A close match on Oak Lake in the rain.

Peg 9, Oak,, Thurs, May 30
Karen has been busy putting up baskets and pots of flowers around the cafe at Decoy, which brightened my spirits. But the fish were grumpy - obviously didn't like the changeable wind, which on this day was blowing from the North for our Spratts match. And where is our Summer? Where is the sun? I'm not even sure whether the carp have spawned yet.

Trevor gets out his prayer mat before starting to make the draw for pegs.

It was the first time that most of us had fished Oak lake since it was sheeted, to prevent pank erosion. And mercifully the overnight rain had not been heavy so the bank, which has been reinforced with some sort of gravel/harcore, was still hard (unlike the Winter League final, when the mud was wheel-deep along Oak).

So peg 9 was my home for the dull, rainy day. I would have chosen 11 or opposite on 20, though a match last weekend was won on 3 with over 200 lb. The new platforms are metal, and a decent size, though some are already not quite level. But at least you don't have to drop down to them, and there are no holes between the bank and the platform, as there are on a few.

I start well out
I decided to keep it simple. So why did I take my feeder rods down to the peg? I had no real intention of using them as the wind was off our back on the West bank, while those poor sods opposite had the wind and rain in their faces, though the rain was never really hard. I went out to 11.5 metres, because the day didn't feel 'fishy' to me, and often the few fish that feed early on are well out. I also decided to use my 20-inch landing net in the wind and rain, which makes it a little easier to net the big carp than using the 18-inch, though it's not quite so easy to unhook them. In the event I was glad I did.

Dave Hobbs, opposite on  had fish before I did. And boy, did they fight!

First action I saw was Peter Harison, opposite, playing a big carp foulhooked, but he eventually got it in. My first carp, about 4 lb, came after about 40 minutes, to a 6mm expander over just a few 6mm hard pellets. I had an occasional liner, and sometimes, when the wind seemed to warm up and the sun peaked out from behind the clouds, fish came to the surface. I couldn't resist trying a banded pellet shallow, but never had a bite. Then quick looks in the margin - as much to get the rigs working right as anything - also didn't bring a bite.

I do an 'Ivan'
Then Peter foulhooked another big fish, and while he was playing it I "did an Ivan Marks" and wandered up to John Smith on 3. On the way Martin Parker said he had two on cat meat and had lost one. Dick Warrener hadn't had a fish, but John had had fish early on and now had four for about 24 lb, including one on a waggler. I can never bring myself to set up a waggler, mainly because it would mean I would be packing up for even longer. But there's no doubt that sometimes that bait triping down the middle does take fish when it's difficult.

The right margin - I had just one big carp from there.

Peter was still attached to that fish, and it must have been playing him for at least 15 minutes before he finally netted it. Back to my swim and after more than three hours I still had just the one carp, though I had briefly foulhooked two more which came adrift within seconds. Peter had had a couple, hooked properly, including one on his first cast with a feeder, which set me thinking about using it after all.

Bad angling on my part
I'd had a word with the angler on my peg when I was walking back from a match on Cedar on Sunday, and he said he caught fish right down the edge to his left. That wasn't very comfortable today, as the wind was coming from the left. But I put a little hemp and corn down there before having a last look out on the 11.5 metre swim. First drop there with cat meat (the first time I had tried it) brought a quick bite and a fish was on. But seconds later the line went slack - the hook, which was tied straight through, had pulled off. I felt bad about that - bad angling, although it happens coccasionally to everyone.

The left margin. The new reinforcements have collapsed a little,
 but they seem firm. Most of my fish came from next to the upright
 metal post sticking out only a top three away from my platform.

Anyway, back out and in the next 40 minutes a 6 lb carp and a 3 lb F1 came in. But they fought like tigers - and Peter was finding the same. The fish looked as if they were beaten, gliding in a foot under the surface, but time after time I just couldn't get them up, and they would power away again. It wasn't just me - everybody was having enormous trouble.

Then I foulhooked a big carp in the tail, and after a really hairy fight it ended in my net, but boy my back was hurting! 

By now the wind had moved round to a little East of North, which is so often the kiss of death. The light now made it difficult to see the float, and the wind increased so that eventually I had to give it up and I decided to come close in, on 2+2. But first I had a look down against the tins, where I had looked earlier on.

Into the margins
Using my special method I saw some liners from the left margin, so I knew the fish were there. But I had to change to a conventional rig to catch the fish, feeding first, waiting a minutes to avoid liners, and then dropping in. Cat meat brought two fish over 8 lb, and surprisingly these bigger fish came in much more quickly than the smaller fish had. When bites stopped there I moved to the right margin and eventually another big carp came, also on cat meat. I never did go out to that 2+2 line.

Martin Parker had a better start than me, but like me,
he struggled in mid-match.

Opposite, Peter had contacted more fish and I knew he was well ahead of me, as was Martin to my right. Even so I knew that not a lot of fish had been caught, though to my left Peter Spriggs now  started to catch fish, as they were splashing as he landed them. In the next half hour I had only one more. 

Then I found that just past where I had been fishing the bottom appeared to drop away - I hadn't plumbed up properly. So I dropped feed in there and put a few inches on the rig.

Less than fteen minutes left and I tried mussel for the first time. I fed hemp, pellets and corn, went in with a whole mussel, let it drag into the shelf I had just found...and within 30 seconds was attached to am 8 lb carp. Feed again, drop in with a whole mussel, and a nine-pounder obliged.

I make an executive decision
I looked at my watch and there were literally only seconds left. So I made the executive decision to drop straight in without feeding. Down went the float, the Matrix green 16-18 Slik elastic streamed out and seconds later Trevor called the end of the match. That fish came in pretty quickly - all 10 lb of it. I looked across and saw that Peter Harrison had three nets in, so I guessed I was porbably well beaten, despite that late purple patch.

We weighed this fish, caught by Bob Barrett, at 13 lb 4 oz.
But Peter Spriggs had a common that must have weighed around 16 lb.

