Luck keeps me in the mix on Willows

 Peg 29, Willows, Sun, Oct 29
That blessed Winter sun was such a nuisance (I know I should be gratefull). It wasn't right in the eyes of the five of us pegged round the back of Willows in this JV match, but it was so bright and low at the beginning that I began to wonder how peg 29 has such a reputation, if you can't fish to the island cos of that sun. But a little after the match began it moved behind a tree, and I was able to get to the island with 13 metres plus a half butt - which was just as well because I had left my 14-metre section behind, knowing I couldn't possibly draw that one peg where it could be useful. But of course I did!

I had a chat with Gus Gausden before the match and he reminded me that peg 29  has probably won as many matches in the mast few years as the famous peg 25. So no pressure, then! There was a cold wind, but the surface was pretty calm at the start, witrh a small ripple later. Gus also told me, in an unhappy voice, that the previous night saw a full moon...and we all know what that meant! 

Lots of sun, lots of leaves, and no wind at the start round the back of Willows.

A cracking start

I went out to the island straight away, trying to avoid the hook fouling one of the thousands of leaves on the surface, and immediately had liners. Five minutes later I was playing a double-figure carp to the net, taken on corn, Or was it? When I came to unhook the fish the hook was in its pectoral fin. I hadn't thought it was foulhooked, so perhaps the hook and come out in the net and re-attached itself.

A small bream followed, and then came a frustrating spell when hardly anything moved the float, and I found that there are three long stands of bramble or willow overhanging the water by several feet which you can't easily see. I discovered that when I struck up into them, but mercifully nothing actually tangled. I looked into the deeper water away from the island, but eventually had to come back onto a 2+2 line. 

Fish on banded pellet
I had plumbed up and found the slightly shallower area was to my left, but that was into the sun, so I had to move round to the deeper spot to the right. Starting on banded pellet, I hooked a 1 lb bream and a small F1 before swapping to corn, which brought a 4 lb carp and another couple of F1s. Beside me, on my right on peg 30, Andy Bull, fishing expander (I found out later) took occasional carp, but we both found sport was very slow. My float was dotted down to a pimple, but the leaves floating back and forth across our swims were a nightmare, and often I couldn't see the float properly.

Andy with one of his better fish, taken towards the end of the match.

I carried on fishing that line, getting the tiniest of bites, most of which I missed, but a  6 lb lb carp obliged me by committing suicide. With two hours to go I had probably 25 lb, with Andy the same. Then into the margins. I had had a look to the right earlier, with no signs of fish. Now I tried again and saw a slight movement of the float, telling me that the carp were probably willing to come into the side. So into the left margin with corn, and a carp of 8 lb came in!

Two fish on maggot
But that was the only fish I had there. Back out on the 2+2 line with maggot and first cast a 2 lb F1 obliged, Then a roach. Then nothing. At this point Andy had a bit of a purple patch, with three or four nice carp one after the other. He also lost one, hooked in the margin on maggot, which he said was at least 15 lb. We had both lost another four or five, all probably foulhooked. 

Andy Bull with his section-winning catch of 52 lb 4 oz.

Half an hour nefore the end I put some dead maggots into the right margin. With fifteen minutes to go I dropped in there with a bunch of deads, got a bite, and foulhooked an eight-pounder in the tail! There followed a performance of which Fred Karno would have been proud. But eventually, splashing and flapping, it ended in my net on about the sixth attempt, with about two minutes left. Unfortunately my luck ended there and the hoped-for last-minute miracle carp didn't materialise.

The weigh-in

Andy said I had beaten him, but I was sure that wasn't the case. I had seen Gus Gausden on 33 and Jim Regan, farther round on 35, both net a few fish, and they had 43 lb 7 oz and 33 lb 3 oz respectively. But Andy went into our five-peg section lead with 52 lb 4 oz and  my 46 lb 11 oz couldn't match that. With Kevin Bell on 50 weighing 50 lb 5 oz, Andy won that section and I was third,  but nowhere in the match because weights in the other part of the lake were better, Rob Goodson taking the honours with 91 lb 8 oz on peg 22.

Andy took my phone and repaid the compliment!

Disaster!

Rob had BIG trouble afterwards. He had loaded most of his tackle into his Mercedes only to find that the doors had locked themselves, with his keys on the passenger seat. It's one of those which unlocks itself when it detects the key, so it should not have locked. Rob thought the car battery may have gone - I assume that if either the key battery or the car battery died it could happen. Last I knew was that Lee Kendall  was running him home to get the spare key, but there was no guarantee that it would work if the car bettery was dead.

Marks out of 10
I was happy that I sort of was in the mix - only one fish from taking the section, but I needed a bit of luck. Afterwards I was annoyed with myself, because Andy had taken all his carp on a 4mm expander, and I had tried a 6mm expander just once. I had a bite which I missed, and because the pellet was damaged I assumed the perpetrator was a roach, and I never tried it again. Nor did I go back onto the banded pellet rig, which had taken a fish or two. And I should have at least tried cat meat.

Nor did I have a look, towards the end when it seemed that the carp might be feeding, towards the island again. I was pleased, however, that my special method had, at least, shown me that carp were moving in the margins towards the end. And while a lot of the other competitors had open water to fish in, those leaves were a real nuisance round the back of the lake, ands I am sure they cost both Andy and myself (and probably Gus and Jim) fish.

Next match is Thursday on Damson, where it's either a top two at an angle in the shallows or top two or three out in front in the deeps. Not my fvourite lake, but after winning there last week I'm looking forward to it.

THE RESULT

The early pegs on Willows.

The other half, where luck kept me within catching distance
of winning the section, but fate (or stupidity) kept me out!

