And how it rained on Lou's!

Peg 3, Lou's Lake
Many years ago, in the 1950's, my secondary school used to have an assembly every morning, and one of the headmaster's favourite readings from the Bible was about houses. It was the one where a cowboy builder builds a house upon sand "and the rain came, and the wind blew, and beat upon that house and it fell. And great was the fall of it, for it was founded upon the sand."

Then Barretts came along and built a house on good, rocky foundations "and the rain came, and the wind blew and beat upon that house. And it fell not, for it was founded upon the rock."

On Sunday, on Lou's lake at Decoy, the rain came and the wind blew and beat upon the eight of us fishing a Fenland Rods match, and we carried on. 'Cos we were all effing idiots!

The match
Three members had called off - the sensible ones. But at least we tried to limit the uncomfortability by placing us so we all had some sort of backish wind, and seven of us erected our umbrellas, which gave us a fair amount if shelter. But to be honest the water felt dead, and after an hour no-one had caught a fish.

I started on peg 3 by having a look in the margin, where the bottom was really firm, so at least I felt I had the rig set right in case the fish came on later. Then it was on to a bomb with an orange wafter. When that brought nothing (not even a liner) I changed to a small Method feeder, and then to a pop-up. 

Like gnomes, Peter and Allan wait for...well, very little, actually.

Fish were crashing about in peg 6, which can be a bit if a flier, and then I saw Mel, on that peg, with his rod bending. Good old Mel. He's got a fish - then we could see it was foulhooked. But at least he landed it. Then on peg 5 Dave Hobbs had a fish - a 2 oz bream foulhooked on the pole. Then I changed down to a size 18 hook with dead maggot in the margin, and the next excitement was Allan Golightly catching a gudgeon...

Bagging
Then I got one, and soon after that a small roach. I was bagging! Around this time, in the second half of the match, the rain stopped...and the wind got up and must have dropped five degrees in temperature. Believe me, it got very cold. Callum came along and said he had a carp on a feeder and wafter, but that didn't warm us up much. And in the meantime Roy Whitwell, on my right, started catching small fish galore. Every now and then the rain would start again.

I came up to a foot deep, using a dead maggot and had about 15 beautiful bites. The float would dip, then dive right down out of sight, and I missed every one. Probably tiny roach nipping the end of the maggot. A pinkie would have been handy, or a small maggot, but I had deliberately left all my live maggots at home because of the rain. By now Roy had cauight FIVE.

Last gasper
Half an hour to go and I looked round to see Kevin Lee on 8 fishing the margins. Ten minutes later I looked round again and his pole was bending! I felt like a cup of coffee, so put out a bomb with a pop-up, and started packing away my pole tops. Seven minutes to go and the rod wrapped round like a good 'un.

I picked it up and Yes, I was attached to a fish. It kited sraight through Allan's swim, but thankfully he was fishing a pole in the margins. After a frantic couple of minutes I could see it was a carp, but not very big. Then it was in the net, and I saw the hook was on a tiny sliver of skin on the outside of its mouth.

I suspect the carp had approached the pop-up, four inches off bottom, had a sniff, rejected it, and had accidentally brushed against the hook. Whatever happened it was mine! I rreckoned it was about 2 lb.

The weigh in
The Gods were laughing at us. The rain had stopped, and gradually the air became warmer, the wind died down, and by the time was had packed away it was a lovely Spring evening.

On peg 1 Peter Spriggs, on the Golden peg, had had two bites, probably liners, and did not have a single fish. Allan weighed in 2 oz, and to my surprise my 2 lb carp and the two tiny fish, gave me a magnificent 3 lb 9 oz. But Callum said that Mel on 6 had two carp, so I would be knocked down the list.

Roy and Dave
had ounces, and Mel said that he had indeed hooked a second carp, which had come off. He weighed in 3 lb 5 oz, followed by Kev with a cracker of 8 lb 2 oz, and Callum with his carp of 6 lb.

So I ended third in what was probably the worst Fenland Rods result ever (though there may have been worse results on the drains  many moons ago before I joined). But Roy said afterwartds that the new section pool did give him some incentive to catch anything he could when things looked dire. Next match a week Tuesday on Willows, where we will probably all be in the first 18 pegs. 

                                              The result                                              

Being serious
On a serious note, when the rain is making things miserable and I'm holding on to my umbrella as it tries to take off. I often think back to those poor sods, both English and German, who were poured into the trenches on the Western Front and all over Europe. Their days consisted of trying to keep upright in the mud while they shored up the side of the trenches in the pouring rain, trying to ignore the rats.

If they found a piece of wood, to stand on or to use as a shelter against the incessant stream of shells and bullets overhead they counted themselves lucky. They knew that within seconds they could be lying face up in the mud, mouth open and filling with rainwater. And if they survived that night they could be called on, next day, to go over the top to Hell on Earth, armed with rifles or bayonets against machine guns, with the likelhood of dying, eventually, in the mud.

Yet within an hour of finishing I will have packed up and be sitting in my van, ready to drive home, or to Judy's cafe, at a secret destination in Whittlesey. Then I reckon I have won life's jackpot.

Not many fish, but quality, on Yew.

 Peg 19, Friday, Apr 26
I don't believe it!

This year the Fates have been conspiring against me, refusing to allow my natural talent at catching fish to bloom properly. They've been directing me to barren areas of water, where the fish (if there are any) know I'm coming and have a plan ready to tease me - knocking the bait, flicking the line, or just buggering off. 

