A satisfying (but difficult) match for me on Oak

Peg 7, Sunday, July 6
Thunderstorms and a brisk North-Westerly were forecast, so it was good to see so many anglers at Decoy - there must have been 100. In our Fenland Rods match there were 12, and I was glad we'd booked pegs on the West bank, so we would have back wind. It meant the water on our side was fairly flat and, with anglers opposite, our options when legering were just to halfway.

We all sat like gnomes from home!

I set up long tops, even though I couldn't find more than three feet of water. That gave me a fair amount of elastic in the pole, as the carp here can average almost 10 lb. I could find a hard bottom only near the side; in fact when the water was lowered two years ago a long pile of silt could be seen running almost the entire length of the lake, and sure enough I could feel my plummet being sucked down when I plumbed up well out. The EA told Decoy not to dredge this stuff out, which I fnd incredible, as most of it is carp s**t. The rain started early.

A very early carp
I dropped in the side with a small lump of cat meat on, next to a few reeds which have managed to take root in the left margin. I put in no feed, and after about 40 seconds the float dipped and I was into a carp. It fought tenaciously for several minutes, and just didn't want to come to the net, but eventually I had it. About 9 lb. At that moment I was probably leading the match.

For the next two hours it rained hard, and the poor souls on the opposite bank had it in their faces. I heard no thunder (not surprising as my hearing is bad even when it's good), but I can confirm that the rain was wet. Funnily enough I was more heartened by the rain than disappointed, because the farmers desperately need it. A local who used to work with cereals told me that some of the wheat is actually dying in the field.

Umbrella problems
I put up my umbrella, which is a big old Preston Flat Back, with a tilt device. Unfortunately I've never been able to screw the pole up sufficiently tightly to get that pole dead straight - it always leans a little to one side. 

John might have got on better turning round!

When the wind is not too bad, putting it straight above me is often the best option. On this occasion I just couldn't get it right, and I kept getting dripped on!  I need one that has just two screw-in holes - one straight and one at an angle, like one of my old models used to have.  I've plumped for the Guru Large. Any better ideas?

From the onset of the rain my sport was almost non-existent. To my  left John Smith eventually went out with a waggler and mussel, and hit another hard-fighting big fish. I saw it come to his landing net and veer off just before John could lift it. Two seconds later his line went slack, as his hook had pulled off the line. How does that happen? He was not amused!

Seconds after I took this picture, as John prepared to net the fish, it came off!

Opposite, I saw two or three fish landed on feeder dropped in close to their margin. There was ripple there, so perhaps that helped, though they were getting wetter and wetter.

Careful baiting brings a small reward
After about two hours I had another nice carp, which I think was from the right margin on corn, and the rain stopped around that time. Then I went out over that horrible silt, on a top two plus three and a 0.5 gam float with corn, feeding just a trickle of micros and about four grains of corn at a time. This brought six fish eventually - two F1s, two ide, a carassio, and a small roach, which weighed  probably 8 lb  - so I considered that not bad as clearly every one was struggling for a bite.

Meanwhile John had another carp, but to his left Mel Lutkin had had three on a feeder early on, and to my right Allan Golightly had hooked two, and landed just one (the other was foulhooked I think).

A last-minute disappointment
I had also managed a smaller 'proper' carp during the middle of the match - about 5 lb, from the margins. Now, with an hour to go, I put in a pot of dead reds in the right margin and eventually had a take from a fish on a bunch of deads, which was probably foulhooked as it pulled off. 

Umbrellas now down, John managed to net this one on a pole.

Twenty minutes from the end of the match the rain started again, while I was playing a 4 lb carp! I had taken the umbrella down, but the Halkon Hunt Goretex kept me dry. Meanwhile John had a very late fish near those reeds between us, and just after he landed it I also had a fish there on mussel, which shot through his swim and surfaced in front of Mel on peg 9.

I stuck the pole under the surface, and the fish slowly curved round in an arc towards the middle, before the hook pulled out of that one. Definitely foulhooked. Seconds later the match ended. 

The weigh in
I was amazed that Dave Hobbs on peg 2 hadn't weighed, as he always catches fish. I was told he lost a couple foulhooked and never had another bite. Allan Golightly on 5 (peg 6 was vacant) had 28 lb 8 oz and must have been disappointed when my ten fish weighed 35 lb 5 oz, which took the lead after five had weighed.

John Smith with his best fish.

John had 25 lb, and Mel had failed to add to his early good start, totalling 21 lb 10 oz.

Then came a gap between the platforms, where the banking has slipped slightly. On the opposite end was Roy Whitwell on 10, who weighed his first net at 23 lb-plus of carp, and then brought up his second net with just one fish in it. Unless that weighed almost 13 lb I would beat him. On to the scales it went - 13 lb 5 oz (from memory), and he leaped above me with 36 lb 12 oz.

Roy - second with 36 lb 12 oz

Stephen Thompson had just two
 carp for his 20 lb 14 oz!

Past him everybody had a carp or two, but Kevin Lee on end peg 14 eclipsed us all with 60 lb 7 oz of carp taken mainly from his left margin. Yet another win for a superb angler. Well done on a very difficult day, Kevin. So I ended in third place.

Callum Judge - section winner
by default with 30 lb 5 oz.

Yet another win for Kevin Lee!

Marks out of ten

Right from the start I had this feeling that it was going to be difficult, although the day wasn't cold, and the conditions were quite good. So I was pleased I stuck to that. By the end I'd used literally a big handful of corn, plus a little hemp, and just half-a-dozen lumps of cat meat, one worm ( which produced nothing) and about three mussels. together with perhaps half a pint of micros.

Those six fish patiently winkled out on corn from the silt swim made all the difference, and when I landed the two ide that was confirmation, to me, that the carp were not going to come on the feed. So I give myself 8/10. Just one more F1 would have catapulted me into second spot. 

Next match Sunday on Damson, when I will definitely take my feeder rod down to the swim, having seen what happened there last week. Before then I will be watching two of my all-time  inspirers Torvill and Dean, at Nottingham, on their last-ever tour. They get 10/10 from me, and always will. Their Boleros (Olympics and World) still leave me breathless.

THE RESULT