Two good days on Damson and Beastie

Peg 12, Damson, Sunday, Oct 22
Got nearly halfway to Decoy and realised I had left my bait behind! But luckily the roadworks which had been such a bane of my life had vanished, and I was able to turn round, pick up my bait bags, and arrive at Decoy within seconds of the 8.30 am draw deadline. Though I don't suppose they would have refused my money if I'd been a little later... My wife simply looked at me, pittyingly, and said: "There's not much hope, really, is there?"

Actually I keep some spare bait in the van - pellets, cat meat, corn and hemp, but I like to have the option of the few little extras like worms, mussels, some liquidised corn, different-coloured wafters, different-coloured feed pellets and even paste (though I hadly ever use it). But eventually I was set up on end-peg 12 in this 12-entry Fenland Rods match, the last of the season, competing for the Bedford Cup.

Bright sun but a cool wind greeted us. The reeds on the left are on
an island, and I had a feeder rod ready, but I never went over there.

The wind is getting colder

Peter Spriggs was on my left, and with the wind from the left he had a nice little tuft of reeds growing out in the margins that he fished for most of the day. I had tall reeds to my right, which limited how far I could fish along the bank that side. Later Peter told me he could see big fish under the surface towards that righthand bank, but I never saw them. 

My left margin. Peter's platform is just this side of the
 bush, and he caught against the few reeds out in the water.

The reeds Peter was fishing to were between us, but slightly closer to him than me, so I couldn't fish right up to them; in any case the wind was freshening and cold, and presentation wouldn't have been easy there.

A fish first drop
First drop in the two-foot deep margin with a shallow banded pellet saw a fish take five seconds after the match started, and two seconds later it came off. Ten minutes later that was still the only fish I had hooked, though I had indications on the float. Fishing deeper, right on the edge of the drop-off saw one more fish, and bites dried up. eter had a fish or two on cat meat or paste, and I changed to a piece of corn.

There were tall reeds to my right, which restricted how far
I could fish against them along the bank.

But things were very slow, still, and after an hour I had about four fish, probably a little less than 2 lb each. The next hour, still in the margins, saw another four or five fish, and a quick look out on a top two in front of me, in seven feet of water at least got the rig working well, and I had it ready to use later (though I never did).

The special method works again
Then came a long blank spell, and yet again my special method came to my rescue, and I started picking up about one fish every ten or 15 minutes. Peter was ahead of me, catching on paste or cat meat, and to his left I saw Shaun Buddle catch a few, I think in the deeper water. Halfway though the match John Smith came wandering along and said he had two very small carp, and things were bad, so I thought I wasn't doing too badly, and landed I think my 15th fish as he stood there.

As I have found so many times this season, I found I had to fish the bait an inch off bottom and allow it to drift into the shallower water. I sometimes had a bite when it hit the bottom, if not I dragged it an inch or two and sometimes had a bite then. But it was very frustrating, particularly when the odd better fish came swimming along the margins.If I dropped a bait in front of it, it would always veer away.

Peter Spriggs, on the next peg, had a better start than me.

Keep putting something into the net!
I never did go into the deep water, but managed to keep putting the occasional fish into the keepnet (which is always good advice) and I fancied that I was now catching up Peter Spriggs. I started a second net when I had about 34 lb on my clicker. I had a feeder rod made up ready to cast to the island but never used it, and kept plodding on taking fish up to about 2 lb, with one three-pounder, most on corn but a couple on a small piece of cat meat and one on mussel (which also snared two gudgeon!) 

At one time I suspected that roach were giving me little bites, so I put on a bunch of maggots. Sure enough, when I came back the maggots were well chewed. So I made sure that I fed only about four grains of corn at a time, hoping that the carp would gobble them up before the roach got to them. It seemed to work.

I had to keep altering my distance from the bank, as if I hooked one in the shallow water the fish backed off a few feet towards the deeper water and after the next one was  hooked they would disappear. Then, after a time, they would drift back in.

Callum Judge struggled, like almost everyone else 
in the first ten pegs, but ended fifth with 20 lb 11 oz.

One last fish
The last hour was poor, and with 20 minutes to go I had another look a few feet to the left, where I had had an occasional fish. But 15 minutes there saw me foulhook and lose just one, and with literally five minutes left I went back to the right, about five feet from the bank, into water three feet deep.

 A minute or so later I managed to tempt a fish, by lifting the corn an inch, and a two-pounder went into the net. There wasn't time for another and I knew that Peter had been catching the occasional better fish and probably had more than me.

The weigh-in

At the end I thought I had about 60 lb, and was amazed when Dick Warrener, who had weighed only 21 lb 4 oz from peg 7, said he was lying second! Kevin Lee was winning with 51 lb 8 oz, almost all taken on a feeder cast right across to the far bank because he couldn't catch on the pole. On peg 1, which has won so many matches on this lake, John Smith had managed 13 lb 10 oz, and obviously everyone else, apart from Kev, had struggled.

I was really upset to beat Peter Spriggs on the next peg by 6 oz!

Shaun Buddle, who said he had 13 carp around 2 lb, and quite a lot of smaller carp, didn't weigh in because he had seen Peter Spriggs to his right catching well, and assumed he would be nowhere. In fact he would have ended fourth! Bet he doesn't do that again. 😆

Peter Spriggs weighed in 67 lb 10 oz, and my first net (estimated at 34 lb) went just 29 lb-something. So I needed over 38 lb to catch Peter. I didn't think I could beat him, but towards the end my fish were slightly bigger, and the scales showed that net to go 38 lb and a few ounces, leaving me as the winner by just 6 oz! That last little carp had won me the match, and the cup.

Marks out of 10
I give myself 8 - I never did try worms, nor hard pellet after the first few minutes, and think I put on cat meat only once. And at the end, when bites slowed up, I should probably have put those dead maggots into the lefthand margin. If they had brought in roach it wouldn't have mattered because I had the other side, where most of my fish had come from.