Now Lidle have joined in. Went in Saturday, put 24 tins of Freshona into the trolley, ambled along to the check-out and: "You can't have all them. Twelve tins only!" Honestly. You could have knocked me down with a pole float. Had to put 12 tins back on the shelf.

Now that's doubly strange, because the last two weeks our local Aldi has not had any normal-sized tins of sweetcorn. Normally they have hundreds, all stacked so beautifully that I can't resist taking a few as I pass, even if I've got loads at home. Last week there wasn't a grain in the place; this week they had those tiny, preposterously-expensive tins, all containing small, sweet grains, each one hand-picked and lovingly placed, individually, into a tin by someone on about £1,000 an hour. But no normal-sized tins (again).

So Lidle it was, for sweetcorn, otherwise the carp at Decoy would be on a special diet of cat-meat-only, lovingly supplied week after week by Chris Saunders and Roy Whincup. 

However, has there been a run on sweetcorn by anglers? Will Lidle be issuing Sweetcorn Ration Books? I've not seen anything about it on the news. Or have the managers of our local supermarkets all taken up fishing? No matter, I won't let the carp at Decoy down - I'll souce some sweetcorn from somewhere each week, whatever it takes...

Canned sweetcorn - the new gold?

The Match

Now to the Spratts match - ten of us only (but quality anglers) on Yew lake, all on the East bank, where the end pegs from about 16 to 21 had flat calm water at the start and hardly any raspberry ripple at all, while the early pegs had some all day. Our Fenland Rods match there 12 days ago saw pegs 25, 26 and 27 taking the first three places and they were where I would have chosen. But peg 19 was my home for the day, and I had Trevor Cousins on my right, so I was probably going to have something to watch if my fish didn't play ball.

The weather was cool, with a Northerly wind, but we were able to cast right across if we wished, and that was how I started - a small Method feeder with an orange wafter. Trevor fished similarly, though I learned afterwards that he baited with dead maggot. While I waited for a bite I catapluted casters out to 13 metres, hoping to catch something shallow later.

Our end was flat calm almost from start to finish.

Fish on the feeder

Second cast and the rod wrapped round with a fish which took several minutes to land - so long I thought it must have been hooked on the noutside of the lip. But no - it was hooked normally, and weighed about 8 lb. Not long after, I hit another fish, kept the rod low as usual - this brought the fish up to the top, where it splashed, and seconds later came off! Very unusual. Some time after that another eight-pounder came in, and aftter a long biteless spell I went out shallow, with banded caster.

There were definitely fish near the surface, and I had a couple of touches and one good-looking bite, but no fish. I gave it about 45 minutes before going out to 13 metres with corn, on the bottom. Not a touch after more than half-an-hour. By this time I think Trevor had had two fish on his feeder, possibly three.

Dave sets the pace
To our left Dave Hobbs on 21 had had a couple of fish on a feeder, and by now had had three or four fish on a pole, fishing just inside the corner of the reeds lining  the bank - his peg had a nice little cut-out. I hadn't got much of a cut-back, so had to fish alongside the reeds, in about seven feet of water. There was a tiny ledge a foot shallower, but I never had a fish there.

Trevor had two or three fish early, on the feeder and maggot.

Trevor had tried in the margin, and did so two or three times but never had a fish there, and  after trying to mug fish for a long time he went back on the feeder, while I tried my luck in the deep margin. I had a bite quite quickly, on cat meat, and hit the next fish, which must have been 12 lb. But bites were few and far between, and it took ages to get another, around 10 lb.

Then I got some big ripple - unfortunately it came from a big ol' carp splashing about as Trevor battled to land it!

Lost fish (again)
At one time I lost two fish, both foulhooked, as I came back with a scale. It was obvious that they were swimming well off bottom most of the time, though both of those bites looked like proper ones - the float diving down at speed, which usually denotes a proper bite.

I went on to my special method which told me that there were fish in the swim from time to time - I would get several touches and then go half-an-hour with no indications at all. I kept trying the right margin, with not a touch. However, persisting with cat meat did bring two more fish in the next couple of hours (in between I tried the feeder and the long pole line but had nothing there).

Meanwhile Dave Hobbs had had several more - I estimated he had at least 14 or 15 fish, and Trevor had five more on the feeder I think, then two more mugging with pellet in the last hour. I thought about going out with caster at that time, but decided to stay inside.

Lightbulb moment!
I'd been getting what looked like bites, but sort of hesitant. And with seven minutes to go (I looked at the watch I have hanging on the tray lid) I decided to move the bulk shot on my pole rig down from about two feet from the bait to about 10 inches away. Blow me - seconds after dropping the rig in, baited with cat meat, I had the most beautiful lift bite. I knew it could be a liner, but had to take the risk, and I struck! Fish on, and it wasn't foulhiooked...then I realised what had been happening.

I've been watching the terrific Guru underwater videos, showing how bream in ferry Meadows, take the bait. The last one showed a bream picking up the feedered bait, on a 50 cm (18-inch tail. It put its headdown, sucked the maggot bait off the bottom, tilted itself back up, and swam about for nearly 30 seconds with the bait in its mouth before registering a bite on the rod.

 Dave Hobbs with one of his barbel, taken very close in.

What was happening underwater
I reckon the carp in my swim, which I realised had been off bottom, had been going down, picking up the bait, and rather than dashing off with it, had been rising up off bottom, not moving far, and ejecting the bait a few seconds later.

 But after that last fish - around 10 lb - there was no more time to get another.  I had ended with just seven carp, while Trevor had nine, and Dave Hobbs a bagful.