The weigh-in
Of course light rain started again while we weighed in, but it wasn't cold. John on 3 had 64 lb, and Martin  totalled 74 lb 14 oz. I thought I had about 35 lb in  each net, so he would beat me. But in fact I had about 42 lb in each - total 85 lb 2 oz, and amazingly that was top weight on out bank, as Peter Spriggs, despite a good late run, had just 78 lb 6 oz.  Next to him John Garner was also close, with 79 lb 12 oz.

Opposite, Neil Paas had three nets in, so I thought he must beat me, but no! His 83 lb 8 oz was  just 2 lb behind me, and it turned out that Peter Harrison had only one fish in his third net, and ended with  76 lb 1 oz. So I ended as the winner, that last-minute fish doing the business for me. In a very close match,  seventh weight out of the 13 was 72 lb 11 oz. 

Neil Paas - second with 83 lb 8 oz on mussel from peg 18.

My tenth frame in a row - will Saturday's match at Pidley, on Crow, be my Waterloo? The forecast is for fairly strong Northerly winds again, which could make it all very difficult. I am taking both feeder and waggler rods, and will probably use the feeder or bomb at the start. And I've used Jamie Hughes' recent tip about preparing luncheon meat, so I am prepared...

Marks out of ten
I admit I was lucky to get that last-cast carp. Without that I would have dropped several places. But I felt I had scrapped around pretty well, even when I thought, halfway through the match, that a frame was out of the question. But you never can tell, so you have to just keep soldiering on. I think I was worth 7/10, because I took advantage of that last spurt - and it turned out that almost everyone else had last-gasp fish. You just have to be in a position to take advantage of luck when it comes - a bit like poker.

THE RESULT

East bank                                                                       West bank

26 Mick Ramm            40 lb 9 oz                                   3 John Smith            64 lb 4 oz

24 Peter Harrison         76 lb 1 oz                                   5 Dick Warrener       34 lb 5 oz

22 Dave Hobbs            26 lb 15 oz                                 7 Martin Parker        74 lb 14 oz

20 Bob Barrett             52 lb 15 oz                                 9 Mac Campbell        85 lb 2 oz        1st

18 Neil Paas                 83 lb 8 oz        2nd                    11 Peter Spriggs        78 lb 6 oz        4th

16 Trevor Couins         72 lb 11 oz                                 13 John Garner          79 lb 12 oz    3rd

                                                                                        15 Mike Rawson        36 lb 2 oz

Weather change puts the fish down on Cedar, Decoy

Peg 18, Cedar, Sun, May 26
Nineteen of us fished John Garner's annual invitation match, so we wished him, err, happy invitations (don't know when his birthday is). That mattered not - it was a day's fishing, and a chance to meet up again with old mates, though the trek along the East bank of Cedar (next to Oak) was a bit muddy after all-night rain. But Sean Reilly has put down some sort of ash or gravel, so it's better than it has been.

To be honest (as I always am, of course) I didn't fancy my peg to win. I would have preferred the first half-dozen pegs each side, as Cedar tends to fish better that end. But at least there was a small cut-out to my left, though when I plumbed up it was unusual - three feet deep next to the bank, and then it rose a little, before bobbling down to the deeps at about five feet.

The weather changed completely from the previous two days. Thunderstorms were forecast, but they never materialised and apart from steady light rain at the start it was a decent day, though the Southerly wind had East in it at the beginning, which is never a good sign. And I therefore decided to start very negatively, just dropping a 6mm expander down on a line just past the deep margin. Within seconds I received a surprise - the wind wasn't particularly strong, but there was a strong undertow, right to left.

By the time we had finished the wind had picked up a lot.

A great start

This tow was towards me, so I immediately pulled  out and dropped it down the lefthand deeps so the tow was going away from me. First drop a liner; second drop a 3 lb carp. Next drop brought a six-pounder, and then no more for about 20 minutes, when another nice carp took the bait. As I was unhooking it the wind suddenly changed so it was coming into me from the South-West...and the tow vanished! So did the fish...

So far I hadn't put in a single piece of loosefeed, and I thought I was probably doing OK, as not much else had been caught around me. So I took a chance and put just a few 6mm hard pellets and hemp on the original line to my right. The next hour saw three 2 lb-plus bream come from there. Some fish were just under the surface but whenever I flicked a piece of corn to them they hurried away. Other were swimming past leisurely, hand in hand, obviously with other things on their mind.

Next move was into the shallow cut-out, whhere I had a liner on corn, and then a 2 lb ide. An F1 came from a little farther our, and then I had a bite in the shallow swim. This fish shot out towards the middle, then went to the right and then did a smart about-turn to the left. Definitely foulhooked. And the next five minutes were interesting...

To my right, Mike had a big carp early on, which took some lifting!

Should I have been disqualified?

This fish took me along the reeds on the left and although I added sections to the pole, it buried itself in them. Solid. I had to get up and take my long hook and try to work out where this fish was. So I left my peg - and Bob Allen reminded all of us of that as we were weighing in, presumably querrying whether I should have been disqualified. Since the alternative would have been for me to cut the elastic and leave the fish tethered I suspect that the popular vote would have been no, Bob.

I walked up towards the next platform (it was vacant) where the elastic was pointing, and prepared to have a fish around with the hook to see what happened. The fish had obviously read my mind, because suddenly I felt a judder on the line and the bottom moved out. The fish was still on, and when I pushed the pole tip into the water it rose and I could see it was foulhooked in the tail.

Pull; repeat; pull; repeat
I assumed it would come off, but held the pole (as you do) until the fish came towards me by about three inches, when I pulled elastic in. That was repeated, and repeated, and repeated, about thirty times, so eventually I was able to sit back on my box. By this time we were both knackered, but I summoned up enough energy to gradually pull the elastic in, lift the pole, and the fish dived straight into the net. All nine pounds of it! Biggest fish of the day. Lucky or what?

Joe is incredible - he still loves his matchfishing and he
always has something to weigh in.