THE RESULT

Presentations
Afterwards we adjourned to the (very noisy) cafe for our annual presentations, culminating in the announcement of our Club Champion. I was fourth; Peter Spriggs third, Callum Judge second, and Kevin Lee the winner. John Smith, chairman and secretary for the past 25 years, presented the trophy to Kevin, while John himself has our warmest thanks for keeping the club going and putting in all the hard work necessary. I have taken over his duties, but will no doubt need some advice along the way.

The full result over the season will be emailed to me, and will go onto this blog.

Handicap medals went to Martin Parker (1st); Wendy Bedford (2nd) and Allan Golightly (3rd). Peter Spriggs won the big fish shield with a carp of 18 lb 19 oz, and he also won the Club Cup (first match of the season). Finally I presented myself with the Bedford Cup, shook hands with myself, and we scattered until next season.

Peter Spriggs won the big fish shield and the Club Cup (he won that last year as well).

John Smith (r), our brilliant retiring chairman, presented Kevin Lee with the
Club Championship cup. Kevin has won it several times previously.

We decided to keep every match counting towards the club championship. There will be sections of three or four in matches (by default), which I will handle. And our Golden Pegs will now be pegged at £50 maximum instead of £100. Some thought weill have to be given to the way the Pairs match, which is popular, is organised, and there was also a suggestion that we fish more of them. We'll decide that next season.

My next match is on Beastie, with  Spratts when I would like 18. But I'm happy anywhere at this time of year - it will be hard for some I guess.

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Peg 15, Beastie, Oct 25
I remembered my bait! But Beastie welcomed us on a dull, very misty morning, with a cold NW wind. The first proper Autumn morning, really. My favourite peg 18 went to Shaun Buddle, and I hope I stifled my groan. Peg 2 went to Bob Barrett, but although I love it, and have done well on it, it's not really a feeder peg, and I didn't rate his chances, because Bob feeders all the time.

Peter Spriggs, who could catch fish in a puddle, was on peg 5, a noted swim which he has won from in the past, but there must have been a mistake somewhere along the line, because he wasn't the Golden Peg! That went to Steve Engledow on 3.

"Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness". Well the mist was certainly there...

H-A-P-P-Y

I was happy with my peg 15, though, on the spit. No-one was past me, so I had plenty of room to lay out my building site. Peter Harrison was to my right, and he has a terrific record, so I was looking forward to seeing how he fished. You learn lots doing that.

The wind was mainly over our right shoulders, so I didn't feel cold. I started on a feeder in open water, but after ten minutes without a touch I followed Peter and Shaun on to the pole.  Before the match 'Smug' Smalley, who had come down to do some pleasure fishing, said he had baited in front of peg 14, to the left, recently, and had won fishing that area towards the end of his match. So I put in some corn and hemp there and left it.

I went out to an easy 2+2 with banded pellet in front of me, and eventually had a 2 lb bream. Occasionally I would get a liner, then a small F1, but after about an hour I felt I had to look towards peg 14. That produced a couple of liners, which I was happy with, as it meant fish were willing to come into the margins.

The mist persisted, but I could see Peter Harrison snicking a few early ones out!

Carp were coming to the feed
Out to 2+2 again, with corn, and bream of 2 lb and 3 lb came in, plus a 3 lb F1.  Three times, though, I lifted the rig out only to find myself hooked on the bottom - until the bottom slowly started to move. They were obviously carp, foulhooked somewhere underneath, and thankfully they all came off quite quickly. But it told me that the carp were willing to come to the feed, even if they weren't yet ready to feed properly.

But no 'proper' carp ended in my net...yet! I had tried using my special method in the right margin, but it seemed to show me that there were no fish there, so I went out on the 2+2 again, but had to move a little to the left as the sun had come out and was now glinting off my original swim.

That move, only a metre or so, proved to be good, as I had my first 'proper' carp of 3 lb there, on corn. But I couldn't resist trying again in both margin swims, and the swim next to peg 14 then produced a couple of F1s on corn. A change to mussel brought a 5 lb carp, but then the fish seemed to move, so I tried the right margin again.

Joe, at 93, still keeps comimg. He had only two fish
today on peg 24, but they weighed 16 lb 6 oz!

Mussell finally takes fish
My special method produced the goods again. Firstly it showed me that there were fish there, probably carp. So I changed form the corn rig to a heavier mussel/cat meat rig, using mussel, and had two or three carp to 8 lb. I switched to the left swim near peg 14 platform, and again had a couple of nice carp, before switching back.

Sometimes mussel worked best, and sometimes corn. But I kept putting the occasional fish into the net. Then I came in to a top two to my left, next to the reeds, and immediately found the carp were there - two or three to 8 lb came quickly.

I get a surprise...
At one time a big, golden, carp was clearly visible in the right margin, and it hung around for a minute or two. I dropped my rig, with corn, beside it, and it went down., Seconds later I had a bite, struck...and up came a 1 lb F1! But at least it showed me that fish were down there on the bottom, and I was mighty pleased.

Peter Harrison had had what looked like proper carp from his 2+2 swim early on, and then another fish or two, plus some fish on a feeder. At one time I saw him fishing the margin to his right, and landing a nice carp, but he kept switching swims,  and then went out on the feeder again, so I guessed he was struggling. I had see Shaun on 18 land several carp in the first couple of hours, but now I didn't hear much splashing from his swim.

The sun came out mid-match and by the end it was really warm. Here
Shaun Buddle watches as his catch, from peg 18 next to the bridge, is weighed.

A good finish
As often happens, the fish came on again in the margins in the last half hour, and I nabbed two or three on mussel, getting them into the net quite quickly, thanks to the short top, and that gave me time to get one of at least 10 lb on the last drop. I thought I had 41 lb in the first net, 34 lb in the second, and just three fish in the last, which was started with 20 minutes to go. 

