti-homosexuality laws (honestly); and now the Home Secretary has had to politely suggest that police investigate crimes if they can find the time between picking on little old ladies who drop sweet papers and can't bend down to pick 'em up. And only today I read that she is giving the police service power to sack officers if they turn out to be crooks!. You couldn't make it up.

And it's rubbed off on me - last week I reported that Spratts angler Joe Bedford was 95, based on the fact that I reported he was 90 five years ago, only to be assured, slightly indignantly, that he is ONLY 93. So I  have knocked him back to 93, and it appears I apparently have the power to knock years off anyone. But be warned - I also have the power to ADD a few years on...upset me at your peril.

The match
And so to Damson, on Tuesday for the Spratts match, where Peg 3 was my home for six hours. The early few pegs were flat calm at the start, while a little farther along there was a bit of ripple much of the time, and I think that was probably key.

If I had remembered to take a picture of my swim it would have been here.

First five minutes saw me hook a good fish in the margins, fishing banded maggot shallow, but it same off. Then, as often happens on Damson, I started to see fish come into the swim. But incredibly they all refused to take my bait, while sweeping up all the maggots I threw in. A quick switch to fishing the same bait down near the bottom, at about two feet, saw some 1 lb F1s come in. But sport was very spasmodic.

Jumping forward six hours (I can now do that) and 
Peter Spriggs (centre) casts a beady eye on the weighing procedure.

Liners but few fish

I stayed in the margin, taking a few fish on sweetcorn, and after about 90 minutes had 20 lb-plus. Then everything stopped. Shaun Buddle, on peg 2, told me he was going home to pick up a prescription for his mother, and at that point I had had nothing for nearly half an hour, but was getting liners every few seconds. Very frustrating.

As soon as Shaun had gone I managed a 2 lb carp, but it was nearly an hour before I had the next one. In between I had hooked and lost three or four, probably foulhooked as the fish were definitely hitting the bait but not taking it.

A lightbulb moment
Then - a lightbulb moment! I decided I simply had to take a look in the deep water on a top  three, and put in sweetcorn and hemp. No bites, but within five minutes carp started to drift into the swim from all over. I'm convinced it was the smell of the hemp that was attracting them. Another five minutes saw no bites in the deep water, so I came back into the margins.

Ripple!
Sure enough I started to catch the occasional fish about 2 lb on corn; then one on worm; then one on cat meat, and another on mussel, but it was slow going. Suddenly the wind changed and brought some very welcome raspberry ripple, and the difference was incredible. In the next half-hour I put more than 20 lb in the net; then, as quickly as it had come, the wind died and I was back to scratching, with occasional spurts when I might get two fish in successive drops.

Mick Ramm on peg 1 was first to weigh - note how small
most of his fish are compared to those farther down the lake.

To my right Mike Rawson caught one or two nice carp on a feeder and I toyed with the idea of  putting one out, but kept putting the occasional fish into the net, while also losing one or two, probably foulhooked. With 20 minutes to go I had a good spell of four quick fish, then missed a bite, then hit a fish which came off, and then the match ended. I had no idea what anyone except Mike had caught as you can't see them on from this peg.

The weigh in
Mick Ramm on 1, which had been flat calm almost all day, struggled to 42 lb 12 oz, while Shaun did not weigh, of course, though he said he had about 30 lb when he left. My final weight of 80 lb 15 oz led up to John Garner on 6, who almost beat me with 79 lb 5 oz. But Dick on 7 then took over the lead with 87 lb, and more good weights followed, and it seemed that the fish were bigger towards the far end.

John Garner just beat me with 79 lb 5 oz from peg 6.

In fact those last five pegs produced the top four weights. Trevor Cousins on 12 had fished the waggler for a time, which brought about 40 lb of his  second-placed 121 lb. But top man was John Smith in the corner, whose swim was flat calm for most of the day, and who brought 164 lb 6 oz to the scales, most caught laying cat meat on about ten inches in the deep water on a pole. A very good catch indeed on the day.

Marks out of ten
I ended sixth and give myself 6 out of 10. I did change bait occasionally, and had the sense to come back to the shallows when the hemp brought fish in. But I should not have wasted that middle 90 minutes for just two fish - the feeder rod was there ready to use and I just couldn't bring myself to pick it up! Two or three of the fish I lost were probably my fault - they were probably a bit bigger than the others and I held them too hard. 

