Peg 4, Six-Island, Wed, Mar 26
Not a peg I really fancied in the Spratts club match as, while it can be good in Summer (and it was better when there were lots of barbel in the lake), it's not fished well this Winter. And my poor luck reared its head again at the end of the match, when I found that more than a pint of beautiful, fat, wriggling, red maggots had escaped in the back of the van. I immediately cleared out the back, and brushed out as many as I could find. But I fear that they will be nestling under the carpet which lines the floor, and that eventually they will emerge to the sound of the famous Bluebottle Chorus. Hence I missed taking pictures of most of the competitors, including the winner!
Not a peg I really fancied in the Spratts club match as, while it can be good in Summer (and it was better when there were lots of barbel in the lake), it's not fished well this Winter. And my poor luck reared its head again at the end of the match, when I found that more than a pint of beautiful, fat, wriggling, red maggots had escaped in the back of the van. I immediately cleared out the back, and brushed out as many as I could find. But I fear that they will be nestling under the carpet which lines the floor, and that eventually they will emerge to the sound of the famous Bluebottle Chorus. Hence I missed taking pictures of most of the competitors, including the winner!
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| A cool head wind greeted me in my new office. |
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| Neil Paas on 17 started well with big F1s and a proper carp or two. |
I started out on 2+3, in the face of a stiff wind,. and soon Peter Spriggs, on my left, was catching carp (or they might have been F1s), also on the pole. I had one F1 out there on pellet and came into the side, to my right, where I found the occasional F1 on corn, and lost a big fish, probably foulhooked. But I landed another, about 4 lb, hooked in the tail after some hairy moments trying to persuade it to dive down into my waiting landing net. Then the wind got up, it became colder, and bites ceased Just Like That!
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| My left margin. |
A fair raspberry ripple
Most of the ripple was, at times, along my bank, though the small island tends to shelter peg 4 in a Southerly headwind. However, when I went to the right corner the wind had started really hitting the pole hard, which was a pity because I felt that if I had been able to present the bait perfectly there I would have had more fish.
Most of the ripple was, at times, along my bank, though the small island tends to shelter peg 4 in a Southerly headwind. However, when I went to the right corner the wind had started really hitting the pole hard, which was a pity because I felt that if I had been able to present the bait perfectly there I would have had more fish.
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| The right margin - going to the corner saw the side wind batter the pole. |
After that I scrapped about on a top two, next to the reeds on my right, where a couple of nice carp came in, plus another few F1s. To the left I found three big F1s as soon as I fished maggot, but then never had another bite there. Meanwhile Peter had started catching quickly from his lefthand margins, while over to my right, on peg 17, Neil Paas had had a good start with some F1s and a proper carp or two.
Above is a video of Neil Paas, which may, or may not, work.
I look in the shallows
Desperate to make something happen I felt I had to go long to the platform on my left - peg 5 - even though it was very shallow (and very rough): little more than two feet deep while the rest of the swim was between three and four feet. But to my surprise I found fish there on corn, and ended with another couple of 'proper' carp and F1s to 3 lb-plus. But I never had a good spell of more than ten minutes, while Peter Spriggs was now catching fish after fish, very quickly. They were mainly F1s, but with an occasional better carp. I was sure he would be the winner, and I guessed he must have nearly 200 lb. I thought I had something over 50 lb.
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| Peter Spriggs had a fantastic last couple of hours in his left margin. |
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| Neil Paas - 55 lb 9 oz, taken mainly in the first half of the six-hour match. |
As I said, I was clearing my van of those pesky maggots, and got back onto the bank just in time to catch Neil weighing in 55 lb 9 oz while Bob Barrett, who fishes mainly feeder, took 41 lb to the scales from peg22.
One interrupts Bob Allen while the weighing-in is in progress, at one's peril. So I had no idea what the weights were (or what I had weighed) until I photographed the weighing sheet. There I saw that indeed Peter Spriggs had blitzed the match with 139 lb 3 oz - those F1s were fighting so hard they looked to me to be bigger than they were. I was gratified to see that mine went 60 lb 14 oz - enough for fourth and final frame place.
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| Bob Barrett was top weight in the four pegs nearest the car park with 41 lb. |
Marks out of ten
Afterwards I realised that I hadn't tried my change baits when I knew that there were fish in the swim I couldn't catch - cat meat (I did try it just once without any result), worm, paste. And when Peter told me had had caught most of his on paste I was annoyed with myself. Still, I had worked hard all day, and Peter's margin looked nicer than mine, so I was probably worth 6/10.
No more matches for probably a week or two - my van is poorly sick, and in dry dock.
THE RESULT
3 Mike Rawson 9 lb 3 oz
4 Mac Campbell 60 lb 14 oz 4th
6 Peter Spriggs 139 lb 3 oz 1st
8 Roy Whitwell 59 lb
9 Trevor Cousins 67 lb 4 oz 2nd
11 John Garner 67 lb 1 oz 3rd
13 Bob Walker DNW
15 Dick Warrener 22 lb 6 oz
17 Neil Paas 55 lb 9 oz
18 Bob Allen 14 lb 3 oz
22 Bob Barrett 41 lb
24 Wendy Bedford 7 lb 10 oz
25 Joe Bedford DNW
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