The weigh in
Shaun said he had clicked 113 lb, and asked what I had. I said I had 34 lb in the first net (forgetting I had 34 lb on the clicker but I then added a seven-pounder); 34 lb in the second and perhaps almost 30 lb in the last - total 98 lb-ish.

Next to me Peter Harrison fished pole and feeder
for 71 lb 2 oz and fourth place.

The scales came round and the talk was of Peter Spriggs being in the lead yet again, with 104 lb 5 oz, mainly taken a little to his right, not far out.. I was first to weigh on the spit (pegs 9 to 17) and to my horror the first net went over 51 lb! That would be knocked back to 50 lb, and it could have cost me a place (it's happened many times in the past). The second net felt heavier to me, but went 38 lb 9 oz; and those last three fish weighed in at 25 lb 14 oz - total 114 lb 7 oz

A close finish
Peter Harrison said he had 60 lb-ish and his catch actually weighed 71 lb 2 oz - I was chuffed to beat Peter. Then Shaun weighed, and he had 85 lb 6 oz after two nets. He needed 29 lb 2 oz to beat me, and his last one went 26 lb 12 oz, which left me as the leader by a small margin. He said he had 80 lb in the first two hours but then the wheels fell off.

      Shaun Buddle - second on peg 18 with 112 lb 4 oz.      

Another win!
The pegs in the 20s were still to weigh, which often produce big catches, but not today. Trevor Cousins on 29 had 61 lb 15 oz, and Martin Parker on 30 - a noted peg - also struggled to 22 lb 2 oz, which left me as the winner. Only by a couple of pounds, but I'll take that.

Marks out of 10
As usual I left one margin swim alone for a time - the top-two swim on my left. But I probably didn't look there quickly enough. Also I didn't try hard pellet there, which I could have done by shallowing up the first rig I used. I fancy an 8mm -pellet might have tempted another couple of big ones. But at least I didn't do anything stupid, though I remember losing some, clearly foulhooked. But because I was using a fairly light elastic on that rig (14-16) they all came off well away from the margins. So I think I was worth another 8.

My Winter campaign

Sunday sees me fish the first match this season with JV Angling Club, on Willows. Some very well-known names fish with them - people like Lee Kendall, Rob Goodson, Tony Evans, Ian Frith, Chris Saunders, Roy Whincup, Steve Tilsley, Andy Gausden, not forgetting Peter Harrison, while, Shaun Buddle says he's coming this Winter, as well. Frankly I will be very happy if I can win a couple of sections in the next few months! Mid-week, once the Spratts matches finish, I hope to fish some of the Pidley Over 60's events.

Trevor Cousins included this clonker of 16 lb 11 oz
in his 61 lb 15 oz bag on peg 29.

The higher numbers didn't fish as well as
ours on the spit. But Mike Rawson on peg 26 
winkled out 21 lb 9 oz, fishing seven metres
in front of him.

THE RESULT

2 Bob Barrett                    DNW

3 Steve Engledow          16 lb 12 oz

4 John Garner                21 lb 3 oz

5 Peter Spriggs            104 lb 5 oz        3rd

15 Mac Campbell        114 lb 7 oz        1st

17 Peter Harrison          71 lb 2 oz        4th

18 Shaun Buddle         112 lb 4 oz        2nd

22 Dave Hobbs              26 lb 6 oz  

23 Bob Allen                 20 lb 12 oz

24 Joe Bedford             16 lb 6 oz

26 Mike Rawson          21 lb 9 oz

19 Trevor Cousins        61 lb 15 oz

30 Martin Parker          22 lb 2 oz

I pick my bogey peg, but have a storming finish (again) on Six-Island

 Peg 22, Tuesday, Oct 17

The inevitable start to my day...

I didn't actually pick my bogey peg myself - it was drawn for me. I have had a look back at my results, and actually sometimes I have done well on that peg - even won. But it's was the last peg I would have picked in this 12-entry Spratts match - it's in open water, and I have had some bad results there.  I would almost always opt for a peg in the other end of the lake, from about 6 to 15, except in Winter, when the car park end can be best. 

My swim, facing North-East, where the wind came from a lot of the time

However when I got to my swim the water level was well up, giving around two feet at the front of the platform, and the water had a nice amount of colour. I like this time of year, when the water starts clearing and you know you will probably not need 200 lb to win.

Ooops, I forgot my landing net

When I got to the swim I also realised I had left both my landing net heads behind, but Mike Rawson on 25 lent me the spare he carries. I normally have a third net in my van, but had to empty the van recently and never put the net back, though there's a spare handle in it. I liked Mike's net - it's got a lifting bar which was very useful when lifting the net with a fish in it.

There used to be a big clump of floating reeds to the left on this swim, which used to be a bit of a holding spot, though I remember losing fish in it.  That has now gone, and the bank is bare, with no reeds to fish to, unless you go out to 16 metres, which I have in the past, to the island on the left, or about 14 metres to the island on the right, which wasn't practical on this occasion because of the low sun.

    The left margin - by the end the fish had come right    
into the side into only 14 inches of water.

The wind was forecast to be Easterly, which would put it in my face, though the trees opposite give some protection. But already there was a ripple at the other end of the lake, though it was probably very cold there, as the wind had a bit of a bite to it. I started on a hybrid feeder, using my new ten-foot  Guru N-Guage rod with a brigtht orange wafter, cast only about a third of the way across.

A good start on feeder
First cast had been out there about two minutes and the tip wrapped round and a 2 lb F1, which really fought with some power, came in. Next cast in came a 1 lb F1, and next cast a two-pounder. Fifteen minutes gone and I had about 5 lb in my net.

I saw Peter Harrison, way over to my right on peg 15, playing what was obviously a big fish on a pole. It took a time for him to unship the back half, and he looked to be down to about four sections. Next time I looked, only a minute later, he was attending to his rig. I didn't think he could have landed a big one in that time, so asumed it had been a foulhooked fish that came off.

