Peg 7, Damson, Sunday, Oct 20
I can definitely forecast that Micemass is around the corner - they've started foraging in my bins of pellets, and twice I've had a little surprise when they've jumped out of the top as I plunged my head in to cup some out. Luckily they've been very obliging and leaped onto the traps I've started setting. Food for the magpies...
I can definitely forecast that Micemass is around the corner - they've started foraging in my bins of pellets, and twice I've had a little surprise when they've jumped out of the top as I plunged my head in to cup some out. Luckily they've been very obliging and leaped onto the traps I've started setting. Food for the magpies...
First fishing match since turning 82, Fenland Rods' last match of the season (The Les Bedford Memorial Cup) and what a welcome! The forecast was, for once, pretty good - good in the sense that they got it right, not good in what they said would greet us on the morning. But at least it wasn't raining much as we started. Peg 1, which has not produced good results in our matches recently, went to Roy Whitwell, and since he's good and it was the most sheltered peg on the lake, I feared the worst.
Up with our umbrellas
Most of us put up our umbrellas immediately, with Kev on 5, Mike on 6 and me all stacking them vertically, to our left, against the strong Southerly wind. Starting on casters shallow in the margins I couldn't believe what I caught - NOTHING! Normally you can get some immediately. So it was over to corn on the bottom, and slowly the bites started.
Most of us put up our umbrellas immediately, with Kev on 5, Mike on 6 and me all stacking them vertically, to our left, against the strong Southerly wind. Starting on casters shallow in the margins I couldn't believe what I caught - NOTHING! Normally you can get some immediately. So it was over to corn on the bottom, and slowly the bites started.
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| Snug as a bug in a rug - ready for the wind, and it certainly blowed! |
Down came the rain but I was as snug as a bug in a rug because the wind drove it almost horizontally onto the Preston Flat Back umbrella. It's big at 50-inches, but three guy ropes, with the back stapled down and a storm guide screwed into a bank stick saw it rock solid. And the fish, from 1 lb to 2 lb, came slowly, but steadily.
A good first two hours
A little before the two-hour mark I had about 40 lb of F1s, and decided to start my second net. I'd forgotten to bring my keepnet bar, so had to use banksticks in the scaffold poles at the front of the platform. But I had to move the net I'd been using from the left one to the right one, and put the second net in its place.
A bad move!
Moving the nets took only a minute, but when I sat down again and started fishing, the fish had departed for pastures new - probably along to Kevin on peg 5! Strange how often that happens.
The next two hours saw me get just the very occasional fish - perhaps one every ten minutes, and I should have gone long into the deep water. On my right Dave Garner, who had had a bad start, was now catching what looked to be 'proper' carp out in the deep water.
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| Early action from Dave Garner on peg 8. |
We go for walks
Callum Judge walked the bank and said he'd had a great hour on the feeder with 30 lb, before his swim had died. He was in end peg 13, so I assumed he would be in the running at the end.
Callum Judge walked the bank and said he'd had a great hour on the feeder with 30 lb, before his swim had died. He was in end peg 13, so I assumed he would be in the running at the end.
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| Yes - it was definitely a carp! |
With nothing much happening at my peg I took a leaf out of Ivan Marks' book and walked up to Mike, who was very despondent and said he'd not had a bite for the last two hours. Back I went to my swim.
Then a hiatus - the wind slewed round to be almost in our faces but the umbrella still protected me. Then - disaster. The wind turned even more, suddenly, and roared into the front of the umbrella, and I could feel the box rocking.
I prepare for take-off
I looked round to see Mike on 6 holding on to the side of his umbrella for all he was worth. I did the same and obviously now had to try to take it down. But that wasn't easy. In a slight lull I jumped up (OK crawled around my building site) and grabbed the bankstick, which I still had to unscrew from the storm guide. With wet hands it was a bit hairy, and I could see the right hand side of the box lifting off the ground.
I looked round to see Mike on 6 holding on to the side of his umbrella for all he was worth. I did the same and obviously now had to try to take it down. But that wasn't easy. In a slight lull I jumped up (OK crawled around my building site) and grabbed the bankstick, which I still had to unscrew from the storm guide. With wet hands it was a bit hairy, and I could see the right hand side of the box lifting off the ground.