Here is John Garner's best carp - probably not far off 10 lb.
Joe Bedford (93!) and his sister-in-law Wendy are admiring it, or are
they trying to work out how to zip up Wendy's jacket?

Next match is Saturday in the Ellis Buddle Memorial on Oak and Yew - drawn teams. Shaun, Ellis' son, has arranged food afterwards, and trophies, and at the last count the turnout was a very creditable 30. Ellis, who sat with an oxygen tank beside him for is last season or two, was a lovely bloke and a real inspiration.

Then Sunday see me on Magpie at Pidley, where some very big weights have been taken lately, but it has been a little peggy. The island pegs from 28 to 34, if they are included, will suit me!

Peter Harrison takes one of his three nets to the scales.

The result - exactly 99 lb and fourth place from peg 9.

The winner - John Smith with 164 lb 6 oz from corner peg 13.

THE RESULT

1 Mick Ramm            42 lb 12 oz

2 Shaun Buddle      Retired

3 Mac Campbell        80 lb 15 oz

4 Mike Rawson          37 lb 8 oz

5 Wendy Bedford       31 lb

6 John Garner            79 lb 5 oz

7 Dick Warrener         87 lb

8 Bob Allen                71 lb 4 oz

9 Peter Harrison         99 lb               4th

10 Joe Bedford           24 lb 6 oz

11 Peter Spriggs         19 lb 2 oz     3rd

12 Trevor Cousins    121 lb            2nd

13 John Smith           164 lb 6 oz     1st

Bream on Beastie and late carp on Elm

Peg 3, Friday, Aug 18

Apologies to my readers (both of them) for this being late. I thought when I retired I would have lots and lots of spare time, but now I don't know how I found the time to go to work...

Eleven of us were in this Spratts match on the famous Beastie lake at Decoy. Before the introduction of carp it was a noted bream water, and the ashes of Syd Meads, one of those who dominated the Irish bream festivals for 30 years from the 1970s, are still on the island in the middle. Syd loved this water, which was close to his Wisbech home, and used to fish matches there with his close travelling companion Bryan Lakey.

But now you need carp to win, and luckily they can come from any swim, though whenever I have been pegged on the East bank, in the low numbers, peg 3 has never done particularly well. There's a lovely-looking bank of reeds on the left, going out to about 14 metres, but the right margin is open bank, and didn't feel particularly inviting. The light wind was Easterly over my back.

Peg 3 for me. And I didn't moan about it!!!

I started on a feeder to the island, about 50 yards distant, but that produced just one small liner, so it was out to 14 metres on hard pellet, just on the edge of the ripple, which produced a bream and a nice F1 and then something that came off, followed by a blank spell. Losing a bream can be fatal, as years fishing the Fen drains taught me!

Fifty yards to the island, and those reeds on the left look nice, but
there are lots of snags caused by stuff falling from the willow tree.

I catch shallow
To my right Neil Paas on 4 had an early fish on the feeder, but I didn't see him take anything else - I was now too busy catapulting casters out, hoping to catch shallow. And I did! Several small F1s, around 6 ox, took banded caster, and one small bream. It was great fun, as they were hooking themselves, but  they weren't frantic, and I knew I needed to catch something better. So I tried the right margin in the deeper water about ten feet from the bank. When I had been plumbing up the plummet had definitely hit a fish there, which always gives me confidence, although Bryan used to say to me: "Fish have fins, Mac!"

First drop on corn and a 2 lb bream came in on cat meat, followed by three or four more. I walked up to Trevor Cousins at one point, imagining that he would have slaughtered fish shallow on his wagglers, as fish were topping out in the ripple, but he said he had only about 9 lb. I estimated I had 15 lb, which gave me a bit of heart.

When the bream seemed to go I tried next to the reeds, but it's very snaggy there, and I kept hooking twigs. A further look out to 14 metres brought another bream or two, and then I started on a new line at 2+1 in front of me.

Neil Paas plays his first fish in on the feeder. He went back to it several times during the match.

My last fish - a cracking 12 lb 2 oz common.

I find the bream!
Half-a-dozen very small F1s came in on corn, and I considered looking elsewhere, but I was putting fish into my net, and carried on. Then the bream turned up, and with about 20 minutes to go I had netted about 20 or 25 of them, nearly all around 2 lb, several of which had leaped out of the water, as they do, causing Neil to quickly look up. Now he was catching fish as well, and it seemed that some of them, on the feeder, were proper carp, while he also had some fish in the margins.