The weigh in

Trevor and I were surprised when the higher-numbered pegs, in the ripple, had really struggled. Neil Pass was the first good weight - 86 lb 11 oz off peg 24 - taken mainly on sweetcorn in the deep margins.  Then down to Dave Hobbs, with Trevor having said, as we packed up, that he must have 150 lb, and I agreed. But no - some of those fish, which we had assumed were good carp, were in fact barbel, taken on maggot. And Dave ended with 86 lb 3 oz - done by 8 ounces!

Mike Rawson's biggest fish was well into double-figures.

My seven beautiful fish went 73 lb 6 oz, and when Trevor put his fish into the weigh bag I saw that they weren't as big as mine, and they totalled 57 lb 3 oz.

In corner peg 16 Dick Warrener had about four fish for 30 lb 7 oz. That swim can be brilliant, but I've had it a couple of times and really struggled, especially on the pole. Dick had managed to catch on a feeder. A very frustrating day for him, in flat calm. So I ended third, and was happy with that.

Next match Sunday on Lou's lake, with the forecast not encouraging, and rain definite. Lou's has nice margins, so even if I don't get fancied peg 6 I will enjoy it.

Winner Neil Paas - 86 lb 112 oz, taken mainly on a top 2 plus one
in the deep margin, to his right, on peg 24, using corn.

THE RESULT

16 Dick Warrener      30 lb 7 oz  

18 Trevor Cousins     57 lb 34 oz      4th

19 Mac Campbell      73 lb 6 oz        3rd

21 Dave Hobbs          86 lb 3 oz        2nd

22 Bob Allen                8 lb 10 oz

24 Neil Paas               86 lb 11 oz       1st

25 ike Rawson            21 lb

27 Bob Barrett            38 lb

28 John Smith             14 lb 11 oz

30 John Garmer          17 lb 8 oz

Frustration on Horseshoe

 Peg 12, Sunday, April 21
Our Fenland Rods Pairs match, and as chairman I decided to try a suggestion made at our AGM - some sort of seeding system. Accordingly I designated the top six in last year's Championship table as Seeds (like tennis), and they were paired with the other six fishing. It should have been seven pairs, but 93-year-old Joe Bedford was confined to bed with a really nasty cough and his fishing partner, sister-in-law Wendy, wasn't 100% and was keeping an eye on Joe. Get better soon, Joe!

As for the draw, I have never fancied pegs 1- to 12, as they are deepish and have no nice margins, so of course I drew 12, right next to Kev Lee on 13, which has always been one of the prime pegs on the whole complex. And today it gave a backish wind, while alost everyone else had it in their faces or a side wind. And it was quite strong. I tossed to see where each of the sections would be placed, and the top seeds were 9-15 (14 is crammed with lillies), and the second seeds 1-6.

A cool, dull day greeted us. That tree looks nice. Never had even a bite there!

A slow start (for me)

Within minutes Kev had a carp on a feeder, cast to the aerator, but for an hour I never had a touch on my feeder, on maggot or wafter. Then I saw the orange elastic streaking out of Kev's pole, with a carp hooked not far from the bank, to his left, in the calmer water, which was being warmed by the sun. I went out to about 10 metres, fishing caster shallow, and had a lot of bites, but not a single fish, so they must have been roach, while Kev had two or three more carp. To my right Callum didn't have much.

Kevin's carp were all good 'uns, take from the margin round to his left.

Back out to 10 metres, on the bottom with corn and still nothing. A look on a top two with corn saw me foulhook a 2 lb bream, then a smaller one came in. And the match was halfway through! Back out to 10 metres and at last some fish showed - three carassio and three or four F1s, best over 3 lb. And I kept seeing that orange elastic stretching to my left!

The horrible margin
Two hours to go and I saw some fish come right into the side next to Kevin's platform. so I had a look in the deep margin, which was horrible - all sloping and bobbly. I missed the firsts bite on cat meat, but the second brought an 8 lb carp. A long time later a four-pounder came in but the last hour, spent looking in botgh margins, in front, and back at 10 metres, saw not a single fish. However Callum, to my right on peg 11 (which I didn't fancy, either) had had a good short spell, on feeder and pole.

...and there's another one. At the end Kevin said the fish had come off bottom, 
and he certainly lost the last three, all presumably foulhooked.

All-in-all a cold, horrible frustrating day being walloped on my left, with Trevor Cousins (guesting to keep the numbers even) on peg 15 and I expected he would also catch fish.

One of Kevin Lee's three nets of beautiful, hard-fighting carp.

The weigh-in
My partner Martin Parker had about 14 lb, so I knew we wouldn't win as I was bound to be well down in my section of six. Top weight in the first section was Shaun Buddle, who had a good first hour until the wind blew harder, but did enough after that to total 80 lb 6 oz, with Dick Warrener second.

First to weigh in, in my section, was Peter Spriggs on 9 who, with an hour to go, had caught just two bream, both foulhooked. Then he found fish coming to paste on 2+1 and ended with 67 lb 15 oz. Some going!

Callum had 37 lb 13 oz, pipping my 35 lb 7 oz, leaving me 5th in my section. But top on the day, as I had expected, was Kevin Lee with 131 lb 1 oz from that lovely peg 13, with Trevor Cousins second on the day on 15 with 85 lb 5 oz.

Kev with one of his biggest fish, on cat meat

Last to weigh - Trevor, who finished second.