But I could find no more fish in that cut-out. A couple of big F1s came from the bottom of that slope on corn, and two barbel on a bunch of maggots after I had put a potful in, and then, with the wind strengthening from the left, I looked in the right margin, on a top two, against the corner of the reeds. I'd been putting casters and corn in there, and I had seen Mike Rawson to my right get two of three carp from his margin, so I was hopeful, although he did seem to be fishing much shallower. I couldn't find a shelf of any kind there, and it was five feet deep.

A big finish
No matter, cat meat took a carp, then there was a long biteless spell, and with literally ten minutes left I tried a mussel. Within seconds the float had gone and a 7 lb carp was in my net. Another drop with mussel and another carp. Why hadn't I tried mussel earlier? Back in and the match finished 30 seconds later.

I had clicked 38 lb for one net and 22 lb for the last one. Opposite I had seen Shaun Buddle take a nice fish or two, so I assumed he would beat me, and with Trevor Cousins having landed a nice fish or two very late I assumed he would beat me as well. I couldn't see properly what had happend past them

James found some good fish in the corner, but not enough!

The weigh-in
The journey back on the bank to the van was much better as the wind had hardened the mud. And by the time I caught up with the scales James in corner peg 14 was weighing in - just six fish for 33 lb 1 oz. James rarely fishes our club matches, but when he does he almost always frames, so it must have been hard. Top up to that point was Kev Lee from peg 1 with 113 lb 9 oz on cat meat, with most from the margins. Next to him Neil Paas had 90 lb 12 oz, on mussel.

Ninety-three-year-old Joe Bedford found 34 lb 12 oz on a feeder from 15, which made me wonder whether I should have had one ready for an occasional cast. Mike next to me had 35 lb 5 oz. My first net of an estimated 38 lb went exactly 40 lb - that's good for me! And the second was  26 lb 5 oz, total 66 lb 5 oz, and incredibly that was third at that point, as Shaun and Trevor opposite fell just short. In fact neither had a fish from their margins, with trevor's 64 lb 3 oz almost all taken mugging.

A quick shot of Allan and his fish - obviously
a wee bit too quick!

Allan Golightly told me he had five carp in each net, and he leapfrogged me with 72 lb 11 oz, and to my surprise none of the other pegs past him, up to the car park, could beat me, so I ended fourth - my ninth frame in a row.

Marks out of ten
Those first three fish taken without putting in any feed gave me an early edge. But I don't think I did much wrong after that - it was obviously difficult down at our end. I didn't lose any fish, so I give myself 7.5 out of ten. Probably should have had at least a bomb ready to drop in onto the margins, in case a different presentation worked. But when rain is falling, as it was at the start, and the platform is a little difficult (as this one was) my brain tells me to keep things simple. So I did. Having said that I have recently been going more by 'feel' than having a plan, and make more changes than I have in the past.

Next match on Oak on Thursday, if the bank is not too bad. If it is I expect Trevor will ask if we can go  on another lake.

THE RESULT

East bank                                            West bank

26 Steve Engledow             51 lb 13 oz                                1 Kevin Lee         113 lb 9 oz         1st  
25 Peter Spriggs                  31 lb 12 oz                                3 Neil Paas            90 lb 12 oz      2nd

23 Dave Garner                   41 lb 3 oz                                  4 John Garner      29 lb 3 oz  

21 Allan Golightly              72 lb 11 oz        3rd                     6 Bob Allen          27 lb 4 oz   

20 Roland Butcher                DNW                                       7   Kevin Beavis    48 lb 6 oz   

18 Mac Campbell                66 lb 5 oz        4th                     8 Trevor Cousins     64 lb 3 oz        5th

17 Mike Rawson                  35 lb 5 oz                                  9 Wendy Bedford    24 lb 7 oz

15 Joe Bedford                    34 lb 12 oz                                10 Shaun Buddle     53 lb 7 oz

14 James Garner                  33 lb 1 oz                                `12 Dick Warrener    26 lb 5 oz

                                                                                              13 Callum Judge      45 lb 5 oz       

PS. I've been dog-sitting since this match, so apologies for its lateness. But good news for locals - Ben Townsend has qualified for the Fish O'Mania final at Westwood Lakes on Sat, July 27th.

I trip up on Beastie, but end up smelling of roses

Peg 4, Wed, May 22
Rain was forecast, and rain obliged - all night, and up to halfway through the match, when it stopped occasionally before strting again, just to let us know who was boss. We'd already given in at the draw, when this 13-entry Spratts match was moved from Oak to Beastie, because of the likelihood that the bank round Oak would be a mess by the time we had finished, if not before the start. So next week we will be on Oak, instead of Beastie, assuming that we don't have another solid week of rain.

Even so, we had an early casualty, when John Smith, who has dodgy knees, withdrew because many of the pegs on Beastie have steps down, and he's almost come a cropper on one in the past. That left 12 of us to battle it out in the rain. I drew peg 6, which has just one step down. BUT it was shelving at about 45 dgrees down, towards the platform. I didn't fancy getting down there, but thought I'd at least try. 

My complete box is too heavy to carry, which is why I always unclip the of part of the box and seat, and carry the rest separately. So, with the frame and footplate attached to the bottom draws of the box, I stood on the bank ready to descend. I couldn't get any purchase on the step, so stood on my right leg at the top and dropped my left leg down to the platform. It touched the wet wood but the heel slipped forwards and I fell down the bank onto the platform, where I finished on my back, still holding the frame.

As I fell I had the horrible thought that I would roll off into the water, but thankfully I didn't. However, I ended on my back, holding the box, trying to work out how I could put it down but still give me enough room to turn over and scramble back up. At least no bones were broken.

Help turns up
Then my Fairy Godfather turned up in the form of Peter Harrison, on the next peg who must have heard the clump, and who put my box on the platform and hauled me bodily back to dry land (actually very wet land as it was still raining). Thanks, Peter. I was OK, but said I'd go home - I wasn't going to risk a repeat, especially since you need to do it several times before and after the match.

So I was reloading my trolley when Trevor Cousins on peg 3 said I could fish peg 4 if I wished. I had a look, and it seemed OK. I was back in business! But I decided to keep it simple, and never even attempted to put up my feeder rod.