On to the pole
I had two more ten-minutes casts on the feeder with only tiny liners, so that went up the bank and out came the pole. I had intended, assuming that the cold wind would put the fish off, fishing dead maggots at about ten metres towards the island, where I had found a flat area that seemed fairly firm. But after having had the three fish I decided to start closer in, on a top three, with corn. 

To my right Wendy Bedford had a fish fairly early on, on her feeder.

It took a long time for me to get a fish, but I had some liners, and then something stuck - a 5 lb carp foulhooked in the fin, but I landed it, and they all count! More liners came after I had put some corn and hemp in, so I had to assume that the fish were coming to the bait, and carried on, hoping they would decide to feed properly eventually. And eventually they did, sort of...

Lost fish
In came an occasional F1 and a 3 lb common carp, and then the float slowly drifted under, I struck, and it felt like the bottom. Then the bottom moved off slowly; then the bottom charged off like a train and there was that horrible moment when you know what is going to happen. And it did! Whoosh, there was a slight pause, and the elastic came slithering back into the pole.

That was the first of several more similar incidents in the next 90 minutes - all foulhooked fish which came off (one broke the 7 lb hooklemgth), but a couple of F1s came in, none of them foulhooked. It still seemed as if fish were at least coming to the bait, which was encouraging.

The right margin was fishable once the sun had 
moved round, but never produced a fish.

Then, because the water was clearing, I had a look in another swim, in about three feet of water ten metres to my left. That brought what looked like proper bites, but no fish, and I suspected they were roach, but I did hook one bigger fish, which was also foulhooked and came off. So back out to the front swim with dead maggots on the hook, and indeed this took a roach and a gudgeon.

I was happy, though, to have the small fish feeding, as I think that carp are often influenced by seeing other fish wolfing down food, and may decide to have a go themselves, and that's what happened here. A few more F1s came, some only 6 oz,  and a couple of carp, best 5 lb, on mussel and two or three more foulhooked and lost. The wind had been difficult - first from the right, then the left, and then straight in, but at one point it seemed to die away for a time, and I had a look with my special method.

Special method to my aid
I dropped a rig with corn a little closer to the margin than I had been fishing, and immediately the float dived and I was into a 6 lb carp, hooked properly. But LITERALLY as I unhooked that fish the wind started again, much fiercer, which made it impossible for me to fish that rig properly. So it was back out, and again just the ocasional F1 came in on mussel and, annoyingly, a couple of foul-hooked carp which I almost had in the net before they pulled off.

The right margin close to the platform was now fishable as the sun had moved round, but although I had one liner there it never produced a fish.

I wrote in the last blog that I thought that anyone with 40 lb in their net with a hour to go might win, and at this point I think I had about 35 lb. One more F1 came in the next 30 minutes, from the far left swim, and then the wind died back quite a lot. I immediately went back to my special method, and foulhooked and lost another carp, but at least I knew they were down there as I had liners. Then, with about 20 minutes left, I came in very close to the bank, in only about 14 inches of water, because I fancied I saw a shape moving there.

This was Wendy's best fish - about 8 lb.   

Big fish in the side
In went a rig, several inches overdepth, because I think that when they are in shallow water fish become very aware of line dropping vertically just above the bait. The float started moving under and then away from me, and it looked a bit like a liner, but when it disappeared completely I struck, and a 12 lb carp surfaced and made off, with my elastic following. That was a lovely common, hooked in the mouth, which went into my second net, and I dropped back, just a couple of feet farther out, using the special method rig, intending to drag the bait towards the bank if I didn't get a bite. But I did, very quickly.

This fish was about 8 lb, and ended in my net. One more drop with mussel and again a fish about 12 lb surfaced when I struck and happily this one also ended in my net. Using the short top definitely makes them fight less, provided you can persuade the fish into the landing net, rather than trying to haul it in. For the second match in a row I honestly reckon I would have had 50 lb in the next hour if the match hadn't finished.

    Peter Spriggs was on peg 6, in the windy part of the lake.    

The weigh in
Dick Warrener was first to weigh, on peg 3. I had had a walk up to him mid-match and he had one carp. But he said that an hour after I went he tried the method I had showed him on Sunday, and he ended with 54 lb, knocked back to 50 lb. So he was happy that he'd caught using that rig for the first time.

Round the corner the wind was stronger and colder, and Peter Spriggs (who hadn't, for once, drawn the Golden Peg) struggled, on peg 6, to 58 lb 6 oz, which topped that bank. Opposite, John Smith on 11 hadn't been able to fish to the irises on his right, a natural fish-holding area, because the wind had been so strong, and he ended with just 39 lb 13 oz.

But on his left Shaun Buddle had managed to fish mussel to his right, under the bush on peg 13, to win with 131 lb 9 oz. On his left Peter Harrison on 15 ended with 70 lb 5 oz, which was in second spot. Then round the corner to 17, where Trevor Cousins had been facing the wind, and said that the island in front of him had lessened the wind slightly, but he was still very cold, However his 73 lb 7 oz, taken mainly on corn on a pole was now in second spot.

Peter Harrison - pipped by 2 oz for third spot. Oh dear. 😁

My first net weighed in a 38 lb 8 oz, and the second net, which contained just my last three fish, weighed in at 31 lb 15 oz, total 70 lb 7 oz, pipping  Peter Harrison by just 2 oz and giving me third place. I also wrote last week that some might be fishless - that wasn't the case, and considering how cold the wind was the lake fished well. Mike Rawson didn't weigh in, but he did have an 8 lb carp, and a smaller fish I believe.

Marks out of ten

I thought afterwards that I had done well from a peg I hadn't fancied, and although I had foulhooked and lost about ten big fish, at least I had brought them in by my feeding. I would typically feed a little hemp, micos, a few 6mm pellets, and just a few grains of corn - enough, I hoped, to get the carp scooping it up, but not enough to fill them. After feeding I would have a look in another swim for about a minute, or have a cup of coffee, to allow all the feed to get to the bottom, hopefully avoiding liners, then drop into the fed swim, together with about four more grains of corn in the small cad pot. That seemed to at least get me bites, even if a lot were 'just' F1s.