I managed to land every one, playing them carefully as they have such soft mouths.

Just a few minutes to go and I had another look to the right margin swim, and immediately hit a 4 lb carp on mussel. That was followed by my hooking something that really stretched the 16-18 elastic on my short top. The match ended as I was playing it, so I took my time and five minutes later netted a lovely-looking common, which went into my third net on its own. Those were the only two carp I had all day. They really were just coming on the feed.

Neil Paas - 88 lb 8 oz for second place on peg 4.

The weigh in

I had played it safe with the nets, starting the second when I had about 30 lb in the first, and doing the same with the second, just to be careful. Trevor was first to weigh - 56 lb 13 oz and I thought I would probably beat that. The last fish weighed 12 lb 2 oz, bringing my total to 75 lb 2 oz, and John Garner, who had walked round the lake to help with the weighing, took a picture for me.

Neil had beaten me, as I thought he had, thanks to those carp on feeder which gave him 88 lb 8 oz, and that lead round to Mike Rawson on 17, who told me he had hooked at least  100 lb of double-figure fish, but had lost six at the net. He was pretty frustrated and didn't weigh in. But 95-year-old Joe Beford on 18 had 60 lb, and I understand he also lost some big fish. Is he the oldest practicing matchman in the country?

On 30 Martin Parker, former Vets National winner, nearly got a net disqualified by going more than 8 lb over the club's 50 lb limit, ending with 51 lb 7 oz.

John Garner on  24 won with 102 lb 6 oz, taken on a pole I believe, and I ended third, which I was pretty pleased with, as I would have chosen several of the other pegs before 3.

Martin Parker - he put out his second net...and promptly put his next
double-figure carp into the first one, sending it up to 58 lb 8 oz!!

Marks out of ten

I give myself 7. I scrapped around, really, but didn't waste too much time in the swims where I couldn't catch - particularly against the reeds, which look very inviting. At the end, though, I plonked in a spare handful or two of bait down beside the platform. I take most home to freeze, so there wasn't a huge amount. Bugga me, within ten minutes carp were swirling around there, where I had got a rig ready to fish it, but hadn't tried!

Next match the next day was on Elm. 

THE RESULT

2 Trevor Cousins       56 lb 13 oz
3 Mac Campbell        75 lb 2 oz    3rd
4 Neil Paas                88 lb 8 oz     2nd
5 Bob Allen               39 lb 2 oz
17 Mike Rawson        DNW
18 Joe Bedford         60 lb 10 oz
22 Dave Hobbs        65 lb 4 oz     4th
23 Mick Ramm        26 lb 8 oz
24 John Garner       102 lb 6 oz    1st
29 Bob Barrett          39 lb 2 oz
30 Martin Parker      51 lb 5 oz

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Peg 9, Saturday, Aug 19

Happy with peg 9 on Elm. It's a hotspot in Winter particularly, but three-quarters of the way down any of the four strip lakes is always OK. In this 11-entry Fenland Rods match I had a spare swim to my right, but a bush close to me meant I couldn't fish that margin, let alone to the next platform. It also meant I couldn't see Dave Hobbs, on 7.

Shaun Buddle on 11, next to the corner, was Golden Peg, but in the corner peg 12 sat Callum Judge, who won his last match on this lake from that swim, and I made him favourite today. The wind had turned round from Easterly to almost Westerly overnight and was blowing down from peg 1 to peg 13 in the opposite corner to 12, right to left.

Callum gets his prayer mat out in the car park before the start. 

I had only two shallow spots in my swim - either side of my platform, and though the bush to my right looked fishy its branches were in the water and I couldn't actually fish under it, though I did plumb up next to it, and it was the same depth as the rest of the nearside swims - about six feet. I decided to start on the feeder.

A quick fish on the feeder

A quick five-pounder on a hybrid feeder cast right over to the far bank with a red wafter started me off well, but although I then had liners no more fish came. I'd been throwing casters about six metres out and suspected that some of the liners were from fish there, so I went shallow. That brought just two or three roach and eventually I put out my banded pellet rig at about the same distance, fished on the bottom.

A nice ripple, and overcast to begin with, but a very slow first half for me on peg 9.