The match
The rain was not particularly heavy, but steady, and while Trevor and Peter fished without brollies, I was able to get mine up, as what wind there was came from the West, into our faces, and I hate the rain on my spectacles. It kept me pretty dry, and first cast out on a pole at 2+3 with corn saw a small F1 come in. A few more followed in the first hour, though Trevor, on my left, had a proper carp or two on a feeder cast to the island. Peter on my right also had a good carp, I think, from the splashing.

To my left was a bush in the water, where I had been flicking corn. I now couldn't resist a look, and first drop next to the bush brought a a bite and a 2 lb bream. There was a small drop-off, and I couldn't make up my mind whether the bream were feeding on the top or down the bottom of the shelf. They seemed to move up and down.

Peter Harrison, next to me, found a couple of really
nice carp to add to his bream and F1s.

More bream

Anyway, after another hour and a half I had netted several more nice bream to 3 lb, and one F1. A change to worm to target the bream brought a foulhooked gudgeon, a roach and a perch, so that experiment was ditched and I carried on using corn, or cat meat, which they seemed to like as much as corn.

Halfway though, the rain had stopped for a little while before spitting again, but I had filled one net, estimating it at 35 lb, started a second, and put some hemp and corn in the right margin. That brought two F1s really quickly, but then only small taps and liners. I think that Peter and Trevor also had a difficult spell at that time, and I saw Trevor striking a lot but missing almost everything. The fish were playing Silly Buggas.

Maggots liven the fish up
Then I dumped some manky dead maggots in the bush swim, and it brought it alive again, and a 4 lb carp also obliged, while the bream left and the occasional F1 took corn. Funnily enough a bunch of dead maggots didn't produce even a liner. It was still quite warm, despite the rain, and the fish were very warm indeed.

I wasted a bit of time right in the side, when I saw carp moving there. Plenty of liners, but they wouldn't take the bait. So it was back out on the 2+3 swim with corn and immediately small fish took the bait, and a couple of carassio before things slowed down. I had at least 35 lb in the second net now and with 25 minutes left I put in some cat meat in front of me on a top two and started a new swim. First drop with cat meat dsaw a 7 lb carp come in. That went into the third net (Spratts fish to a definite 50 lb max).

Trevor, on my left, had his best carp on feeder and a
small pink wafter cast almost to the island.

Fish on; fish off...
Next drop with cat meat and a big fish was on, but it came off. Then another big fish, which was obviously foulhooked and the 18-22 elastic stretched out so far that, while still holding only three sections, I saw the fish surface three-quarters of the way across to the island! That must have been 40 yards away. Never seen that elastic stretch like it.

Everything stopped for a moment and I thought the fish had turned. But it made another lunge and bang! Lost the lot. I picked up another top, with 18-22 elastic, dropped in, and seconds later hooked another fish on mussel. I'm sure it wasn't foulhooked, but it came off. In again and immediately another big fish  took a mussel - again foulhooked. The same thing happened - it chugged out like submarine, the elastic stretched, and I had no chance. Gone. 

Picked up a third rig with 13 elastic, and hooked another big one on corn (this had a size 16 on) which semed to be going alright, until the hook pulled. So I lost the last five fish,and now the match ended. Why didn't I try that front swim earlier?

Mike Rawson looks pretty pleased with his 34 lb 3 oz from the
spit, peg 13, as Trevor and Peter do the honours.

I estimated that I had about 80 lb, and that Peter Harrison, on my right, must have at least double that, because for the last hour or two, almost every time I looked up his elastic was stretching out.

The weigh-in
I was surprised that Trevor had 'only' 97 lb 4 oz, because he had a much better start than I did. I was next to weigh, and John Garner took my third net up for weighing, which showed that my 7 lb carp in fact weighed 8 lb 6 oz. Next John took up the 35 lb second net. He huffed and puffed his way to the net, which was a full six feet away muttering something about "35 lb!"

Heads were turned towards me as the scales showed 57 lb-plus! I was mortified - you can't afford to give these blokes 7 lb. Then the first 35 lb net was weighed - phew. The scales ran round to 48 lb 2 oz. Made that one by the skin of my teeth. Total 107 lb 8 oz. And so to Peter.

Apologies to John Garner, who had 79 lb, for badly
underestimating the nets he pulled up for me!

But it appeared that although Peter was really busy towards the end, the fish were not big, and he weighed in 50 lb-plus in each net. Not sure how much he had to drop, but he ended with 100 lb. So I wasn't the only one to under-estimate. Round to the spit, where there was another 100 lb-plus catch, but Peter Spriggs fell just short of my bag. However Neil Paas,who took all his fish on mussel, had his 125 lb 12 oz from peg 24 for the win, fishing several different areas on a shortish pole. Last to weigh was Shaun Buddle, on rated peg 30, who couldn't quite make the ton and had to settle for 91 lb 1 oz.

So I ended second, and if I'd landed two, or possibly even one of those lost fish (and not gone overweight) I could have won.

Marks out of ten
I should have had a swim in the slightly-deeper water in front of me much earlier, just to drop in and have a look from time to time. But at least I thought I had set my stall out adequately, considering the problems rain always causes - I didn't even try live maggots though, and perhaps I should. I had just a handful for the hook in a small tin. Not sure what I could have done with those wretched foulhookers, though. I had landed a couple of big F1s foulhooked, and lost a couple, but those last one really had me stumped. I was careful to wait until I was fairly sure I had got a proper bite before striking. But c'est la vie. Probably worth 7/10.

My next match is John Garner's Invitation on Cedar on Sunday. Looking forward to that after I have tied some more strong rigs!

The miracle
There was one astounding incident. Halfway through, Dick Warrener walked round saying he was looking for his wallet, which he'd had in his back pocket and was now missing. I assumed it must be either in his car, or had fallen out as he sat on his box. No - he had looked everywhere.

Dick went home (he lives nearby) and checked there, and came back. Picking up his landing net he dropped it out in front of his platform, and trawled it along the bottom towards the bank, in case it had fallen in. A pretty long shot, you will agree.