THE WINNERS

1 Shaun Buddle/Trevor Cousins 11 pt
2 Mel Lutkin/Kevin Lee              8
3 Dick Warrener/Callum Judge    8
4 John Smith/Peter Spriggs          5
5 Martin Parker/Mac Campbell    5
6 Mike Rawson/Allan Golightly   5

My marks out of 10
Disappointed. I tried mussel in the side, but never tried worm or hard pellet. However I did put a load of dead maggots out in front and under the tree to my right in that last hour, and had absolutely nothing - not even a touch. Perhaps should have gone back out to 10 metres with a heavier rig at the end. Should certainly have gone out to an easy 2+1 with cat meat or mussel in that last hour. Probably worth 4/10. Next match Friday on Yew, followed by Lous on Sunday, where peg 6 is my obvious choice. I've fished it only once, in the Winter, and won a low-weight affair on the pole.                                                                                                            

DECOY'S FLIERS

There are several well-known pegs on Decoy which always give you a chance of winning. On Willows you have 25, which used to dominate years ago, but which is now still good, but not as dominant. I think it may be because the average carp is now bigger, and doesn't feel the need to hang around the islands on 25. Peg 29 has been the one to draw recently.

On Six-Island 18 used to dominate, but peg 11 has been really good for years, with a big bunch of irises to the right. On Lou's is the famous peg 6, which can be terrific, expecially in Winter, but it often needs a 50-years chuck to the reeds in the  corner, and you need to be pretty accurate. On Beastie peg 30 can be good in Summer (not not dominant in Winter), while Phil Ringer once said that peg 29 was the best feeder peg in the county. However peg 18 against the bridge can produce huge weights, while peg 22 has won lots of matches this Winter..

On the strips peg 8 on Elm is noted in Winter; and peg 26, in the corner on Cedar, especially in Winter; while on Oak pegs 10 and 11 and opposite on 20 and 21 always seem to hold feeding carp; and next door on Yew the same numbered pegs can be good, and also 16 in the far corner. On Damson the two end pegs, 1 and 25, are often the ones to draw.

On Horseshoe that peg 13 is the one, offering some lillies, a nice margin, and a cast to the far corner, though that lake is perhaps the least peggy of all, and big weights have come from every peg (peg 20 won a match recently with a big weight, while Jon Arthur topped the lake from 10 in the recent Feeder Masters).

THE RESULT

I manage to frame on Elm

Peg 4 Elm, Thursday, April 19
Hoping I had a bit  better luck in this Spratts match than I've been having in my bowls matches at Huntingdon Indoor club. I play a pairs league at 8.30 pm, when you get the younger, better players come along, including some who play in the same team as Nicky Brett, former world singles, pairs, and mixed pairs champion. We've typically been holding our own until the last couple of ends, and then faltering. Last Tuesday myself and Rob were 12-all against a cracking pair, and then went on to lose the last three ends, ending beaten 17-12. But you don't half get some good games!

Cold and dank conditions greeted us, and the ripple was over towards the other bank.

Back to peg 4 on Elm, which wasn't the end I preferred - anywhere from 8 to 12 would have been my choice. Peter Spriggs  drew golden peg (again), and was on 11. 'Nuff said! I had casters with me, and was determined to use them, but started on the feeder. To my right Trevor Cousins had a fish on feeder within 90 seconds, and not long after, John Smith on my left had a carp on the waggler. I sat sitting there with nowt!

Trevor's first fish was hooked within 90 seconds of the start, on a feeder.

Thinking about an orgy
I think Trev had another couple on the feeder in the first hour before switching to a pole, fished shallow, and trying to mug the vague shadows he could see moving just under the surface. I changed at about the same time, to where I had been catapulting casters, about 13 metres out. The cool wind was behind us, and the only ripple tended to start about 13 metres out, and the only fish I could see were coming straight into the bank. I think they were sussing out areas where they would be holding an orgy in the near future...

The sun came out briefly, and John Smith on 5 had a good carp on waggler.

I  catch shallow

After an hour I think Trevor had had a couple more fish on a feeder. He told me later they were mainly on dead maggot. I had had a touch or two on a shallow caster I was sure they were roach. However, I stuck it out and eventually just left the pole on the bump bar, at 13 metres, with a banded caster hanging there a foot below the surface, and stopped feeding (out of boredom). Blow me, the float went down, I lifted the pole, and the elastic streamed out with an 8 lb mirror on the end. 

In the next 45 minutes I had just two more, plus a roach, but Trevor had another four or five on a banded pellet. It was very noticeable that my fish all came when the float was in the edge of the ripple - I had nothing when the water there was calm. I changed to fishing corn or expander on the bottom at 11.5 metres but that didn't see me get a single touch. Halfway through and I had just those three fish.

Trevor ended the match catching in the margins with meat and paste. 

Into the margins
So it was down into the margins with cat meat, where I had seen John Smith and Mick Ramm get a fish or two. But it wasn't until I saw John with a worm on that I changed to worm and this brought three carp in the next hour, from the left, all around 8 lb to 10 lb. Then a switch to mussel saw two more come in  (one to my right, which was the only fish I had there) and Trevor went back to feeder for another fish or two and then caught thgree or four in the margins. 

Dick Warrener on 1 was first to weigh in - a very
good 55 lb 4 oz catch of carp.

With 40 minutes to go I put a big pot of dead maggots on a top two in front of my nets and three more carp took a big bunch of deads. Seconds before the final whistle I had another bite which I missed. Trevor had a good last half hour and had obviously battered me.

