Just before I set off to fish John Garner's annual Invitation match I thought, for some reason, that I'd better make sure I had my licence with me. A quick look in the wallet where I keep my cards drew a blank - last year's was there, but none for 2025. Then I remembered that we don't get an attractive licence, complete with picture of a fish, anymore. Now it's just a print-out, and I thought that would be tucked into my mobile case somewhere. That's progress I suppose.
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| Last year's fishing licence. |
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| This year's apology for a licence. |
There were 17 ready to fish John's match on Elm Lake, and yet again (!) I had a long walk - down to peg 15, just two off corner peg 13 where I had finished third on Friday. Bob Barrett had been on 15 and didn't weigh, but I wasn't unhappy, as it's in an area about three-quarters of the way down the lake, which sometimes has an edge on weights. And I was on the bank I preferred - with a really strong West wind in my face. Lovely.
I had a feeder rod made up, and six different pole rigs out, biggest 3 gm, expecting to fish on a 2+1 maximum distance because I was certain that there would be fish near my bank. Then at the start the wind shifted slightly to blow from the left and I started on a fairly small but flat area to my right, only a few feet from the bank, and not in the deepest water. I dropped in with corn, and no loosefeed, and within five minutes had a 4 lb carp in my net. I often like to start without feed because that shows me where the fish are already naturally lying.
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| After a time the wind turned round to the left. It was stronger than it looks here. The irises on my right was where a big fish weeded me. 😔 |
I then potted in about five grains, followed it with my 1gm rig with Cralusso float (it has a thicker tip than my favourite Drennan Tuff-Eye), and promptly foulhooked one, which came off. That happened three more times, which told me that the fish were coming to the feed, at least, but apparently not really hungry. And as I'd been fishing right on the edge of the deepest water (it became shallower as I had plumbed out) I put in the deep water rig, assuming that some corn had fallen into the deep run.
For the next hour or so I concentrated on that deep swim, with corn, and took three or four good fish, best 12 lb, before changing to worm. That brought two smaller carp quite quickly. I took the trouble to mark my pole at the spot I was holding it, and reasted it on my pole sock arm, so I knew I was pretty accurate. Then the fish went, which was the pattern all day - a fish or two and then they disappeared.
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| Mike Rawson brings in an early carp. |
Just one barbel
I'd been putting hemp and caster in closer to the bank, in three feet of water, just to my right, and first drop there with a bunch of four casters brought a barbel. They love hemp and caster. No more from there, which surprised me, and soon after that I saw swirls right against the bank to my right, where the water was no more than two feet deep. I put out a rig and had two massive bites which I missed - obviously liners.
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| My best swim was this left margin, easily fishable on a top two. |
Then it was into the left margin, which was a little easier now that the wind had dropped a little. I found a deepish hole right next to the reeds, and if I could get into that I would get a bite or a liner. I went on to mussel, and had a double-figure carp immediately. Then another, and then I decided to leave that swim alone for ten minutes. That was about the time I felt I was really "in the zone" for the first time this Spring.
Being in the zone doesn't mean catching a fish-a-chuck. I means I feel I know what the fish are doing, and when to move, and when to start baiting again. I then moved out to the deeper swim on the right, and back again, and kept catching the occasional carp. I'd no idea what anyone else had, so I just concentrated on not messing up my own swims, and kept changing from the lighter corn rig to the heavier one with mussel, including a version of my special method, which worked best of all.
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| I was a bit late catching Dick Warrener playing this fish! |
I'd hooked what was probably a fish of 12 lb-plus on mussel on my heavy elastic (probably 18-20), and after a couple of minutes I brought it round to the right, to bring it round into the shallow water, where it would have to come near to the surface. Round it came, and suddenly made a bolt for the irises just a couple of metres to my right. It stretched the elastic out more than it had done previously, and in seconds had embedded itself into the reeds. Fish lost and I had to winkle the rig out with my long hook, minus the fish and the hook, which was obviously somewhere down there in a reed root. Entirely my own fault!
That was really the only bad decision I made in that golden hour or so. The rest of the fish came in with hardly a splash, as I kept my pole low because it's always more difficult in a high wind.
And it was about then - half an hour before the match finished that a curious coincidence took place - EA bailiffs came round checking on our licences! It was a bit surreal, as it's been a year or two since they checked mine, and I'd thought about the licence only that morning.
Actually I didn't have to produce it - I gave the bailiff my name, rank and number - sorry, my name and date of birth - and he confirmed in seconds that I had a licence. No problem, except that that broke my concentration and my purple patch ended.
Yet again, as happens too often, the last few minutes were very disappointing. I had a lot of liners, which I managed to avoid striking at, and I guessed that the water was getting colder. I did think, though, that some of the anglers here were quite capable of bagging three double-figure fish in that time if they really rocked up in someone's margin.
I had clicked my first net at 32 lb, the next at 36 lb, and the last about 36 lb, so I thought I probably had at least 100 lb.
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| Neil Paas was just weighing in when I caught up with the scales. |
When the scales got to Neil Paas someone actually said that he would be the winner. And after two nets were weighed he'd already beaten Roy, I think - but his last one held only a fish or two and he had a total of 100 lb 11 oz. I said I thought I might beat that. Next was Tim Bates (great to fish with him on the bank again - we had some real battles when he fished with Fenland Rods) in corner peg 12, and he had just 35 lb 2 oz, including some barbel.
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| Tim Bates (father of Alex at Rookery Waters, Pidley) had some barbel on peg 12. |
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| Mike Rawson - 47 lb 1 oz on peg 14. |
Next to me Mike Rawson weighed in 47 lb 1 oz, which I thought was pretty good, and that he should be happy with that as he's having a good spell. Then my fish were weighed, and as usual I had understimated my weights, each net held about 40 lb, and I ended with 121 lb 2 oz. The only other weight near that on my bank was 74 lb 15 oz from Peter Spriggs on corner peg 24.
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| Peter Spriggs had bream in corner peg 24. |
I was most pleased with the time I had spend "in the zone", and immediately after the weighing in finished I honestly thought that I would have had a good weight from any peg apart from possibly the corners. That's how pumped up I was. Watching the Guru underwater video with Steve Ringer and Andy Bennet has made me realise how important the way you feed is, and how important it can be to keep something falling through the water.
Of course I wasn't perfect, but I did change rigs and elastics three or four times during the match - something I'd probably sometimes not do when I should. And I'm working on having a selection of rigs ready for me to easily pick from during the match in future. Work in progress! I give myself 9/10 for a change. Next match Sunday on Yew lake which has not been fishing well for weeks. I'm looking forward to the challenge. Finally, thanks for the invitation, John.
THE RESULT
East bank West bank
23 Allan Golightly 20 lb 2 oz 3 Wendy Bedford DNW
21 Roland Butcher 13 lb 3 oz 5 Trevor Cousins 48 lb 8 oz 5th=
20 Dave Garner 23 lb 13 oz 7 Roy Whitwell 82 lb 6 oz 3rd
18 John Garner 26 lb 9 Neil Paas 100 lb 11 oz 2nd
17 Dick Warrener 40 lb 1 oz 10 Callum Judge 48 lb 8 oz 5th=
15 Mac Campbell 121 lb 2 oz 1st 11 Kevin Beavis DNW
14 Mike Rawson 47 lb 1 oz 12 Tim Bates 5 lb 2 oz
13 Mel Lutkin DNW
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