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| That could have been me, soaring high. |
Now I could see the umbrella pole was bent over at about 30 degrees. Wet hands meant I took ages unscrewing the bank stick and luckily the umbrella pole had bent so much that the guy ropes had loosened and I was able to lift it up and collapse it, still with my feet on the ground! Mike and Kevin managed it as well, but Mike said he was going to pack up.
A sensible idea
The rain had pretty much stopped, but Mike's not in the best of health after his stroke, and I thought that was a sensible suggestion. If the rain came again we would have no protection except our waterproofs. In fact it did rain eventually, but only lightly, and I carried on fishing.
The rain had pretty much stopped, but Mike's not in the best of health after his stroke, and I thought that was a sensible suggestion. If the rain came again we would have no protection except our waterproofs. In fact it did rain eventually, but only lightly, and I carried on fishing.
Going long, on cat meat on a 1 gm rig (the wind had died down a little and the float sat up beautifully), saw the occasional fish come in, and they were mirror carp, best just under 3 lb. Dave Garner seemed to be getting bigger fish than that and was catching me up. And soon lots of splashing cam from peg 5 - Kevin Lee was getting some good fish over 4 lb, and that carried on to the end of the match. I thought I'd perhaps got just over 60 lb.
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| Roy Whitwell fished feeder and pole on peg 1, weighing in 93 lb 4 oz. |
The weigh in
Roy had found fish on peg 1 - over by 6 lb in one net he still weighed 93 lb 4 oz. Martin Parker had 65 lb 14 oz, and then the piece de resistance - Kevin Lee's 120 lb 4 oz; what a catch on a terrible day, and he had several fish over 4 lb in that last spell - fish I couldn't find. Well done, Kevin (not for the first time). His shallow-water fish came on paste and the deep-water fish on cat meat.
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| Kevin had some lumps from the deep water. |
Marks out of ten
I should have gone long earlier, but when you're putting occasional fish in your net, and you get the feeling that most of the others are stuggling, what do you do? Probably should have tried the feeder, as some fish were caught on it. But in those conditions the tempation is to avoid getting up in the rain and pulling out your rod. Worth 7/10.
I should have gone long earlier, but when you're putting occasional fish in your net, and you get the feeling that most of the others are stuggling, what do you do? Probably should have tried the feeder, as some fish were caught on it. But in those conditions the tempation is to avoid getting up in the rain and pulling out your rod. Worth 7/10.
Next match was the next day with Spratts on Oak.
THE RESULTS
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| Ten of us fished. Mike had sensibly departed. Now to the presentations... |
It's cup final day!
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| Ready for the presentation. L-R: Big fish shield; Bedford Cup (presented by the Odd Fellows); Club Cup; The Championship Cup; plus the three handicap medals. |
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| Sartorial elegance in practice! As chairman I prepare to hand over the main Championship Trophy to Kevin. |
The handicap medals went to Martin Parker (1st); Mel Lutkin (2nd) and Dick Warrener (3rd). Well done all.
And come April we start to do it all over again.
Peg 16, Oak, Monday, Oct 21
Oh dear. My name was first out of the bag in this 15-entry Spratts match, followed by "Sixteen", in the corner, which is one of my bogey pegs. I was not happy, and I might even have had a moan or two(!), because I have unhappy memories of sitting on 16 in a three-day Telford Festival, a few years ago, and coming last on the lake. My frustration was only partly diminished when the angler who had won the lake drew 16 the next day...and he also finished last. I've drawn it two or three times since then and always ended up unhappy. 😞
As I loaded my trolley I remembered there are sturdy reeds on the left which stop you fishing along the bank there, a bumpy margin, and a steep drop-off a few metres out, while the reeds on the end bank flop over and stop you fishing close to them. Definitely a bogey.
A revelation!
Then - a revelation as I started the walk to peg 16! Of course, Oak has since had the margins cleared out and the banks reinforced with tin. And so far this season I've had some good weights fishing near the 'tins'. I'd forgotten that. And when I got to my peg I was actually happy - a nice bunch of reeds to my right, and a spare platform on my left which I could fish to.
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| A nice-looking corner peg - wouldn't you agree? |
The wind was down the lake, towards my corner, and slightly into my face - a good sign. Actually it was getting a little stronger and it was cool, and with the sun so low it would have been difficult to fish to that platform, so I never did. And I started out at a modest 2+1, in the deep water, in front, around six feet, with the depth anything up to a foot less as I plumbed out.