FIRST TIME he pulled up his net and there was his wallet! Unbelievable. What were the chances? We suggested he immediately go and buy a lottery ticket.

Dick found his wallet...along with this 14 lb 6 oz mirror!

THE RESULT

 3 Trevor Cousins        97 lb 4 oz

 4 Mac Campbell        107 lb 8 oz        2nd

 5 Peter Harrison        100 lb                4th

 9 Bob Barrett               45 lb 3 oz 

 13 Mike Rawson          34 lb 3 oz

 15 Martin Parker          40 lb 15 oz

 17 Peter Spriggs         100 lb 12 oz    3rd

 18 Mick Ramm             25 lb 14 oz

 22 John Garner             79 lb

 23 Dick Warrener         48 lb 1 oz

 24 Neil Paas                125 lb 12 oz    1st

 30 Shaun Buddle           91 lb 1 oz

A good day in the sun on Kingsland

Peg 6, Kingsland, Sunday, May 19
Last week we had 14 entries for the Fenland Rods match. But, like in an Agatha Christie thriller, they kept dropping out until by Sunday we had just six members and a guest line up at Kingsland, on the small lake. Will the others re-appear? Or are they lost forever in the ether?

That was all forgotten, however, as I walked to my peg 6, one short of the first corner, and a cool Northerly greeted me - in our faces but a little from the left. Our guest was Jason, an airline pilot, and he had drawn the one I would have picked - first on the end bank. I suppose (pun alert) you could call it a 'flier'. Geddit? Please yourselves.

A small lift of the heart came when I saw two Orange-tip butterflies before the start. When I was a nipper me and my mates used to collect 12 butterflies in a jar, let them go, and collect 12 more, and we did that for hours. They were mainly small tortoishells, Peacocks, Red Admirals, White Admirals, Brimstone, Orange-tips, Commas, and small blues, from what I remember. We didn't collect the Cabbage Whites - there were so many of them because nearly everyone used to grow their own cabbages. Shall we ever see them that proliferous again?

A good start!
For the first time I can remember for ages the box sat absolutely level on the platform, without my having to spend minutes adjusting the legs. A good start, and today I had a plan! A good'un. And it worked. I started dropping just a grain of corn  (on a hook) down in the margin where plumbing had told me there was a firm patch. Down went the float and on was a 2 lb mirror. 

Owner Richard has made access to the platforms much easier than it used to be.

Back out, and a smaller carp came in. I was worried that putting in loose-feed would attract those pesky 2 oz-and-smaller fish, so carried on without it for a couple of hours, just fishing the top two and corn. It was difficult fishing any farther down the margin because the platform is cut back. The cold wind became warmer and it was like fishing in Summer! The main problem was that the fish fought like tigers - everybody had the same problem. Presumably full of unreleased testosterone.

Mel Lutkin, on my left, had some  fish on the feeder before changing to pole.

To my right, in the corner, Dick Warrener had one or two better fish, as did Jason, fishing a waggler to the stick-ups on the end bank. Eventually, having perhaps 20 lb in my net - all carp except for one rudd - I tried putting in some loose-feed to the left, which had produced only a couple of carp, and it worked! Some 1 lb carp came a little more frequently, and the little fish were not a nuisance.

I change to cat meat
Halfway through the six-hour match and I suppose I had around 40 lb, but Dick said that Jason had got several of those better fish. So I tried cat meat at last, and that brought big carp into the swim, but they came to the surface beside the platform and wanted to eat the grass. At least I knew they were on the move, so concentrated on putting in mainly hemp and hard pellets, and dropping cat meat on top.

Dick Warrener found some better fish soon after the start, in corner peg 7.

That tactic brought some better fish, mainly 3 lb to 5 lb, and I had a good couple of good hours. The bigger fish came in more quickly than the smaller ones, I reckon it must have been because they had just had sex. The landing nets here are big, and towards the end, when the wind increased, it blew the net around, but caused no other problems when landing fish. One fish dived under the platform and fouled a keepnet, but that was the only one - I made sure I added the third section when they were hooked, to keep them away from the nets.

A change to mussel kept the better carp coming in - not frantically, but steadily. They gave liners all the time, but I managed to foulhook only six all day - and I landed four of those. When I could, I fished my special method, which helps avoid the foulhookers, and on this occasion picked up several fish which I think were just holding the bait in their mouths, without giving a 'proper' bite. I landed my last fish seconds before the hooter (nothing so common as a whistle for us). My best was about 5 lb, though much biggher ones were mooching around the swim towards the end.

Like me Roy Whitwell started off catching smaller fish
 but took an early lead with 141 lb 3 oz.

The weigh in
We were all given three nets, with no spares, so we had to just split the catch. I did use my clicker, though, and as usual underestimated the weight. My problem is that when I'm catching, I concentrate just on the next fish. That was a lesson hammered home to me by the late, great, Eddie Townsin. Using a clicker breaks my concentration, and I think sometimes I am more focussed on catching, and just forget to click.

I estimated I had 35 lb in each of the three nets. So when Roy Whitwell weighed in 141 lb 3 oz I guessed I was beaten. Kevin Lee, who is a whizz on the cat meat, had a double-figure fish, but said he hadn't got a lot, and indeed totalled just 92 lb 13 oz for second spot, which I thought I could beat.

Mel Lutkin was the recorder for the day - thanks, Mel.

My last net was the first to be brought up. I'd started it with a little over an hour to go, and was astonished when Ken struggled to lift it out for me. "Some 35 lb!" he said, giving me an old-fashoned look, as the scales went round to about 62 lb. The next one went 54 lb, and the first net of small fish was around 49 lb - total 165 lb 11 oz. Honestly, I was genuinely surprised. 

In the corner Dick also topped 100 lb, and on the end peg Jason Lee, who fished a waggler all day, ended with 128 lb 10 oz, and said he had lost some in the reeds. So I ended as the winner. And as I prepared to leave I heard a cuckoo - not the first this year, but always nostalgic for me. I guess I may be one of the few people in the area who has actually seen a male and a female cuckoo together, when I was about ten, on a bike ride with my brother. Happy Days. (It was me on the bike ride, not the cuckoos).

