Not raving about Raven at Rookery Waters

 Peg 1, Raven, Wed, Jan 22
Wednesday and, after I showed the Fuhrer my wife an article which explained how much vitamin D we all ought to be getting, and the fact that it comes mainly from sunshine being outside, she unexpectedly signed my 10-hour pass. So I scooted off to the Pidley Pensioners, who were to fish on Raven and Magpie.

To cut a long, sad, story short I ended up with probably the last peg I would have chosen, apart from Magpie 28. I pulled out Raven peg 1 - not a noted peg in Winter. Indeed I can't remember it ever featuring in any result I have seen. Still it would be a day's fishing on Rookery Waters, so what's not to like?

Just to rub it in, Fate decreed that I should ask just two anglers where they had drawn. Ernie Lowbridge and Shaun Buddle were sitting together in the cafe, and delightedly informed me that Ernie had Raven 11 (a corner peg with considerable form) and Shaun had the famous Magpie 36. Of course nothing is guaranteed from any swim, but those were probably the first two pegs I would have chosen! 😞

No sun, and no raspbery ripple (except from the ducks).

Foggy on the way in

The dense fog which enveloped me on some of the journey to Pidley had miraculously lifted by the time I got there, and although it was cold, there wasn't much wind - not bad conditions. At my office for the day it was 14 metres to the far bank - farther if I wanted to go sideways towards vacant peg 2, on my right. But there weren't any reeds or stick-ups on the far bank anyway, so I started just to the left, towards the really shallow end of the lake and dobbed bread, about 18 inches deep, along the far bank, moving a metre or two every couple of minutes.

Blimey - within 10 minutes I was playing a 1 lb F1. Already I had 1 lb more than I had expected to catch! But that didn't last, and it was nearly a hour before the next fish came in. I've recently seen one of the Guru underwater videos, and was stuck by the fact that those carp seemed to be spooked by bulk shot hanging off the bottom, so for the rest of the day I put all my shot under the float.

The end of the lake, to my left, was very shallow, and I also found that even at only 18 inches deep the float didn't always settle properly - the weight of the bread should sink it to just the correct level. Presumably there was weed on the bottom. But I felt I had to keep trying it, and suddenly, out of the blue, the float dipped and I was playing a 7 lb common. Very gingerly, because I was using a light size 18 hook.

Chris Saunders was on 27, behind me,
and had to watch Mark Waring, two
swims to his right, catching fish while
Chris himself, struggled to 27 lb 6 oz
(which still beat me!)

A short purple patch
It took another hour for the next fish, but four, all around 3 lb, came in about an hour, then they vanished. I tried maggot in the deep water down the track and just over my margin, but never had a touch. Nor did dobbed maggot work. Back out on the bread and one more 3 lb carp came in, and with 20 minutes left I went out with maggot in the deep water just off the far bank margin. First cast another carp came in, and then the angler to my right had a fish. In the last 20 minutes he had at least two more, but my float remained resolutely still. 

I'd had about seven or eight liners all day, all at 18 inches, and when I shallowed up I had none. And as so often happens if I had a liner I never had a proper bite afterwards. It seems that once one fish had taken fright the rest could all suddenly see my line. I ended with eight fish, but had no idea what anyone else might have. I was also pleased that I didn't lose any.

 Mark Wareing's best fish in his winning
84 lb 12 oz  catch was about 8 lb.

The weigh in
I was first to weigh on Raven - 23 lb 4 oz which gave me third place in my section of seven, and I was happy with that, beaten by noted peg 5, and 11 (that was Ernie, the Fastest Angler in the West). Raven was won on end peg 28 by Mark Wareing, who dobbed maggots across in the shallow water, never fed anything all day, and ended with 84 lb 12 oz. Ernie was second on 11, dobbing bread at 16 metres (this swim is on the inside of a corner). I see peg 33 , opposite the island, won Magpie. My next match will probably not be until a week Sunday.