The weigh-in
On peg 1, which can be very dodgy, Dick Warrener had 55 lb 14 oz, which I thought was very good in the cold conditions. Then Bob Allen had 45 lb 15 oz, but Trevor totalled  92 lb 5 oz, which included one we weighed at 16 lb 1 oz, but which was a LOT more than I thought I had. However my few carp, plus one bream on mussel, went 71 lb 6 oz, which I was very happy with, as John on my left had only 45 lb.

Dave Hobbs pipped me on peg 7 with 77 lb 6 oz, but Peter Spriggs came up trumps on 11 with a winning  112 lb 9 oz, taken on paste on 2+1 - I don't think he had a single fish from the margins. He also won the golden peg, and went home more than £100 better off. I finished fourth, and if I had hit that last-minute bite and landed one more carp it would probably have been third.

We weighed this fish, taken by Trevor, at 16 lb 1 oz. They
are so difficult to hold because they are out of the water for such
a short length of time.

Bob Barrett and Mike Rawson both decided not to weigh in their fish, but I am told they both had carp which looked to be around 16 lb.

Marks out of ten
Trevor had read my last blog, where I gave myself just 2, and reckoned I was no better today. Oh, he can be cruel! But I think that 6 wouldn't be unfair - I was particularly pleased that I had three shallow, even in that cold wind. Next match the Fenland Rods Pairs on Horseshoe - the only pegs I really don't want are 10 to 12, as they are deepish with no nice margins. I'd pick peg 1 or 13.

Peter Spriggs - winner with 112 lb 9 oz.

THE RESULT

    1 Dick Warrener        55 lb 14 oz

      2 Bob Allen                45 lb 15 oz

      3 Trevor Cousins        92 lb 5 oz         2nd

      4 Mac Campbell         71 lb 6 oz         4th

      5 John Smith               45 lb

      6 Mick Ramm             44 lb 5 oz

      7 Dave Hobbs              77 lb6 oz         3rd

      8 Mike Rawson            DNW

      9 Bob Barrett                DNW

      10 John Garner            62 lb 2 oz

      11 Peter Spriggs           112 lb 9 oz      1st

      12 Joe Bedford            34 lb 5 oz

Final Fenland Rods Championship table, 2023

 Here is the final listing for 2023

1 Kev Lee                279 pts

2 Callum Judge        275

3 Peter Spriggs        272

4 Mac Campbell      262

5 Allan Golightly    207

6 Shaun Buddle      190

7 Dave Hobbs         182

8 Dave Garner        176

9 Mel Lutkin           174

10 Dick Warrener   142

11 John Smith        133

12 Mike Rawson    128

13 Martin Parker      85

14 Joe Bedford        20

15 Wendy Bedford  14

16 James Garner      10            

My Golden Peg cock-up on Yew

Peg 18, Yew, Sunday, Apr 14
Fenland Rods' first match of the year, and I get Golden Peg. Just nine of us were fishing - there will be more next week. I trekked down the lake to peg 18 knowing that the fish were likely to be big, and that that end is often favourite. But my recent results have not been encouraging, and I wasn't confident.

Martin Parker was on end peg 16, and a newcomer Roy Whitwell was also with us - I hadn't pointed out to him that winning is not really the done thing on your first match with us. But would he have listened?

The wind was much lighter than it has been lately, though a little cool, and it was roughly Westerly, right in our faces. But at the start a few fish were showing, so I started with a banded caster, about a foot deep, at 11.5 metres, catapulting casters over the top. I was pleased to see them land roughly where I was fishing. I'd re-read my blog for last year at the same time and noted that busing a catapult with a flexible handle was much the best for me. So I'd found that one in my bag.

What a start!
No more than two minutes after dropping my bait in, my pole was pulled violently sideways - a fish was on. The 8-10 elastic stretched out and I just hoped it would hold the fish's first run. It did, but that carp put up a terrific fight before eventually finishing in my landing net. I always take two - an 18-inch and a 20-inch, and I was glad I'd chosen the larger one, as this fish was at least 12 lb.

Back in, and I had another two or three touches which might have been liners, so I shallowed up to the minimum 8 inches. Nothing. Then I realised that tyhe wind had died away, and the water was almost flat calm, while the higher numbers had ripple in front of them.

Wind...
Then the wind came back, but it seemed cooler, and it was swinging about from right to left. I fished shallow for another 45 minutes without a single touch, and I hardly saw a fish near the surface - they don't like that sudden change, I am sure. Probably should have given it up earlier. The next plan was 13 metres with corn or pellet, and over the next hour or so I managed three big F1s and a carp about 4 lb, while Callum, on my left, had not had a single fish. I had about 23 lb on my clicker.

Callum, on my left, had to wait more than two hours to hook his first fish.
Later the sun made it difficult for me to fish towards him.

Then, two hours and 20 minutes after the start Callum hooked his first fish, on a pole, and it was a good'un. On his left Mel Lutkin had had a fish or two on feeder, so I tried it - a hybrid with an orange wafter cast several metres short of the far bank. Ten minutes later The tip dropped back and a good carp was on. That was about 9 lb, but I decided to have a quick look in the margin with cat meat, as I fully expected that was how the match would be won.

Fish in the side
First drop into the deep water a metre from the bank and a big carp was on - that one was about 10 lb.And I prepared to really bag up. But the carp gods had other ideas, and although I had lots of touches the rest of the match saw me land only about four or five more, with about four foulhooked and lost. I know that because most left a scale on the hook.

I should have rested that swim properly - I have this theory that fish know when there's a rig in the water and eventually it scares them. But take it out and they soon regain their confidence. The left margin wasn't easy to fish because the sun was glinting on the water, and I spent only a short time there.