Shaun Buddle smashed it with 131 lb 9 oz, mainly on mussel, on peg 13.

I was happy with third place, just one fish off second, while it was won in the area I had fancied. So I award myself a record 9/10. But I expect the wheels will come off on Sunday, when we fish the final Fenland Rods match of the season, the cup in memory of Les Bedford, who died at Decoy. It's being fished on his favourite Damson Lake. Anyone who has fished Damson knows that it is an enigma, and always a challenge. But there's got to be a winner... 

The winner could come from anywhere, but I fancy the far end corner peg 13, which might be difficult as at the time of writing there were only 12 down to fish!!

THE RESULT

3 Dick Warrener         50 lb

4 Bob Barrett              24 lb 4 oz

6 Peter Spriggs            58 lb 6 oz

8 Bob Allen                 37 lb 6 oz

11 John Smith             39 lb 13 oz

13 Shaun Buddle       131 lb 9 oz      1st

15 Peter Harrison        70 lb 5 oz      4th

17 Trevor Cousins       73 lb 7 oz      2nd

18 Joe Bedford            23 lb 13 oz

20 Wendy Bedford       24 lb 3 oz

22 Mac Campbell         70 lb 7 oz      3rd

25 Mike Rawson           DNW

Patience required on Beastie lake

Peg 17, Beastie, Sunday, Oct 14
Years ago I used to play The Great Game Of Britain with family and friends. It's a board game with contestants starting in London, travelling via (via throws of the dice) the railway to various spots in the UK and Ireland, and returning to London. First back wins! But all the contestants can, at various times, block the line or send everybody else to wherever they wish. 

A typical scenario would see someone waiting at Peterborough on the LNER line (as it was then), requiring only one throw of the dice to get back safely to London. BUT at that point everybody else would gang up on them, trying to block the line at Stevenage or, in extreme cases, if the opportunity arose by picking up a card, placing them back in John O'Groats or even over in Ireland, necessitating a ferry back over the Irish Sea just to get back to the mainland, and then several line changes. 

These shenannigans saw more family arguments and blow-ups than Monopoly, and on one occasion I witnessed a brother and sister, both in their 60s, almost come to blows. Not a game to play on the first night of your holiday!

A great game, but do not play on the first night of a holiday!

A new game
Now Cambridgeshire County Council are playing a version, involving roadworks, and called: "Get Mac". Somewhere in the bowels of a Cambridge bunker someone is rising at 7.30 on a Sunday morning and locking on to my mobile. (It has a tracker so my dear wife can work out when I will get home from fishing, and prepare the gruel for me when I return).

That spawn of the Devil in Cambridge will then put in a call to his colleagues: "He's just bypassed the Road Closed sign in Upwood and is heading for Ramsey. Get out the signs and cones and the 15-minute traffic lights and put'em at Pondersbridge. He'll turn round and try the Benwick Road, so  put more at in Benwick. Then he'll have that terrible eight-mile detour via Grunty Fen. Tee-hee-hee."

My left margin, taken after the match had ended.
The sun, low in the sky, made it unfishable at the start.

I beat the Devil
For the rest of the year that will be my first problem to overcome when travelling to Decoy, as roadworks spring up everywhere, and Road Closed signs are sprinkled about willy-nilly. But three roadworks on my route on Sunday saw me beat the Devil Incarnate and still arrive in good time, only to see the Golden peg go to Peter Spriggs for the umpteenth time this season! It seems that will happen most weeks, sure as night follows day. Not that I'm jealous.

I was quite happy with peg 17 on the spit in this penultimate Fenland Rods match of 2023. Three others asked to go on the spit, because there are no steps, and we all agreed, and drew for the remaining seven pegs. So then there were five on the spit and five on the East bank, pegs 3 to 7. The wind was cool, and I didn't think it would affect sport much, as the water was still warm. But I was wrong

A carp next door

Next to me Allan Golightly had a carp around 8 lb first cast on his feeder. I had three casts with mine without so much as a liner, and went out to 2+2 on the pole with banded hard pellet. That produced some liners and some dodgy bites, but no fish, so it was time for a look in the margins, which had the cool wind into them.

A bent rod - but Allan is there somewhere. Shooting into the sun is never advised!

There is a snag in the right margin, only a couple of metres rom the platform, which Mike Rawson kindly told me about. I found it with my plummet and tried dropping a mussel in there, as it's the obvious place to find fish. But nothing happened. The left margin was out of bounds at that time because of the blazing sun, low in the sky, so I had a look with corn long to the reeds on the right. There I had some bites that looked like roach, but no fish.

So after two hours I was fishless, while Allan had added three tiny perch to his carp; Mel on 9 had a carp and a smaller fish; and Dick Warrener on 18 had hooked one carp and lost it. Things could only get better!

The right margin, lined with tin in places. The reeds
where I found fish are a little less than ten metres away.

Worm winkles some out
Back out to the longer swim with corn, and eventually a small F1 took the bait. That was followed by a carassio, and then a 2 lb bream. Things were looking up. More fish came, but they were small F1s, then a roach. A switch to worm saw a tiny perch and then a 3 lb carp, more small F1s, and a gudgeon (my favourite fish). Seven different species!

My weight was still nothing to write home about, but the sun had moved round and I could now fish the left margin on a top two. So I put in a little hemp and corn, but first had a look in the right margin again, close to the reeds. That saw a good session with F1s coming steadily, though not quickly. They seemed to move about - a couple from the margin against the tin along margin, then they would move out a metre to deeper water; then they would move over to the reeds. But I soon had 25 lb on the clicker, though several had been hooked on the outside of the mouth.

