I work hard for the fish on Six-Island

Peg 3, Six-Island, Sat, June 21
As chairman of Fenland Rods I feel I have a responsibility to try to ensure that the members have a decent day when they fish our matches. That means trying to make sure that nobody is in a particularly difficult or unfair swim. On Saturday Karen at Decoy had said we could have the whole lake of 25 pegs for our ten entrants. I thought that perhaps we should drive round to the lake before deciding which swims to fish, because the wind on that lake, in particular, can dominate the results. But in the event the members who pick out the swims had come to a decision in the car park, so we went ahead and had the draw.

I mention this because afterwards I thought I should have stuck to me guns and had a look. The reason was that when we arrived at the lake, four of us at the car park end had calm water, while I could see ripple at the other end. In the event the South-East wind luckily turned a little and gave us some ripple from time to time at our end. I walked round, before the start, to the middle numbers and indeed they had a lovely wave on the surface - a really nice Raspberry Ripple. Except for John Smith in corner peg 10, who had flat calm all day.

In the event he managed to catch a decent weight, but he must have been at a disadvantage, and when we fish that lake again on Sunday I feel I must insist that we have a look before we draw. Perhaps they would like a rover?

My swim just before the start, when a small ripple appeared. The cross
on the left is my landing net handle crossing an upright bank
stick ready to take an umbrella if the sun had been too fierce (it wasn't).

The match
Back to the match, and I can't remember ever fishing peg 3 before. It's a nice-looking peg, with the point of an island at about 12 metres, and that's where I started, on the pole. Half an hour later, with just a roach on corn, and the wind making it difficult to hold the rig next to the island, I had a look down the track, on two-plus-two. Over the next two hours, trickling in a few micros and just four or five grains of corn at a time, I caught two carp around 4 lb and half-a-dozen plump F1s, with a couple on a 6mm expander.

I'm already behind
Two-and-a-half hours gone and I walked up to Roy Whitwell on peg 25, who had had some fish, mainly on a feeder, and he said he had about 38 lb. I thought I had 20 lb. Back to my swim and I had just one or two more F1s, at which point I thought I had to make something happen. I had no idea what the others had, except that I had seen Allan Golightly, on the opposite bank on peg 18, net some fish hooked in his left margin, where there was a nice bunch of irises or reeds.

Roy had been casting across to his left, to the platform at peg 1, and said he had just lost a big fish when I saw him, so I hoped that fish were willing to feed in the margin. I had put some corn into a small, very shallow cut-out to my right, and saw a fish swirl there. In went my rig, set about 12 inches deep, and I was immediately into an 8 lb mirror carp; foulhooked!

Roy Whitwell on peg 1 snapped me just as I landed an early fish. 

Good old mussel!
That one came in eventually, and I decided to feed the slightly deeper water, less than three feet deep, about a metre from the bank. Cat meat and, later, mussel found six or eight nice carp and some more F1s in the next two hours. The fishing was never frantic,  but every 15 minutes I managed to catch a fish, first on corn and then on mussel or cat meat.  With half an hour left I had a look in the shallow left margin, right in the middle of some reeds laying on the surface. I didn't expect anything, rreally.

To my surprise half a mussel mussel brought a liner, and next drop the float sailed away and I hooked, and landed, an eight-pounder. I'd been using one of my special method rigs, and next time I dropped it in it went down again, and a fish was on. It came slowly towards me. Then it charged off, stretching the 14-16 elastic which had been working so well. It was obviously foulhooked and intent on reaching the other end of the lake, and when it was at least 20 yards away (honestly), and somewhere round the corner to my left, the hook pulled out. I'd not seen elastic stretch like that for a long time.

The fish fed better when the ripple appeared. Note the cap with a back flap, given to me by Mike Rawson, and so useful when the sun is behind you.

A frantic finish
I looked at my watch and there were seven minutes left. I put in a little hemp and micros; sorted out a slight tangle made when the rig had shot back towards me; put on half a musssel; and dropped the rig back in. Immediately I realised that some shot had pinged off because the float didn't cock properly. These rigs are shotted very precisely, and I just didn't have time to do it properly, so  I picked up another strong rig I'd used earlier.

In it went, down went the float, and a real lump surfaced as it lumbered out to the middle. But this one was properly hooked, and after a couple of minutes it lay in my landing net. 

Pushing the pole top well below the surface, holding tight, and waiting for the fish to drift back towards me paid big dividends in this match, and I the only fish I lost were those foulhooked (about three in total). I reckoned that last one was about 12 lb - the best fish of the day. Seconds later the match finished. Why hadn't I looked down to that left margin earlier?

The weigh in

A little before the match ended, light rain had started. Now the match had finished it was still light rain, but suddenly the humidity increased, and it was quite uncomfortable. I think it slowed almost everybody down. When the rain came down a bit heavier I went back to the van for my jacket. 

I'd got five different rig assembled, and had used them all because the conditions had kept changing from flat calm to a reasonable ripple, and from light winds to time when it was quite gusty. I'd also got a feeder rod ready, which I didn't use. So it was taking me (as usual) a long time to pack everything away. Then the scales came to me first.

Allan Golightly had a good start
in the margins on peg peg 18.

I told Roy I'd clicked 38 lb in the first net and 48 lb in the second, which included the last lump. His reply was: "48 lb? There's probably 60 lb to 65 lb there!" I'm afraid that's the reputation I now have. But no! This time I wasn't wildly over - the nets went 42 lb5 oz and 51 lb 15 oz - total 93 lb 4 oz, which I guessed would be well down, because the conditions round the corner were so much better. And I took so long to pack up that I took pictures only of the last three to weigh.

In fact, Callum Judge beat me from peg 6, and had three fish in his third net for 26 lb, all taken in the last 15 minutes. That's how to finish a match! The rest of the weights  were below 90 lb, and I ended a very surprised second. Callum was even happier to win because he was Golden Peg.

Stephen Thompson shows a nice
perch from peg 23.

Stephen's 27 lb 11 oz on his
 first visit to the lake.

Roy Whitwell had fish on both feeder
 and pole, and had a much better start
 than me. He won my section by default.

Marks out of ten

I still can't make out why only Callum beat me, because the margins in the pegs from 4 round to 15 are really nice, whereas my right margin was a bit bumpy, and the conditions were so good round there. I should never have left the lefthand margin so late, and I was lucky because of that last-cast lump, which lifted me several places. 

On the other hand it couldn't have been that prolific with fish at our end because Roy Whitwell, my nearest competitor, ended with 83 lb 8 oz, and Roy is so very consistently good. So I give myself 7/10. Since then I have made up (and sucessfully tested) some more of my special method rigs which should help when conditions are changeable.

Next match Thursday on Yew, which is likely to be hard. Unless someone gets a huge weight mugging, I expect less than 100 lb to win, with most weights below 50 lb - which will be perhaps six fish. Not a lot in six hours.

THE RESULT