Snagged
I seem to be attracted to snags at Decoy. I've lost two fish on snags in open water lately and this time I dropped my rig in while I filled the cad pot before going out, and lo and behold I was snagged. A prod around with the hook saw the rig rise in the water, and it felt like a keepnet there. But it wouldn't come up, and I had to twist the hook round the hooklength and pull for a break. No Snags Please, We're Fishing!

A handsome-looking specimen...and the carp was nice-looking as well!

Callum had about three more carp on the feeder and another one or two close-in on the pole. Mussel had taken two of my fish, and I'd tried a bunch of maggots, which can be deadly for big carp, but I had only liners on them. Yet on Oak  one angler with 200 lb-plus had potted in a gallon of maggots, and caught on a big bunch. Not sure I have the nerve to do that.

Just before the end I put on cat meat again and hit a fish which I was playing on the whistle - a tench about 2 lb. Good to see tench at Decoy - there used to be lots 20 years ago, but like the barbel I expect most have died. A new stocking is perhaps called for.

I estimated I had 35 lb in one net and 38 lb in the other - 73 lb. But I know I tend to understimate.

Dave Hobbs, who brought Roy Whitwell with him, was third.

The weigh in
In a recent big feeder match Yew produced weights of 100 lb all down the line, with a weight of 200 lb-plus on end peg 30. Today Allan Golightly had 71 lb, which he must have been pretty pleased with, but the next three pegs all had 135 lb-plus, including newcomer Roy Whitwell with 162 lb 10 oz mainly on a feeder - at least he had the grace not to win (😀). The win went to Kev Lee on the next peg with 167 lb 3 oz mainly on cat meat and pole, with Dave Hobbs, friend of Roy, third on 135 lb 6 oz.

Then weights fell away. My first net weighed in at 36 lb and the other one 47 lb - and my 84 lb 9 oz was fourth until Martin Parker weighed in 89 lb 14 oz on the last peg, 16. This was the first time we paid out sections, so Martin, Allan and Mel Lutkin won their sections, the last two by default. Good to see Martin so perky after his tumour operation.

Winner Kevin Lee included some good barbel in his 167 lb 3 oz. His best bait was
double cat meat, and he took some out on the pole, with others from the margin.

My last fish, landed after the whistle, turned out to be a 2 lb tench.

Marks out of ten
I have little doubt that the fish were not feeding just in those three best pegs - it was down to the class of angler fishing them. A good angler on my peg would probably have won, because there were big fish there. And looking back I made so many mistakes in not moving about, that I give myself 2/10. As my headmaster used to write - "Could do better!"

Next match Thursday on Elm, Decoy. The strips all look similar but the fish are a different size (not so many lumps on Elm) and you can never tell which method will be best. There are some reasonable margin swims on Elm, but I must certainly look to put out a feeder more often. I had one cast on it in this match and had a 9 lb fish! Will I never learn? But when you know that there are big fish near the side the challenge is to catch them...and I fall prey to temptation.

THE RESULT

Beastie 2 - Me 0

Now back home after ten days away looking after our daughter's dogs. But at least I managed to get a bit of gardening done - two lines of different types of beetroot, and the first courgettes planted, while the second-early potatoes 'Charlotte' are chitting and ready to be planted. Last year I planted them on the compost from my wormery and they did reaslly well.

Some tiny plugs I ordered turned up, and I managed to pot all 120 of them. The Bizzy Lizzies are fine, but somehow slugs or snails have had a go at the petunias and nibbled off the first leaves. How do they do that? The pots are well off the ground in our nice new summerhouse/shed. There's no trace of those silvery trails that they leave behind. Daren't put them in the cold frame so I've had to leave them overnight in our other, dark shed, where so far nothing seems to have tried to gobble them up (though there are still mice in there). I hate those slugs and snails and mieces to pieces.

Beastie peg 24 was my home for the Sunday JV match - my bogey peg. The wind was awful but, as always, deceptive at the start and stupidly I put out some bait at 10 metres before going on to a feeder with wafter, cast almost to the island. That produced a quick 8 lb mirror, and a move to the pole saw four or five F1s. But I couldn't resist trying in the side for better fish.

Ernie Lowbridge, to my left, with a 15 lb 14 oz mirror.

It took a long while before another carp came in on a top three, by which time it was impossible to fish the long pole line. Then calamity! Halfway though the match I turned round to add the number 4 and 5 sections, to fish farther along the margins, and there they were...Gone! Just vanished. Never saw them slide in, though the wind must have lifted them off the bank and slid them down between my nets. 

I felt around the swim with my 12-foot hook, but never found them.  I wasn't the only one to lose sections, because the wind was now horrendous, and occasionally I could feel it getting under the box and lifting it.

The annoying thing on our bank was that although the wind was so fierce, our margins had a little shelter from it, and there wasn't much of a ripple - just a horrible swell.

Two more good carp came in, to my special method and cat meat, plus another F1 or two and a bream, and I weighed 50 lb 4 oz for nowhere in the match, but I wasn't anywhere near last. Rob Goodson, who lost his Number 4 section, had to fish the margins on peg 6, and won with 132 lb 2 oz. The fish tended to be in the windiest pegs. Chris Saunders was second on 20, fishing cat meat in the margins.

Pete Molesworth was on 26, which had some shelter,
and included this 14 lb 11 oz common in his 95 lb 6 oz.