The best perch I've landed in years, over 1 lb. Mel Lutkin has to shield
his eyes from the aura it was giving out!

I have to be patient
Into the left margin, using my special method, and this showed me that there were fish there. It was a matter of being patient, and waiting until they decided to feed properly. The first two were nice F1s on corn, and with half an hour left I put on mussel and this picked out the better fish. In that time I had a surprise perch of 1 lb-plus, three or four carp, from 4 lb to 6 lb, and was playing the last one when the match ended, landing it five minutes later, and it was the best of the day at 8 lb.

Sod's law
Dick had said he was interested in my special method, so after a few minutes packing up I called him over to watch. I just wanted him to see how the rig behaved, so dropped it in with a mussel, but Sod's law prevailed, and seconds later it produced a bite, which I missed. I hadn't been able to explain what was happening, so dropped it back again. Two seconds later, before the rig had settled, a 5 lb carp was on the end, foulhooked! Dick obviously didn't want to stay for ten minutes while I landed it, so he went back to finish packing up.

I landed that fish and put it back, and the scales came round. After everybody else had gone Dick came back and I attempted, again, to show him how the rig worked. In went the rig and blow me, before I could talk Dick through it all, I was playing a near-10 lb carp. I swear that given another 30 minutes of the match I would have added at least 50 lb!

We get it right at last
So we went to Dick's swim (he had weighed in 22 lb) nearly an hour after the match had finished, and putting in only a couple of halves of mussel I dropped in and mercifully there were no bites immediately. I talked him through how the rig worked, and dropped in again, and promptly hooked and landed an F1. Dick had a go, and soon also was able to see a bite and hook another F1, which actually came off. Then he was able to get another bite, which he missed.

I felt the demonstration had been suffciently good for him to see the advantages of using that rig (which I will not describe in print as I have been told on the Maggot Drowners forum that it is impossible and in any case the few people I have demonstrated it to over the years have never actually bothered to use it). I think Dick is likely to actually use it. Good for him.

Playing that last fish after the whistle put me behind, and Allan Golightly's
first-cast carp was the only one I photographed.

Peter loses £100 by 2 oz!
Allan Golightly said that Peter Spriggs had three nets out, and when the scales came round Peter said that yes, he had weighed  97 lb 2 oz. I assumed that would win, but Shaun Buddle, standing next to me, was smiling, and said, quietly: "I had 97 lb 4 oz!" So poor Peter lost £100 by 2 oz. The top four weights all came from the first five pegs, and I weighed 53 lb 4 oz for fifth, which I was happy enough with, as  it had been an interesting day, but clearly the spit swims had all struggled.

Marks out of ten

I give myself eight. I though I fished a pretty good match, but could perhaps have out in some dead maggots, which might have brought fish into the right margin, where I never had a bite. And I should have had more quick looks with my special method, every now and then, throughout the match, as it helps show if fish have come in.

Next match is on Six-Islands on Tuesday, but looking at the low weights in the recent JV club match I would guess that anyone with 40 lb with an hour to go could be looking at winning. There could be some fishless, as temperatures here have dropped badly in the last couple of nights.

THE RESULT

It's deja vu (again) on Cedar!

Peg 18, Monday, Oct 9
It was like a replay of a match a couple of weeks ago - Peter Spriggs' name came out of the bag (Spratts use nice bags rather than old cocoa tins), and someone shouted out: "Twenty-six!" That was meant to be a sarcastic comment, but when Trevor Cousins uncurled his hands, there it was. Peg Twenty-six! Again.

Peter wore an appropriately-astonished look on his face, but was no doubt very happy, as he's won from that peg before, probably many times. BUT as we all know, fish don't always follow the rules, and they might have moved their centre of operations. The trouble is that we also all know that Peter is VERY good...

I was drawn on 18, four pegs away from where I had come second the previous day. I would have preferred a swim nearer the car park, but it was another lovely Autumn day, with a light Westerly in our face on that bank, and overcast. Twelve of us fished - six on each bank. 

My right margin was all around five feet deep.

Looking for a shallow area

I have found at this time of year, in a settled spell of warm weather such as we have been having, carp are more likely to be tempted up from the deep water into the shallows during a match rather than just in the last hour or two. So I looked for a shallow area. There was only one, in a small cut-out to my left. It was a stretch  about two feet long, right next to the bank, where a dock was growing on the bank, and offered me about two feet of water no more than ten inches out from the bank. Then it dropped straight down to four feet, and shelved gently down to five feet.

Shaun gets underway
I started out in front on 2+2 with hard pellet but even before my first indication Shaun Buddle, opposite on 9, was into a good fish. I had seen him drop in close to the side, and his bank was bare, so it was obviously fairly shallow. As he landed the fish I could see he was considerably less than five feet deep, so was obviously not in deep water. 

My next move was simply to drop a few grains of corn right against the bank in the shallow area, with a few more over the four-foot spot; and after another few minutes without a fish I dropped a rig with cat meat into my deep right margin. That brought an 8 lb carp very quickly, and I was thankfully off the mark.

Shaun was soon into action, opposite me. His bank had fallen in, offering
a long shallow run. When the leaves turn, Decoy will look wonderful for a few weeks.

Unfortunately I couldn't find much more, and Shaun kept on hooking fish. To his left Trevor Cousins also had some from his margin. After an hour I had that carp, another of 6 lb, and a bream. A quick look in the shallow swim, where I had been throwing corn, saw not even a touch, so I briefly tried the four-foot deep spot, also without anything. Then I alternated between the deeper spot at the bottom of that shelf, and the right margin, as they had the same depth. The next hour saw three more carp to 6 lb.

Ten minutes later Shaun is playing another one. He had a great first two hours.

Bites slow up
A trot up to Martin Parker on my left gave me the information that John Smith, opposite him, also had several carp. But now my sport went down, and I couldn't get a bite. I also saw that Trevor was now mugging (or trying to mug) fish shallow, and Shaun seemed to have slowed up.