Into the deeps
That deep swim, fished with expander, yielded nothing, and neither did a switch to corn. Opposite me, Bob Walker on 15 had an early fish on feeder, and I watched as his next cast went to the end bank. Soon after, I turned to the bunch of reeds, fishing just beyond it, where there was a hard bottom in about four feet of water.
The wind started blowing harder, and when my float disappeared momentarily under a wave I dismissed the idea I might have had a bite. When it happened again I was on full alert. And then it disappeared and didn't re-appear. The culprit was an 8 lb mirror!
Foulhooked
Immediately I put in a few grains of corn and went out to the deepwater swim in front of me on corn, where I hooked a fish which stretched the 17 hollow elastic out so far, and so brutally that I knew it was foulhooked. Several minutes later it was still foulhooked, and I never looked like landing it. Then the 6 lb hooklength broke. But at least I knew the fish would come in there.
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| Bob Walker, opposite on 15, plays one of his fish, taken from the margins. The wind was cool, and we never had sun all day - good conditions for the time of year. |
Soon after losing that fish, I hooked a fish in the reed swim which immediately snagged me in the reeds, though I managed to recover the whole rig. Presumably foulhooked. Meanwhile Bob Walker had had two or three good carp fishing to his right, against the 'tins'.
First cast...
My first drop into the left margin, about a metres from the edge, saw a bite within seconds, which turned out to be a fin-perfect common carp about 10 lb. And from then on I alternated between the three swims, taking a couple more good carp from the right margin swim, on mussel, with Bob opposite also having one or two more.
In the last hour I went out to the longer swim, and found fish there, also on mussel, taking two, the first of which was a 3 lb F1. Once I had a bite on mussel, struck gently (as I do) and the bait was gone. So a fish must have taken it very tentatively, and I guessed that probably not many of the other anglers had been bagging. The wind was now quite cold.
I think I had another two from the deep left margin, and also saw a fish turn right against the tins. But when I tried fishing that shallower swim I never had a touch. So I finished with seven carp, for about 50 lb, having briefly lost two more foulhooked.
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| One of my old schoolmates, Mick Ramm, included a big old 'double' in his 20 lb 4 oz catch. |
I didn't get to see Bob Walker weigh in, but I wasn't surprised when I was told he was leading. I had seen him hook nine fish, but he told me he had lost one of those, finishing with eight for 74 lb 9 oz. My seven went 49 lb 15 oz, which put me into third place (just 4 oz ahead of Dick Warrener). And nobody else on my bank beat me, so I ended third. I was happy with that.
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| Another old mate, Martin Parker, was fifth with 43 lb 5 oz. |
Marks out of ten
There are always difficult decisions to make, aren't there? Afterwards I found that several fish had been taken on a feeder. But I had decided, in that swim, to stick to pole, which is my strength. Even so, I know I should have taken the feeder rod out of the bag to try the occasional cast, even if just to rest my pole swims.
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| We weighed Neil Paas' best fish at 14 lb 3 oz, taken from peg 28. |
Trouble is it takes longer to pack up, as I always have several pole rigs ready - one for each swim and a couple of spares. And, yet again, I didn't try paste at all, even though I had it ready to use. Nor did I try hard pellet. However, top on my bank wasn't too bad - good carp were taken all along the lake, so it's not as if all the fish were down at our end. I award myself 8/10, because apart from not trying other baits I made no obvious mistakes that I could think of.
Next match Sunday - my first of the Winter with JV club - is on Willows. I'd be happy with 1, or from 15 to 24. Peg 25 can be a flier, but it can be difficult. The nice thing about JV is that I'm not always last to pack away. 😁
THE RESULT
East bank West bank
30 John Garner 27 lb 8 oz
28 Neil Paas 39 lb 12 oz 3 Peter Harrison 39 lb 3 oz
26 Shaun Buddle 33 lb 5 Peter Spriggs 22 lb 1 oz
24 Martin Parker 43 lb 5 oz 5th 7 Trevor Cousins 33 lb 5 oz
22 Mick Ramm 20 lb 4 oz 9 Bob Barrett DNW
20 Dick Warrener 49 lb 11 oz 4th 11 Roy Whitwell, 61 lb 10 oz 2nd
18 Mike Rawson DNW 13 Dave Hobbs DNW
16 Mac Campbell 49 lb 15 oz 3rd 15 Bob Walker 74 lb 9 oz 1st
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