I was surprised not to get any fish on that, though I did briefly foulhook something big which came off seconds later. Shaun had said, after about 90 minutes, that Callum already had 35 lb. Now Dick caught two or three small carp from his margin, and I had a look there, and almost immediately had a 3 lb carp on corn, but then nothing. 

Well behind

The match was now halfway through and after shaking hands with my best friend I wandered up to Peter Spriggs on 6, past Dave Hobbs who was playing a foulhooked fish which eventually came off. Peter, who was fishing in his deep margin, said he had about 30 lb, so I was well behind the leaders. I went back and concentrated on the deep margin to my left. Around this time I heard splashing from my right - possibly Dave Hobbs landing fish, and possibly carp splashing around, which already happened several times. I hoped it was the latter.

Dave Hobbs was on my right, and unfortunately
the splashing I heard was him landing fish like this.

Slowly I started getting small fish on corn, then two or three proper carp to 5 lb. Although the fish weren't biting very well at least I was putting fish into the net, and I stayed there for most of the rest of the match. First drop into the right margin near the bush saw a 2 lb bream, but nothing else. Fishing mussel about an inch off bottom then brought a good, short spell of carp over 8 lb, during which time I started my second net. A couple more quick carp went into that, taken on mussel.

Some excitement

Near the end I felt I had to look in the tiny shallow area near the platform, and only inches from my nets. There, fishing mussel, I had a bite which turned out to be a foulhooked carp around 7 lb which provided a brief moment of excitement (I'm easily entertained) when it surfaced spectacularly right in front of Dick, who pointed to it and looked at me. He had realised I was attached to something that had stretched my  orange bungee elastic out like a lazer beam down the lake and had lifted his rig out of the margin, and I was able to tell him that yes, that fish was mine (or soon would be). 

I had plunged the top under the surface and slowly the fish came back. Then it ran out again, the elastic still like a lazer beam almost parallel with the surface, and Dick again lifted his rig out and the fish again drifted back to me. This was its last long run, and now it went round in circles for a time - not surprising as I had hooked it in the pectoral fin! It took a few minutes but it eventually ended in the net.

Shaun Buddle takes out his last net on Peg 11.

The last minutes wasted

Then to the right, about a foot from the platform, a four-pounder came, and I wasted the last 20 minutes of the match fishing these two swims without any further reward. I should have gone back to the banker swim in the left deep margin.

I thought I had 35 lb in the first net but I hadn't clicked the second net as I thought, when I started it, that I had no hope of filling it. If I had 30 lb there that would be 65 lb, which felt about right. I had lost about four fish probably foulhooked, which was probably fewer than most of the others had lost.

The weigh in

Weights in the low numbers were not good - best was Kev Lee having 67 lb, well beaten by Peter Spriggs with 86 lb 10 oz, which I had no hope of beating (!) Dave Hobbs then weighed 101 lb 10 oz and to my amazement my first net went 42 lb and the second (which I hadn't clicked) went 46 lb. Total  88 lb 2 oz.

Always smiling - Shaun shows some of his fish, including
one that looks to be well into double-figures.

Shaun Buddle on 11 could not find a fish in his margin, and took all his 93 lb 6 oz out at around six or seven metres. I then realised that I hadn't tried there once after I had started catching fish in the margin. I should have done, as they might have backed off there.

But in the corner Callum had blitzed it with a superb 173 lb 6 oz. Every fish came from the end bank or in open water - none from the margins, and every fish was on mussel. Well done, Callum, a brilliant catch on a difficult day. So I finished fourth.

Marks out of ten

I give myself just 2. When I got home my head was spinning with all the things I should have tried and didn't - fishing farther out; fishing cat meat properly; trying paste or worm when I knew that fish were in the swim; and in particular trying 8mm hard pellet again after the first abortive try. I should definitely have had more. At least I am now back framing after a stretch of about three matches when I was well out of the frame. Things are looking up, provided I can remember what change baits I have!

The winner - Callum Judge blitzed this match with a brilliant performance -
he had 173 lb 6 oz, with every fish taken on mussel.

A nasty surprise

Next weekend I have a match on Rookery Fishery, and in September a weekend away with JV club at Grange Park, Messingham. Luncheon meat is allowed on both those waters, so today (Friday) I picked up half-a-dozen small tins of Spam from our local Aldi, to go with the couple of tins I already have.