Halfway through the match and I had another look in the cut-out, but something wasn't right - my float  wasn't cocking properly. So I re-plumbed and found that the four-foot spot I had found wasn't flat - a few inches either side it was nearly 18 inches shallower! It was more like a crevasse, and I doubted whether a big fish could even turn round in it. So I abandoned that, and had another look right against the bank.

My only shallow spot was almost next to that dock leaf.

Fish against the bank
That at last yielded a 6 lb carp on mussel, and I alternated between that and the right margin, taking an occasional fish from each. The sun was really difficult from the left, and for a time I had to leave that swim and go down to the bottom, where my corn might have drifted to. Another carp, around 10 lb, came from there, and another couple from the deep right margin.

Back into the shallowest swim, now that the sun had moved, and I hit a fish on mussel that refused to leave the bottom. Several minutes later I netted a near-4 lb barbel. The very next drop the same thing happened, and the fish refused to come off bottom, swimming round for ages in a circle. I assumed it was another barbel, but it turned out to be a 6 lb common carp foulhooked in a pectoral fin!

A good last 90 minutes
The last  hour-and-a-half saw me concentrate mainly on the shallow swim. I would pot in hemp, micros and corn, then fill the pot with water and drop it in with a splash, acting as a dinner bell. Almost invariably I would see swirls and I would get a bite, provided the mussel was just off bottom or just touching it. Laying on produced nothing.

Opposite, Shaun seemed to have got going again, and I had seen Trevor land several fish on his mugging rig - he gets them in quickly and they tend to splash, while I play mine with the pole held down and often they don't splash at all. Again the short, stiff tops and the short Number Three were better than the long, bendier top twos as the fish don't fight as much.

With the sun now not a problem I also had a couple of fish from the very bottom of that left shelf, and started a third net with 45 minutes to go. The first fish in there, from against the dock leaf,  was over 10 lb, and three or four more followed. I dropped my rig in about four seconds before the whistle went to end the match, and reckon that if it had been blown just 15 seconds later I could have had another fish. They were really feeding in the shallows!

I was just in time to see Peter Harrison weighing in.

The weigh in

On the opposite bank the weights were all consistent - Bob Barrett on 1 had 128 lb 9 oz on his feeder, and next door Wendy Bedford, also fishing a feeder, had 64 lb 1 oz - a good day for her. But next door Peter Harrison, fishing mainly hard pellet at 9 metres, had a magnificent 167 lb 6 oz to go into the lead. John Smith's fish had gone off after a good start but he still ended with 82 lb 5 oz. Then came the piece de resistance - Shaun Buddle.

The winner!
Shaun had six nets in and as the weights were totted up he was approaching his personal-best match weight of  248 lb. His last net fell 6 lb short, and he ended with 242 lb 14 oz - obviously the winner. Congratulations all round. He had, as I had supposed, taken his fish mainly next to the bank. I think he used mainly dead reds and mussels.

Peter empties one of his nets into the weigh bag.

Trevor had about 70 lb mugging to bring his total to 109 lb 6 oz, and the scales moved round to my bank. Mike Rawson was in the same swim he had had the previous day, and had 28 lb 10 oz. I was next and estimated I had probably 100 lb. My nets went 42 lb, 39 lb and the last one, started at 3.15 pm, contained about 35 lb, bringing me a total of 117 lb 5 oz, causing Trevor to murmer sarcastically "A hundred pounds!" The rest of the weights on my bank were poorish, but Peter Spriggs on corner peg 26 also had three nets, and would be last to weigh.

Surprisingly Peter had struggled. I wonder if that was because, I seem to remember, the only shallow spot in that swim is also in a tiny cut-out to the left. I don't know whether he tried there, but it is even smaller than mine was. Anyway he totalled 103 lb 12 oz, which left me top weight on my bank and fourth overall,  which I was happy with.

Shaun had plenty to smile at, just missing his personal best with 242 lb 14 oz. Well done, mate.

Peter Spriggs - 103 lb 12 oz on peg 26.

Mike Rawson - 28 lb 10 oz on my right.

Marks out of ten
I'm feeling so buoyant I could crush a grape (as Duncan Norvelle used to say, or was it Stu Francis?), so I think I deserve 9/10. I didn't make any stupid mistakes and I think I rotated my swims OK, allowing fish to get back and start feeding before I dropped back. I lost only three, all foulhooked, and I guess everybody else lost some as well. But the special method I used for some of the time allowed me to keep striking at liners to a minimum. 

Perhaps I didn't use as much loosefeed as I could have done in the deep water, but I don't think they ever lined up properly to feed there, possibly preferring to feed elsewhere in shallow water. I was amazed they kept coming up to that small shallow area, and would obviously have liked another somewhere, so I could have jumped from one to the other. Again my mussels took nearly all good fish, with just three F1s to 3 lb.

Next match Saturday on Beastie. If we have 5-17 as stated I would like 5, 9 and 13 to 17. But I like Beastie, and will be happy anywhere - any peg can win on its day. Otherwise I also love 2, 18 and 30.

THE RESULT

West bank                                                                East bank

26    Peter Spriggs          103 lb 12 oz                          1     Bob Barrett           128 lb 9 oz    3rd
24    Bob Allen                46 lb 3 oz                             3     Wendy Bedford       64 lb 1 oz
22   Joe Bedford              41 lb 8 oz                            5     Peter Harrison       167 lb 6 oz   2nd
20    Martin Parker          27 lb 7 oz                             7     John Smith              82 lb 5 oz    
18    Mac Campbell       117 lb 5 oz    4th                   9     Shaun Buddle        242 lb 14 oz  1st
16    Mike Rawson          28 lb 10 oz                          11   Trevor Cousins       109 lb 6 oz