THE RESULT

RAVEN

MAGPIE

First (cold) match of the year on Six-Island. Grrrr

Peg 6, Six-Island, Sunday Jan 19
I must be getting old. I recently turned heating on in my bedroom - never done that before. And somehow it seems that I've also gone soft. Because when I was a little'un the Winters were much colder, and longer, and ice on the inside of a bedroom window wasn't even worth mentioning - almost everybody had it. Sunday was rather strange - obviously cold, about 2 degrees, but at the start of this JV match I didn't feel cold, thanks to my five layers of clothing. Then, soon after we started, a gentle breeze began to blow - nothing more than a breeze, but it was PENETRATING. And the gloom made it hard to see my float. Not a happy bunny.

No picture of my swim - so here is a pretty tree
from Wimpole Hall, lit up at Christmas.
 I know I must get out a bit more!

Didn't help that the wind was in the faces of Chris Saunders and myself, in from the left. I decided to stay on the bomb and bread, and feeder and pinkies, although Chris was wielding his 13-metre pole like a conductor's baton, and within an hour he'd had four F1s, while I had nowt. Then I simply had to change, despite the cold, and very eventually a 2 lb F1 took my two pinkies out at 13 metres. Half an hour later a 7 lb common came in, at which point I was so cold that I wandered back to the van to get my mobile.

Oh, we were shallow!
On peg 9, in the corner, Roy Whincup said he had ten small F1s on a maggot feeder, so I guessed he had about 20 lb. It was still cold, and I couldn't be arsed to take a picture of my swim, which was mainly cold-looking water, so I sat down and had another quick look on the pole. Minutes later a 3 lb F1 came in, but soon my pole was wobbling in my hands as I shivered violently, so I spent the last two hours 45 minutes switching from feeder to pole, without a bite. Chris had one tiny roach after the first hour, and we put it down to our swims being shallow - Chris had three feet, I had a few inches more.

I had actually plumbed at 13 metres to my left, and found almost another 18 inches...but no fish. But on the opposite bank (who had back wind) there were a few. But I was glad when I'd had enough...

Roy Whitwell - 72 lb from peg 22.

The weigh-in
We started with Roy Whitwell on peg 22, which can be very good in the Winter but not as good as it used to be. He'd had a good day fishing bomb and bread and then Method feeder and wafter for 72 lb, and never used his pole at all. He must also have been cold as the wind was in his face from the right. Kev Bell, opposite, said Roy had definitely beaten him, but Kev would be last to weigh.

Peter Harrison, opposite me on 13 had managed to get fairly close to the small island using 14 metres, and had picked up several F1s there. I'd left my 14.5-metre section at home, so the longest I could use was 13 metres plus a half butt, but I remembered previously using 16 metres on my peg, and still being well short of that island. Ernie Lowbridge on 11 took his 36 lb 2 oz mainly on bomb and bread, and Steve Tilsley in the corner used waggler, catching most of his F1s off bottom, on maggot, and totalling 54 lb.

Peter Harrison, opposite me, worked
really  hard on the pole for 23 lb 7 oz.

Ernie Lowbridge found some better fish.

On my bank Roy Whincup had obviously had a terrible second half (like me) and ended with 26 lb 10 oz, and my measly contribution was 12 lb 13 oz, just beaten by Chris. And so to Kevin Bell, who is about as good as estimator of weight as I am - far from being beaten by Roy, he took 82 lb 5 oz, also on bomb and feeder, from peg 1 for the win. Well done indeed.

Not worth rating my performance - I was just glad to get home without having frostbite. Though I would probably have done much better if I'd started on the pole. But nobody told me that!!!

THE WINNER - Kevin Bell, 82 lb 5 oz.

Steve Tilsley - third with 54 lb,
nearly all taken on his wagglers.

Winter League final practice
I didn't see all the result sheets from the Open - doubtless Karen will put them up on the Decoy Facebook page for all the anglers practising for the Winter League final on Feb 22nd. A new peg 9 has been placed on Beastie - in the corner before the bridge, looking down to peg 8. Billie Smalley, an angler I do not know, but who has been getting big weights, drew it on Sunday and, I was told, never had a bite. So the carp are obviously not feeding at the back of the spit at the moment.

Most Winters they stay in the main bowl of Beastie lake, tending not to drift down towards peg 26, and often not even to famous peg 30 (the angler here had 20 lb-plus of bream on Sunday), and often not to the back of the spit. However, good weights - plenty of 40 lb-plus, topped by 125 lb - came from Oak.

My next match probably Sunday somewhere on Decoy, with JV. No cold breezes, thank you!

THE RESULT