Got home, and looked at the price - £19.50 for six small tins!!!! That's £3.25 each. Gotta keep the receipt away from the wife - if she sees that I am spending more on feeding fish than I am on feeding her I'll have  my privileges cut off...😒  

If I'm still in reasonable working order my next match is on Damson on Tuesday, Aug 29. 

THE RESULT

Holiday time! Then nothing to 'Crow' about

 Devon called...
An unforgettable holiday in Ilfracombe was my next expedition. It reminded me of my birth town of Wisbech - full of nail bars, kebab houses, fish and chip shops, tattoo parlours and charity shops, plus hills, wind and rain! Nearly eight hours to get there and 11 hours to come back, thanks to the M5 being closed in both directions and being directed up mile after mile of single-track roads where the residents of at least one village had given up trying to drive out of their own village. Chaos. Gridlocked.

Then we were able to view Bridgwater from the comfort of our barely-moving car...for nearly three hours; only escaping when my 16-year-old grand-daughter who was navigating directed us round a left turn, and past a notice saying that there were major roadworks ahead which everyone should avoid. That took us straight to the M5, (someone must have nicked the roadworks) where the first service station was apparent by the queue of cars snaking all the way along the slip road and out onto the Motorway. 

I guess they all wanted the toilets or Electrical charging points, or perhaps both. If ever I had considered obtaining an electric car that put the kybosh on it!

Otherwise the highlight was a visit to a honey farm, where three of us donned the space suits before smoking the bees and handling the newly-formed honeycombs, where we even saw bees hatching out. Half an hour later, with no problems from the bees, we bought teas from the cafe and drank them outside...where  I was stung by a bloody wasp!

Back home and the results of the Spratts match on Six-Island were on my phone. Yet again, because I was not fishing it, Dick Warrener had a shedload, and would have won it with his 137 lb 1 oz from peg 4, taken at about six metres on mussel, if he hadn't lost a double-figure fish at the net. In the event Neil, Pass won on 25 with 140 lb 15 oz on hard pellet fishing in the margins, with Dave Hobbs third on 8, also taken on mussel.

Result

2 Mick Ramm            29 lb 2 oz
4 Dick Warrener       137 lb 1 oz        2nd
6 John Smith              90 lb 8 oz         5th
8 Dave Hobbs           121 lb 1 oz       3rd
10 Joe Bedford           10 lb 10 oz
12 Bob Barrett            72 lb 15 oz
14 Martin Parker        18 lb 4 oz
16 Trevor Cousins      68 lb 10 oz
18 John Garner           47 lb 13 oz
20 Wendy Bedford      30 lb 7 oz
22 Peter Spriggs        104 lb 1 oz     4th
25 Neil Paas              140 lb 15 oz

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Saturday, Aug 11

And so to Crow Lake at Pidley, where I hoped the strong wind would clear my head and blow away memories of that horrific journey. In fact it blew my pole sections around my swim all day!

This was the Fenland Rods Handicap match, with the pools paid out on the Handicap result, and medals for the first three. The handicap is based on last season's championship result with the champ, Kevin Lee, on Scratch ; second man Callum on +10%; me on third +20% etc.

Peg 10 was my home for the day, and I had intended to start on The Method and pellet, cast right across to the far bank; indeed I had it all made up ready for the start. But when I picked up the rod to cast out the band must have been caught in the grass and it had pulled off. Instead of putting on another banded hooklength I cut off the loop and stuck on some dead maggots. Probably a wrong decision.

Peg 10. Literally seconds before the match ended the wind died largely away!

Liners on feeder and maggot

However I had liners and soon had a 2 lb common in the net. A fair while later another came in, and then two unaccountable pulled off while they were halfway to the net. After an hour I had a quick look on the pole on 2+1, to my left, fishing with the wind, using luncheon meat, and soon had three tiny F1s which wouldn't have weighed 1 lb between them. So it was back out on the feeder for another small carp and another pulled off right at the net.

I walked up to Kevin Lee on my right, who said he had had nine on the feeder, while Callum on his right had 12. He was using an orange wafter, so when I went back I put on something similar and had a 2 lb carp first cast. Two more followed, but also another three which came off. Afterwards every angler I spoke to said they had lost a lot of fish, also.

The wind gets worse

There followed a long fishless spell, when the wind became stronger and quite cold, and I saw Kevin take a couple of fish well out, which was difficult in that wind. But I went out to eight metres, into the deepest water,  and had two fish on luncheon meat. When the wind spun me right round to the left, threatening to break my pole, I admitted defeat and went to 2+1 again.