Kev Lee's best fish - twice as big as any of mine.

Marks out of ten

I give myself eight, as there was one special rig I had with me which I didn't use, simply because I was catching. If I'd used it I think I would have had a lot more. But pleased I didn't feed too much, which helped avoid the foulhookers.

Next match is Wednesday on Oak, Decoy, when rain is forecast, so it will be Muck boots at the ready, with my best Goretex. I just hope the bank is not too bad after the work done on it at the beginning of the year, which left it like a quagmire.

Jason Lee - our guest on this lovely sunny day, was third with 128 lb 10 oz.

I beat the rain on Six-Island

Peg 15, Tues, May 14
It was raining heavily while I drove to Decoy for this Spratts match, but by the time we drew for pegs only a few spots were coming down. However, two potential competitors had called off because of the likely poor weather. In the event it wasn't too bad - this area is the driest in the UK, and so often the main forecasts  speak of awful weather, while all we get is a watered-down version. (Wonder what a watered-down version of a rainstorm is!) 

So peg 15 was my home for the day. Not one I would have chosen, because last time I fished it, the bank to my left was alive with spawning carp, which is not surprising since it's the shallowest part of the lake. And when I plumbed up I couldn't find more than 36 inches anywhere (my top was marked out in inches), while the margins were less than 12 inches. But sometimes that's where the fish are towards the end of the match. I would have chosen somewhere from peg 8 round to 12, though today there was East in the wind, which was blowing from that end up towards me.

The rain was now falling again, so I put up my brolly, as did most, but Peter Harrison didn't. He's a farmer, so used to being out in all weathers. He was on 17, round the corner in front of me. I could see him easily, and he was Golden Peg. Although ripple sometimes showed, for some reason the first eight metres of my swim were calm almost all day, though the water had a good colour, so it probably wasn't important.

This was taken at the end of the match, when the rain had almost stopped. Peter Harrison
is in brown, on the left, opposite the island.

A good start
It was a good start for me - within two minutes I was playing a 4 lb carp taken on an expander out at about 8 metres, in the deepest area I could find, out towards my right in front of the bush. What a start. But in the next 40 minutes all I could catch were a tiny carp and two small F1s.

It's awkward for a right-hander to fish out to the right, so I tried in front of me, where it was a few inches shallower, but much easier to fish. Fished hard for half an hour, and never had a touch. So back to the first swim, and I started to get an occasional liner, which knocked the expander off, so I put on a shop-bought pellet (something I rarely use) and that brought another F1 and a roach.  Meanwhile Peter Harrison had had several fish out on a longish pole, and seemed to be having to add a section or two to keep in touch with the fish. Opposite me Peter Spriggs was already fishing the margins., so I guessed he was struggling.

Two fish on caster
I'd been flicking casters out to my left only a meter or so from the bank, where the deepest water started, so after 90 minutes I had a try shallow, with caster. That brought several bites which I missed, so I assumed they were roach. Then two nice F1s came in, but no more fish - just good bites which I missed. Then I saw some nice carp come to the swim, but had no bites from them.

Lots of big carp were showing in the lake, and several times I flicked a caster or a piece of corn, or a pellet, to them. In every case they immediately turned away. By the time two hours had passed some started showing in the margin to my left right against the bank (the right margin was very short, as the bush was only a top-two to my right). They were coming to the surface and playing around, but not actually splashing. I suspect they were almost at the point of wanting to spawn, but the rain had probably cooled the water down just vthat fraction, and they couldn't manage it.

Three and a quarter hours had gone when I phoned my Dearly Beloved We Are Gathered Here Together, to report in, and I had six or seven fish, with just 11 lb on the clicker. Then I saw Peter Harrison fishing along his margin, obviously with paste, and catching a fish or two. I saw that he had the paste in his pole pot as he shipped out, and the float was hanging over three feet below his pole tip. That told me his margin was at least three feet deep, so I went back out in the deepest water I could find, where I had started.

A slight improvement
That move was good - in the next half hour I had another F1 or three, but I couldn't resist trying the swim where I had been putting caster, with corn. I had only two or three fish from there, but a couple were 'proper' carp around 4 lb, so then I tried near the bush, to my right, in about two feet of water, and that brought a fouhhooked carp which set off like an express train and broke me. Sport was really very slow. I had seen Peter Spriggs lose one fish that splashed a long way from him, so I assumed it was foulhooked, and another which pinged off as he was about to net it. If Peter is struggling, then it's probably hard for most, I thought.

That bush was only a top-two away from me, and I couldn't
see 93-year-old Joe Beford on next peg 13. It was shallow close
to the bank, but came good in the last hour.

An hour to go

Just over an hour to go, the rain was now only occasional, but I kept the umbrella up because it was keeping all my gear dry. I had about 30 lb, which I thought would be well down the field, as I had also seen Shaun Buddle on 18 get a very good start (he told me later he had 35 lb in the first hour). On peg 11 Trevor Cousins would probably be trying to mug fish, but that would obviously be extremely hard today - though if anyone in the match could do it, it would be Trevor.

At this point I brought out a rig I had made specially for this match - a strong version of my special method rig, though it had a size 14 hook on it instead of the usual 12. That was simply because I had packed my stuff in the van and couldn't find any strong size 12s without getting the box out of the van!

Yes!!!
On went cat meat into a spot near the bush where I had had liner or two, and down it went, and I was playing a six-pounder. In the next hour I had about five more good carp to about 9 lb, and a 3 lb F1, from that area, and a two or three more from the lefthand swim, on cat meat and mussel, with one on corn on a lighter version of my special rig. The rig allows me to avoid striking at liners, which is a huge bonus on days like this. Every fish hooked fought really hard, but I sill got them in fairly quickly on that 14 hook. That session with Ben Townsend practising landing fish has definitely paid off. 

Shaun Buddle on peg 18 had mainly small
 fish, but a great start, with around 35 lb in the first hour.