I reckon I was worth 6/10, and would undoubtedly have done better if I had been able to fish more than the top three in the second half of the match. It's always unsettling when that happens. My next match also was on Beastie and Mike Rawson always has his rake in his van, so I would try to recocer the sections then.

Of course by the time we had weighed in the wind had dropped and conditions were near-perfect.

THE RESULT

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Next was the Spratts club match, and I was drawn peg 23 - at least I knew exactly where it was!

I have a spare Xitan, so was able to extract the Numbers 4 and 5 sections, leaving me fully equipped, pole-wise. But i will have to try to get another two, as mine have been repaired and after a few years it seems to me that sections become brittle. Such a pitty that those I lost had hardly been used!

Yet again it was windy, but not too bad at the start, and after a fishless half-hour on the feeder I was able to go out to 10 metres, fishing with corn. Over the next 90 minutes I managed half-a-dozen F1s, and at 12 o'clock I hd a word with Shaun Buddle, on 24, who said he had 6 lb. I had 10 lb at that stage. 

Then the wind invcreased and I had a look, shallow, in the left margin, where I had been flicking casters, and that brought some small bites, which I thought were probbaly from F1s but may have been roach. Eventually, dropping the bait down to three feet brought a single F1, and I didn't even see a bite for that one!

Two disasters
Back out and another F1 came in, but then the wind increased again and I decided to have a look on cat meat in the margin. First drop, and within seconds I had hit a big fish. It surged along the ,argins towards Shaun, and to be honest I hadn;t got enough sections ready to add on, and the line was now cutting across the reeds.

I hung on, and felt that the fish wasn't buried in the reeds, but was coming back slowly towards me...when suddenly everything went slack. The line had broken just below the float. I wouldn't have expected a weak spot there, so I think it must have caught on a sharp reed or a snag. Nothing for it but to pick up another rig I had ready, and drop that back in. Seconds later I was into another carp, and played this one for bout 30 seconds before the hook pulled.

I think that one was foulhooked, although I didn't feel that when I first hooked it. But when a fish stops running and the elastic slowly pulls it back it's usual for the fish to slide back fairly easily. In this case, however, it felt like a sack of spuds - the fish hardly moved at all. Unfortunately I wasted the next couple of hours trying for another on cat meat or mussel. The right margin was more difficult to fish, as it meant facing the wind, but I should have been more positive there.

Bream to the rescue
I should also have gone back out when the wind died momentarily, feeding with the big pot and following it up with corn...but I didn't! However, cat meat eventually brought in about five nice bream from the left margin, all of which were covered in the breeding tubercles. Then, five minutes before the finish I hooked another big fish which also came off, probably foulhooked. All-in-all not a good performance.

To my left John Garner on peg 23 managed to fish long for most of
the match, ending with 40 lb.

A lost cause
Afterwards I tried to find my lost sections in Shaun's swim, using the rake Mike Rawson lent me. I've seen him recover several sections with it, for other anglers. But today I couldn't make it work, and Shaun had a look, using his own rake. Nope. Four-hundred pounds worth of Xitan sections are resting in a watery grave.

The weigh in
The raking took up all my spare time (hence only one catch picture) and by the time the scales got to my bank I could see I would be well down the list. Peter Spriggs was leading with 77 lb 10 oz from peg 5. Next to me, John Garner had 40 lb, almost all taken out at abouit 10 metres on the pole. He was managing to fish there when my pole was being blown all over the place - perhaps 22 is a little sheltered.

My fish went 24 lb 6 oz, which was ninth overall, while on 24 Shaun had found fish late on and totalled 51 lb for fourth. He found that lifting the bait  was the way to induce a bite

Marks out of ten
I give myself 3. The oldest lesson in match fishing is to not come off a swim where you are atching fish, except to perhaps rest it for a time. I left the 10-metre swim and 'rested' it for the next two fishless hours!

I can't blame myself for two of the lost fish, but I didn't have everything ready for hooking the first big carp. If I had I think I would have had a chance of landing it, even if it was foulhooked. Next match is Fenland Rods Club Cup on Yew. I am running a section pool this season, for the first time. My experience is that all match anglers are spurred on to try for the section if they are having a rough time (as (I am at the moment) and know they can't possibly frame. Let's hope the anglers are happy.

THE RESULT

2 Bob Barrett           11 lb 12 oz
3 Dave Hobbs          28 lb 2 oz
4 Bob Allen             17 lb 6 oz
5 Peter Spriggs        77 lb 10 oz     1st
14 Joe Bedford        20 lb 6 oz
15 Dick Warrener    25 lb 7 oz
17 Mike Rawson        DNW
18 Neil Paas            69 lb 12 oz      2nd
21 Steve Engledow        DNW
22 John Garner        40 lb
23 Mac Campbell    24 lb 6 oz
24 Shaun Buddle     51 lb                4th
26 Trevor Cousins   38 lb 14 oz
30 Peter Harrison     59 lb 9 oz    3rd

The sweetest feeling - John with a golden coin, courtesy of Bob Allen.

Two matches just out of the frame - Cedar and Damson

Peg 10, Cedar, Sun, Mar 31
Access to my main computer is limited at the moment, so these reports are brief. Happy with peg 10 in this JV match held on Cedar and Elm, as Peter Spriggs had a big weight off it on Monday, though today a stiff NE wind made it difficult to fish to the left margin, where Peter had had most of his fish, at times. But I had Lee Kendall to my right on 9, so at least I would probably be able to see some fish, even if I couldn't catch them.

Nice to see a brief period or two of Spring sunshine.