To my left Dave Garner had some nice fish on his waggler gear,
and I thought he had me well beaten.

Two or three 2 lb carp came in and when I saw a fish turn in the margin, where I had been dropping corn, I came in closer.

Three nice carp

I couldn't catch the fish showing in about 18 inches of water, so went to my right margin, on a top two, where I put in a load of dead maggots, into water that was about two feet deep. That brought three carp around 6 lb each, all on a bunch of six deads, and I turned back to the left margin.

Going into the slight;y deeper water brought two more 5 lb carp, but three or four more pulled off. I just don't know why, though a couple of the better fish were hooked on the outside of the lips. All the time here I was getting fish hitting the bait on the way down, and giving liners. A change to mussel was no better. Then I hooked another big fish which skimmed along the surface and I could see it must have been around 10 lb. Two seconds later that also came off. One more stuck, around 7 lb, and the match ended.

I thought I had 45 lb-plus, and was pretty despondent, assuming I was way down the field, especially since Kevin and Callum had had such a lead on me after two hours. Fish had been in the margin pretty much the whole time since I had started fishing there, and I was really frustrated I had caught only six.

The weigh-in

On peg 2 Peter Spriggs had most of his 57 lb 11 oz catch in the second half of the match in the margins, and said he had lost about ten. Like me, he assumed the fish were just not feeding properly. Next to him Martin Parker fished a bomb and pellet all day for 71 lb 3 oz, and then Callum had 80 lb 8 oz, having added to his early feeder fish by fishing a long pole. Already I was looking well down the list.

Down on peg 25 Wendy sneaked out 43 lb 10 oz on a feeder,
which was enough to give her the silver medal.

But then, a surprise! Kevin Lee had had fish in his margin for the last couple of hours, but said he just couldn't catch them, and he had just 33 lb 15 oz. Then I weighed 60 lb 10 oz, to my eternal surprise, and was now in third spot. To my left Dave Garner, who I had seen land some decent fish, had 55 lb 1 oz, so I was still third. And crazily that held right to the end, as everyone else had struggled!

I was busy working out the handicap results as the scales went along, so took very few pictures.

The Handicap Result

But it was the Handicap result which really mattered, and this went to Martin, fishing on +70% with 128 lb. Then we were all delighted to see that Wendy, with 43 lb 10 oz from peg 24, fishing on +140%, was in second place. Allan Golightly with 52 lb 9 oz and +80% took the bronze medal position, with Callum, who won the main match, fourth.

Marks out of 10

I give myself 2/10. I should have put the band and pellet on at the start, and afterwards I wondered why I hadn't tried cat meat, worm, paste or hard pellet for those margin fish. Sometimes a change of bait will take just one fish - and I didn't need many of those 5 lb-plus fish to win. I lost several, but I don't think that was my fault, otherwise I would have given myself just 1/10!

Frankly (and not for the first time)  I should have won.

Next match is Friday on Beastie at Decoy. I have no plan, having been so busy since the 'holiday', which is also why this write-up is late. If I get there, fish, and get back in one piece, that will be success for me!

THE RESULT

     Handicap possn

2 Peter Spriggs          57 lb 11 oz       4th                7th

4 Martin Parker         71 lb 3 oz        2nd         1st

6 Callum Judge         80 lb 8 oz        1st                  4th

8 Kevin Lee              33 lb 15 oz       10th             12th

10 Mac Campbell     60 lb 10 oz      3rd                  8th

12 Dave Garner         55 lb 8 oz        5th                 5th    

14 Joe Bedford          23 lb              12th                10th

16 Allan Golightly    52 lb 9 oz         6th        3rd

18 Dick Warrener      30 lb 5 oz        11th               9th

20 Mel Lutkin           51 lb 15 oz      7th                  6th

22 Dave Hobbs          41 lb 4 oz       9th                 11th

24 Wendy Bedford    43 lb 10 oz     8th          2nd

        

I've obviously lost my touch, on Yew and Cedar

 Peg 23, Yew Lake, Sunday, July 30
Happy with peg 23 in this Fenland Rods match, though the wind was pretty fierce, and into our faces. And yet again I had a terrible start. My opening gambit was hard pellet on 2+3, which was the farthest out I could fish in the wind, and I gave myself ten minutes, after which I would change swim if I hadn't had a bite - something Lee Kerry advocated on a recent video.