But one particular carp screamed off and I would have sworn it was foulhooked. I was using short tops, the Matrix green elastic stretched right out to the next platform, and I was sure it would pull out. But no...then it happened again...and again. Eventually it came in and at about the fifth attempt I netted it - and it was hooked in the mouth, but sort of on the edge of the lip. And it weighed only about 7 lb.

As happens so often, I landed the last one, about 8 lb, seconds before the match ended. They had by then really rocked up in the margins. But I hadn't fed much - about a quarter of a tin of hemp, less than half tin of corn, one tin of cat meat, and a few 6mm and 8mm pellets. I think that helped me foulhook only two fish all day, and I didn't foulhook any in that last hour. I started a third net 15 minutes from the end, though with only a clicked 35 lb in the second net, it was a precaution against landing a monster (as happened last year when I had a fish of well over 15 lb in the landing net, which fell through a hole in the net, bounced off the platform, and landed back in the lake).

At the end Shaun said he had 80 lb-ish, and I said I probably had 90 lb.

The weigh-in
As always I was last to completely pack up, but Trevor is brilliant, and doesn't rush to weigh in, which gives us time to follow the scales, and in my case, to take a few pictures. I arrived in time to see Peter Spriggs weigh in 84 lb 12 oz, which was top weight at that point. But Neil Paas, who always catches fish, beat that in corner peg 9 with 131 lb 15 oz, for the win. He started catching on pellets a few metres out but had the bulk of his fish on mussel in both margins. A clasic example of a good angler on a good peg. Sort of serves me right for being the first in the club to start using mussels (and telling everybody), after being told about them by former Angling Times man Peter Maskell! 😞

Wendy Bedford with the best fish from her 34 lb 7 oz,
all taken on a feeder. Brother-in-law Joe (93) looks on.

Opposite Neil was Trevor Cousins who said he had mugged just two fish. Personally I think even that was amazing - Trevor is so good at that, and having seen every fish I targetted turn away from a bait thrown in near them I am full of admiration for anyone who could do that on that day. He ended with 53 lb 13 oz, and had only 10 lb with an hour to go.

My first net went 37 lb 9 oz, but the second was a few ounces over 50 lb, and they were knocked off (the ounces, not the fish). The last three fish went 13 lb 7 oz - total 101 lb. Peter Harrison must have had a poor ending, as I know he was way ahead of me at one point - 79 lb 11 oz. And Shaun Buddle, after his good start, could manage only 92 lb 14 oz, so I ended second.

Marks out of ten
I decided to use only short tops, and (of course) the short cupping top, and to not use the feeder rod. Apart from getting up once to adjust the guy ropes for the brolly (and another to shake hands with my best friend) I was able to sit all day, and not have to fiddle around getting extra baits and tops out. To be honest I thought for a long time that the bites I missed were caused by roach, so I deliberately didn't use maggots or worms, as roach and perch tend to grab hold of the ends. So I kept to pellet early on, which normally avoids attracting roach; but I still had bites which I thought were liners.

Bob Barrett, former top darts player, was last man to weigh.  

In fact I am now sure those missed bites or liners were actually F1s snatching at the bait, so maggots might have worked. A couple were hooked on corn on the outside of the mouth - a sure sign they were not feeding properly. I also now think that the caster bites I missed were F1s. Nevertheless, although I wasn't catching much I felt I moved around the swim logically, and was ready when the carp came on at the end. I resisted the temptation to try to catch those carp wallowing in the margins - two casts lasting about 15 seconds each wer enough to tell me I would be wasting my time.

So I give myself 9/10 because I honestly don't think I had a particularly good swim, but I got as much out of it as I could reasonably expect on the day, particularly that last hour, when I must have had 60 lb. Next match Sunday on Kingsland small carp lake, where the problem in recent years has been to avoid the pesky 2 oz carp. I will consult my blog to see what I did last time. I will probably be using the full-length top twos, which give me that extra yard or two of elastic, in case any really big fish turn up. I'd like a corner peg.

Winner Neil Paas took his fish mainly on mussel.

THE RESULT

        2 Mike Rawson        15 lb 8 oz
            4 Dave Hobbs           48 lb 12 oz

            6 Peter Spriggs          84 lb 12 oz      4th

            8 Wendy Bedford      34 lb 7 oz

            9 Neil Paas                131 lb 15 oz       1st

            11 Trevor Cousins     53 lb 13 oz

            13 Joe Bedford          23 lb 10 oz

            15 Mac Campbell    101 lb                2nd

            17 Peter Harrison      79 lb 11 oz

            18 Shaun Buddle       92 lb 14 oz       3rd

            20 Bob Allen             46 lb 14 oz

            22 Steve Engledow   45 lb 10 oz

            25 Bob Barrett           54 lb 6 oz

Some hard fighters on Horseshoe

Peg 6, Horseshoe, Sun, May 11
Fourteen of us had mainly left home in bright sunshine on a very warm day, only to arrive at Decoy to find it overcast, misty, and ten degrees colder! Very strange, though we guessed (correctly) that the mist would eventually burn away.

So Allan Golightly had a walk round and sussed out the pegs to fish (a couple have too many lillies in to put a peg there) and each week agrees that with Mel Lutkin, and they then organise the draw for those pegs. They make the decsions which pegs to fish, and it works out very well, with no audiable moans. 😉

FORGOT TO TAKE A PICTURE OF MY SWIM, BUT IT WAS MAINLY WATER ANWAY.

The golden peg for me
I would have liked a fairly high number, because although there are always fish in the first half-dozen pegs, the pegs specifically from 13 to 20 have lovely margins, and there are lillies  along  there which hold fish. In addition the corner pegs around 8 (which was left out because it is very close to 7) have form. But 6 was drawn out for me and then drawn out for the Golden Peg. I genuinely didn't think I would win, but I don't care any more - like Ronnie O'Sullivan my happiness mainly on depends on how I fish, not whether I win.