Oh me of little faith! Within two minutes I was playing an 8 lb mirror carp, taken on an orange wafter and a hybrid feeder, cast a bit short of the far bank. Next cast right over saw the bait come back with weed on it, and a cast a little shorter ended with a bream in the landing net, and soon after that another carp. And I don't think Lee had had a fish at that point. But then he had a great run on the feeder, followed by a couple out at 8 metres, more on the feeder, and finally lots of carp on maggot in his right margin, under the bush.

This happened quite a lot once Lee started motoring on the feeder!

Meanwhile I struggled with an occasional carp from the left margin when the wind moved round, then two or three out at 8 metres, another on the feeder, and finally one on maggot to the right, which I landed after the whistle, hooked in the snout! In the corner peg 13 Shaun Coaten had a good start - I could see the splashing as he landed fish, and I assumd he would have a bagful by the end. 

The weigh in

Shaun Coaten was third from corner peg 13, a swim which
has featured in match results several times recently.

Surpisingly the pegs towards the car park did not dominate. Lee dominated with a winning  158 lb 11 oz, while I had 77 lb 8 oz for fourth out of the ten on this lake. Shaun said he had 40 lb in the last half-hour, so he must have had a lean time in the middle - he totalled 87 lb 9 oz for third. Pete Molesworth was runner-up on peg 5 with 109 lb 3 oz.

Marks out of ten

I give myself a generous 7, as I don't know what I did wrong, though clearly there were more fish in my area than in the lower-numbered pegs. I learned afterwards that Lee, who tends to use a lot of bait, started his right margin swim with three big pots full of dead maggots. So perhaps I simply didn't feed enough. But it was an enjoyable day.

Watching Lee fish was a bit of a revelation - as soon as he seemed
to be waiting for a bite he would change swims. 

THE RESULTS

Cedar

Elm

Next match was on Damson, Tuesday. Will write it up ASAP.

Peg 4, Damson, Tues, Apr 2

A terrible start for me on peg 4 in this Spratts match. The wind was pretty strong, from the right, so I started to the left, in the shallow water, and after 45 minutes I had hooked one fish on a banded pellet fished shallow, and lost it (the fish, not the pellet), and did not have another. Trevor on 7 had 10 lb in the first 30 minutes fishing the shallow margin, and then went on to the feeder, while on my immeduiate right Shaun Buddle had half-a-dozen F1s around 1 lb 8 oz. And I sat sitting there, fishless.

Nice before the start, but the wind picked up, and then started blowing from all directions!

Changing to my special method, which was difficult in the wind, I managed to pick up a very slow stream of F1s on corn clkose to the bank, and by halfway I probably had 30 lb. Then there was a long fishless spell, and Shaun, who had been struggling while I was catching, got up and had a word with some other anglers from Wisbech who were fishing the stock pond, to extract some of the big fish placed there from Oak. he cam back after about an hour, during which time I had managed to catch one fish!

Trevor Cousins. Those 'proper' carp would probably 
have come on the feeder.

Then we both went out long, into the deep water, though thsi can be fished on a top two, and he had seven or eight carp fairly quickly, while I had five on cat meat, best 5 lb. Then, suddenly, both of us couldn't get a bite - just as if a hooter had gone to call the fish back to work.

Yet every now and then I could see fish coming into the shallow water, only a foot from the bank. I managed to catch one more of these before the end - about 2 lb.  I was disappointed, especially at those fish taking the p*** out of me by continually showing themselves.

The weigh in

On Peg 1 Peter Spriggs had 88lb 9 oz. That swim hasn't been fishing particularly well - it's the far end pegs which have been producing the weights, so I thought that was a very good performance, though I noticed that it was much calmer there than on our swims.

Dave Hobbs pipped me by just 15 oz.


Below - Neil Paas was way out in front.

On peg 2 sat Peter Harrison, who could catch fish in concrete. He had 39 lb 13 oz (unfortunately there wasn't any concrete in front of him), and John Garner, who I thought had done very well on the feeder, had just 33 lb 13 oz. I must have seen him land every fish, because I thought he had doubled my weight.

I had a gratifying 58 lb 8 oz, with Shaun 20 lb behind me. 

The winner was Neil Paas on corner peg 13, with 125 lb 14 oz, so he had been pretty busy on those smallish fish. Peter Spriggs on the other end peg 1 ended second, with Trevor third, having all his fish, after that first half-hour, on a tiny feeder with a wafter, and totalling 81 lb 1 oz.

Dave Hobbs beat me by ounces, so my 58 lb 8 oz was fifth.

Marks out of 10

I'm not sure what I did wrong - probably not going out into the deep water, with cat meat, before I did. But in the wind I thought I did OK to get those F1s, worth 6/10. Usually I get a flying start in the shallow margins, and if I had I could easily have finished second. Next two matches are on Beastie, where I expect the windiest pegs to fish best.

                THE RESULT 

1 Peter Spriggs         88 lb 9 oz     2nd

2 Peter Harrison       39 lb 13 oz

3 John Garner           33 lb 13 oz

4 Mac Campbell       58 lb 8 0oz

5 Shaun Buddle        36 lb 6 oz

6 Mick Ramm           17 lb

7 Trevor Cousins       81 lb 1 oz    3rd

8 Bob Barrett             29 lb 10 oz

9 Joe Bedford            23 lb 6 oz

10 Dave Hobbs          59 lb 7 oz    4th

11 Mike Rawson        DNW

12 Steve Engledow    22 lb 10 oz

13 Neil Paas             125 lb 14 oz   1st