The rotten wind was always in our face - sometimes from the left and
sometimes from the right. But at least it didn't rain.

Well, I definitely had indications very soon - lots of them, and they didn't look like liners, so I stayed there, and stayed there, and kept there for over an hour, with more dive-unders and not a fish to show for it. A switch to the margin saw not a touch, so it was back out, and two F1s came in eventually, and then a big fish hooked which came off at the net.

Three fish in three hours!
A 4 lb mirror snaffled a piece of corn in the margin, and with three hours gone that was all I had - three fish for 8 lb. I wandered up to John Smith on29, who had four fish, while Dave Garner on 28 had six on his waggler. Both Kevin Lee and Allen Golightly, though, were really struggling, so I felt a bit better. I trudged back, and as soon as I got back, having rested the swim (!) a nice carp came from the margin on corn. 

Mike Rawson on 22 playing his first fish on the pole.

Success. That fish must have been around 10 lb!

That was followed by an occasional fish on mussel, and three of those were barbel, best nearly 4 lb. Sport got better slowly, and I finished with some good fish to 10 lb in the deep margin to my left, with about five in the last half-hour, but several more came off. By the end I had lost 11 fish, every one imprinted on my mind, and I suppose some might have been foulhooked, because almost half of the fish I did land were hooked on the outside of the mouth.

I was too late packing up to snap winner Dave Garner,
so here's Mike's catch.

Wondering whether my 17 hollow elastic was too strong I had changed it for a 13 solid, which did feel better, even though some fish still came off. In the strong wind it was a bit nerve-wracking lifting the pole prior to netting, as the wind buffeted the elastic.

Mussel off bottom best
Towards the end I actually fished my mussel a few inches off bottom, and that gave me the best spell I had all day. To my right Mike Rawson lost a fish on the feeder, but landed four or five good fish in the second half. I estimated I had 70 lb and had no idea what anyone else had, as I couldn't see them. I assumed Dave Garner, fishing with just one big shot two inches from the hook, and baiting with cat meat (his usual tactic with a waggler) would have added to his early tally.

Winner on the Waggler

Indeed, Dave Garner led down to me with 147 lb 10, with every fish taken on mussel on the waggler. Kevin Lee on 26 also topped the ton. I had 86 lb 4 oz, but there were two more 100 lb-plus weights from Peter Spriggs, who had been fantastically consistent in our matches, and Callum Judge on corner peg 16, who also can't stop catching fish. So I finished fifth, out of ten, wondering why so many fish came off which didn't appear to be foulhooked; however I wasn't the only one - almost every angler I spoke to had lost several. 

Marks out of ten
I think I probably deserved 6/10, because I lost so many. However I was pleased that I didn't hang around for too long when a swim stopped giving me bites, and I tried fishing off bottom with mussel, which paid off for a short time. Cat meat gave me that 4 lb barbel, so I switched for a time, but never had another bite on it. I probably stayed in that swim too long, though, because I know barbel tend to band together. 

Next match on Cedar on Wednesday, when any peg near the car park would suit me. Preferably corner peg 26.

THE RESULT

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Peg 24, Cedar

Happy, again with Cedar 24, which has a lovely-looking margin to the right - bare bank for several metres. The wind was again very strong from the front, mainly from the left, but towards the end it swivelled about a bit, and frankly it was quite cold at times on our bank. Fifteen fished, with golden peg going to Neil Paas on corner peg 13, which looks nice, but I thought was probably at the wrong end of the lake.

Before we started Martin Parker, next to me on 26, and I checked his motorised trolley, which has a problem. We found that his battery was OK on my trolley, and after the match we tested his switch on my trolley and that worked, so his problem must be with the motor.

The wind became quite strong, but it rained for only a few minutes in
the middle of the match. That bush on my left was a nuisance!

Deceiving

That long right margin of mine was deceiving - very bobbly, and I found only one flattish area, on a top three. There was a bush to my left, and though I tried plumbing up the other side of the bush, the shallow margin was very narrow and with the strong wind it wasn't a viable proposition, as I woulod have had to stand or put my pole through the bush.

I started again on hard pellet out on 2+2, which brought a lot of indications bit no fish. A drop into the right margin, four feet deep, where I had been flicking casters, brought a 4 lb carp first time! Soon after that I dropped in and had a lovely bite as the float immediately sailed under - and that turned out to be a foulhooked fish which came off. 