There wasn't much wind for most of the match, though we had some at times, and the surface was mainly calm. I plumbed up only to find that the immediate margins were only inches deep. Then I realised that this platform is set a little way back, because the bank is cut out - presumably it's fallen in. I watched Callum, to my left, plumb up near the side and he had a good three feet. Now I like shallow margins, so thought that perhaps I would have an edge. We would see.

Great start

First drop onto a small flat area to my right, about four feet from the bank, in two feet-plus of water saw a 3 lb carp come in on corn within seconds. Probably the first fish of the match. Yippee! A couple of minutes later John Smith, to my right, was playing a much larger fish which he unfortunately managed to land, after a lot of pulling and splashing. I was already behind!

John Smith plays his first good carp, hooked just minutes after the start.

Then Callum had a good fish, and over the next hour just two or three more F1s came from my corn hotspot, while John hit several good fish, and some he pulled out of. In fact I can hardly remember when fish fought harder than they did in this match - full of testosterone, I bet. 

My shallow swim was no good
I'd been flicking casters out for over an hour while I had those F1s on corn, but that eventually dried up. So I decided to try shallow with caster farther out. I had several bites, which must have been from roach, and was thinking about giving up when I saw carp coming to the casters. Full of hope, I dropped in and threw casters over the top. Nothing! I could actually see carp coming to the bait and turning away. Later in the match I tried an experiment of throwing casters, or corn, to fish I could see, and without exception they took fright when the bait plopped in, and turned away.

So after trying a bunch of casters on the bottom in that swim (which was immediately pulled apart by roach) it was  back to 'normal' fishing. My special method showed me that fish were in the first swim, but I had only liners. Dropping in to the left saw the occasional carp and F1s on cat ,meat, and it was strange that when I put bait in (dropping water over the top to let the fish know iit was din-dins time) carp would come right in to the bank, in inches of water, where I had put no bait. And that happened time after time.

Callum had a couple of good spells when he caught several fish quickly.

Banking on my special method
Round to my left Dave Hobbs on 9  had had a run of really big carp, and although I didn't know it at the time, to his left Shaun on 11 was also catching well. Callum had a short good spell and I suspected I was falling behind. But carefull use of the special method winkled out some more, on corn or cat meat, or mussel. The fish were there all day, swimming about off bottom, but weren't really ready to feed properly. I suppose I had perhaps one fish every ten minutes.

Halfway though the match I walked up to John, who said he had 23 lb on his clicker, and I said I had about double that. He had a couple of fish out in front of him in the match, but the rest came from the margins towards the tree, where he had about four feet of water.

Foulhooked?
At one point I hit a fish I was certain was foulhopoked because of the way it took off towards the far bank. Then I found it impossible to get its head up, and it kept turning away from the landing net time after time, which made me hink it was hooked just outside the mouth. But no. When I eventually got it in it was hookd in the coorner of its mouth. Not foulhooked in any way.

When proper bites tailed off (though I had liners on and off all day) I tried laying a bait on right near the bank, but never had even a liner, even though I could see fish there. Luckily I didn't waste too much time there. With bright sun and no ripple it was hardly surprising. Fish were pairing up under the surface, so perhaps those carp were checking the margins for possible spawning duties.

Half an hour to go, and I started a new swim right in front of me on 2+1, using cat meat on the bottom, hoping that some carp would start grubbing around.  It produced fish! I had about five in that period on cat meat, best about 9 lb (biggest of the day) and landed the last one seconds before the match finished. I thought I probably had 80 lb. 

The weigh-in
To my surprise peg 2 produced only about 20 lb, and then the weights got slightly better. Roy Whitwell on 3, who had won his section with 6 oz in our last match on Lou's (!), had 56 lb 11 oz, and for a moment it looked as if John Smith had bettered that after a good late spell, but no. His fish went 52 lb 15 oz.

I thought Dave Hobbs, with 146 lb 2 oz might win...

I had put in just two nets, though if the match had been longer I would have started a third with that last fish. We aim for 50 lb maximum, but the fish at Decoy can be so big that just one added to a 35 lb net can bring it over - so the club recently voted to allow up to 60 lb, provided that is not abused. I thought I pprobably had 40 lb in each net.

The first went 52 lb 2 oz, and the second 52 lb exactly - total 104 lb 2 oz, and I felt that I had acted in accordance with the spirit of our new rule. In fact two or three other nets on this day also went just over the 50 lb. So with the first section being the first four pegs I knew I had won the section and would receive that beautiful brown envelope containing £8 from myself (as I run the section pools). No chips on the way home, though - a gluten-free tea would be awaiting me.

My surprising result
Callum had less than I had thought - 77 lb, but Dave Hobbs had definitely had a good day, with corn doing the damage at the start, fished in the margins to the left towards empty peg 10. Dave's catch went 146 lb 2 oz. Then Shaun Buddle took out his four nets and showed us 156 lb 4 oz of carp and F1s for the win, mainly taken on a short top and short Number two, just to his right.  On 18, Peter Spiggs had 101 lb 2 oz, and on end peg 20, Kevin Lee had also found the fish to be turbo-charged, losing no fewer than ten, and still weighing in 98 lb 4 oz. He fished mainly in his right margin.

...but Shaun Buddle had a good late  flurry and overtook him.

So that left me with a very surprising third place, with Kevin's 98 lb not winning a penny. A good club match, I felt, thanks to Karen alowing us to book at the last-minute, after a booking hiccup. My next match is Tuesday on Six-Island, and I rather expect carp to be splashing about in some of the margins.

Marks out of ten
Happy with third place from the peg, but afterwards I realised I had not tried the extra baits I had with me - I tried a bunch of deads one and it seemed to attract roach, but I should have tried it again. Then were were the worms, live maggots, paste, red corn and hard pellet which I never even thought about trying. So often a bait change can produce one good fish (though I would have needed more than one to come second). But I honestly I was probably worth just 4/10. I deserve to be stood on the naughty step.

Pictures of two good-lookers below...

Peter Spriggs would have been third if I hadn't 
had that lucky, last-minute fish!

Kev Lee with one of those bruisers on peg 20.