A bit of a topsy-turvy week for me. On Saturday, as I drove back from Nottingham, the clutch on my van started to slip. I'd put my foot down when in third, fourth, or fifth gear and the revs would shoot up but the speed would stay the same. Then the revs would drop and I'd have to nurse the accelerator gently to put on speed. I decided not to risk fishing the match on Sunday. Then on Monday I 'phoned my garage.
It's worth mentioning their name here - Benstens Motors in St Ives, who have given me brilliant service for years. But their response when I explained my problem was not encouraging: "We're very, very busy. I don't know when we could get round to looking at it. But could you bring it in and leave it?" Yes, I could!
I've found, over the years, that leaving it, with no target date for the repair, is a good stsyem. And by golly it worked this time. Monday afternoon: "Yes, it's the clutch. A new one will cost you (a small fortune) and eight pence." "OK" I reply. "But it could be several days." "OK."
I cancel my Spratts Thursday match early Wednesday afternoon. An hour later I get a phone call: "Benstens Motors here. Your van is ready." Unbelievable service.I manage to get to the garage 15 minutes before they close, and my Wednesday match is back on! Here is what happened...
The forecast was for a strong Easterly wind, and bright sun, so I fancied a peg on the West bank, facing the wind, which would hopefully give a big ripple along that bank, though I honestly didn't think much would be caught in those conditions. But there's also the advantage of the sun warming the water on that side of the lake. My name was first out of the bag: Peg 21...on the East bank, back wind.
As I expected the ripple at first was all on the other side, though during the match it veered slightly to the South and gave us on this bank a bit of a ripple at times, though a lot of the time the wind was a real nuisance - cold, and blowing my pole sections around my peg.
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| Forgot to take a picture of my swim, so here's my front garden... |
On my immediate right Martin Parker hooked three carp while fishing shallow. I learned afterwards that he lost one of those. Almost three hours gone and after trying long I also went shallow, fishing a corn skin, which sinks slowly. Lots of fish were moving around under the surface and I tried dobbing a little pod of three of four as they drifted past.
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| Mick Ramm about to land his only fish - but it weighed 9 lb! |
A fish!
I dropped the corn skin right on the noses of those cruising fish; the elastic shot out, and I was in! I played that fish for several minutes, on the 17 hollow elastic, but it wouldn't come off the bottom. I got back to my top two and still the fish refused to come anywhere near the surface - not even when I stuck the pole under the water and just held it. Normally a carp will start to rise up, but not this one. Very strange.
Then it made a slow, determined run along my right margin and I felt it burrowing into the reeds, and farther under the bank. There must be an undercut there. The fish was still on, but not moving. I tried for two or three minutes to poke around with my long hook, but everything was solid, and eventually I had to break the line above the float, which was now out of sight.
After the match I came to the conclusion that the carp was probably hooked in the snout, which is just about the worst place to hook a fish apart, possibly, from in the tail. Anyway, I hooked three more fish shallow, on corn skin, and two came off, while one broke the 6 lb hooklength as I held it to try to stop it ploughing through the swim of Neil Paas, only about ten metres to my left on peg 22.
I tried several times with corn or cat meat in the left margin, and with cat meat I had some unusual liners - the rig started moving to my left, just as if the water had started moving, and the float dropped very slightly, but I never felt anything when I struck.
Less than an hour left and I was still fishless. The sun now made it difficult to see anything in the left margin, so I had yet another look to the right. Success! With 45 minutes left I had a definite bite on corn, and in came a 6 lb carp. But no more in that swim. Now the sun had moved a little and I went back to the left margin, and sure enough I had more of those strange liners. But just once the float gave a little jag; I struck; and a fish was on.
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| Peter Spriggs was 4th from peg 13 with 31 lb 11 oz. |
The weigh in
Mike Rawson was on what was perhaps the worst peg on the day - peg 1 which was sheltered to some extent, and not as nice-looking along the end bank as the one opposite. He didn't have a fish, and surprisingly was the only one. But many had only two or three fish for six hours fishing. That's how difficult it was.
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| Peter Harrison - second with 41 lb 10 oz. |
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