Then I sat frustrated as I couldn't get another bite in that spot. Bringing the corn right into the side, in about three feet of water brought lots of bites, and one roach. A change to worm saw two tiny F1s come in - about 6 oz each. I wonder if there has been a stocking there recently?

Peter racing away

To my right Peter Harrison started catching fish, but the tall reeds between us (unfortunately too far away for me to fish near them) meant I couldn't see where he was fishing. I could see his landing net handle pointed towards the sky as he emptied yet another fish into the keepnet, though!

Bob Barret on the opposite bank found some cracking
fish on a feeder or bomb dropped under that bush to his left.

The margin swim was snaggy - three times I found myself solid on the bottom resulting in my getting out my long hook and probing on the bottom to free the rig. Three times I got it back attached to a large, rotting, piece of wood. There has obviously been a tree or bush there and I was hooking its decaying roots or fallen branches. Rooting about on the bottom must have put the fish down, although I have known it bring them in, in the past.

Fish in the deep water

So I had to go into the deep water on a top two, and the next three fish I landed were all foulhooked on mussel - including a 3 lb bream hooked on the side of the face, which hurtled out of the water when hooked and made two more jumps like a sea trout. One of the carp was about 6 lb and hooked in the tail, but it eventually finished in my net. So I had four fish, and only one hooked properly...

I eventually found an occasional fish in the deep water on a top two in front of me, on mussel, including one which I landed very quickly on my short top and 14-16 elastic. But as soon as I had the fish, in the net, in my lap, it wanr manic and turned over a couple of times, like an eel, wrapping my rig round itself. The upshot was that it broke the hooklength, and when I had put another hooklength on and dropped back the fish, which had been lining up for a short period, were gone.

John Garner, on peg 8, with a handsome friend!

I tried the feeder down the edge, because I could see Bob Barrett on peg 6 on the opposite bank catching fish like that. I used a red pellet, but should have persevered longer, I feel.

A good last half-hour

Then I had a spell of hooking fish and losing them and the last half hour saw three fish from the deep left margin. Most came to mussel, with one on cat meat, which also turned out to be foulhooked. I was playing a 6 lb carp when the match ended, and had counted six big fish lost. Yet again I wasn't the only one - I suspect the changeable weather has meant that they are finicky at the moment.

By the end of the match the wind had suddenly,died down, giving a lovely light ripple, and it was much warmer. That happens so often...

Trevor Cousins checks his weight. I didn't take a picture of him with his fish because he couldn't find his comb.

I said I had 40 lb and in fact had 48 lb 6 oz. Peter Harrison, on my right, won with 160 lb 11 oz, mainly on cat meat in the deep margins. I was convinced that the absence of reeds in my swim meant that the fish were more confident feeding near some sort of cover, but it could be that I fished crap! 

Dave Hobbs was third with 117 lb 2 oz from peg 20.

Peter Spriggs on 1 was second, with Dave Hobbs on 20 and Trevor Cousins on 18 completing the top four, with Martin on 26 fifth. So four or the five top weights came from our windy bank, and I was in the middle of them.

Marks out of ten

I feel I should have done much better - 3/10 and falling!!! I should have gone back out to the hard pellet swim more often, because perhaps the fish were more confident feeding away from my bare bank, closer to the middle. If the weather had been hot I think that margin would have produced. I'm in a bad spell at the moment; perhaps my next match on Crow lake at Pidley will see me fish a bit better. 

The winner! Peter Harrison, next to me on 22, with 160 lb 1 oz on cat meat.

THE RESULT

East bank                                                                 West bank       

26 Martin Parker            82 lb 3 oz       5th                1 Peter Spriggs               143 lb 6 oz        2nd

24 Mac Campbell          48 lb 6 oz                             3 Bob Allen                      80 lb 1 oz

22 Peter Harrison           160 lb 1 oz    1st                5 Shaun Buddle           Had to go home

20 Dave Hobbs              117 lb 2 oz    3rd                 6 Bob Barrett                    81 lb 5 oz

18 Trevor Cousins         114 lb 4 oz    4th                  8 John Garner                   73 lb 11 oz

16 Mike Rawson             26 lb 9 oz                          10 Wendy Bedford               36 lb 2 oz

14 Joe Bedford                16 lb 12 oz                        11 Mick Ramm                   29 lb 10 oz

                                                                                  12 Neil Paas                        59 lb 4 oz