Karen at Decoy allowed us to change the bank we had booked on Yew to the high numbers, to avoid disturbing the anglers fishing along that bank on Oak lake. Karen is doing a sterling job at Decoy, and is a pleasure to deal with. Thanks, Karen. But even Karen couldn't do anything about the rain that fell for a few hours.
The wind was blowing towards the far end, which often means that the fishing will be better at that end, though in fact we hadn't placed anyone in the far corner peg 16 - nearest to it was Mike Rawson on 18. Just nine of us fished - minor things like holidays and bad backs had depleted us. But I was happy enough with 27, as this bank has lots of reeds and there are often carp to be had in the margins, even if sport is not particularly good. And for once we had a beautiful raspberry ripple!
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| We had lots of rain, lots of raspberry ripple, and Dick had a great start with a couple of good carp. |
One on a feeder
I was confident enough to put in all three nets in expectation, rather than hope, and started by having a look in the margins, more to get the rigs looking good than expecting to catch anything, as the margins on this bank are over five feet deep. And I didnt catch, or have a bite.
After 15 minutes I turned to a Method feeder with just groundbait, and second cast to the middle saw a 4 lb carp come in. But how that fish fought! My back was really hurting by the end. Then Dick on my left landed a fish he estimated at 10 lb and said that in end peg 30 Allan Golightly had had two good carp.
No more on a feeder for me, so I went out to two-plus-two-and-a-half a little to my right. The wind was from the left and now fairly strong, and I had found a tiny dip in the bottom - no more than two inches, but it was at least some sort of feature. I tried expander and then corn, which brought two F1s. Some time later two carp around 4 lb joined them in my net.
For the next couple of hours I concentrated on that spot, finding an occasional carp, which now ran to about 6 lb. meanwhile Dick had, I think, one more, but was struggling. I had no idea what the others had, as the vegetation is so high along the bank. I was feeding the same each cast - a small amount of micros, just a little hemp, half-a-dozen grains of corn, and about 20 4mm pellets, while fishing corn.
It was really enjoyable. The fish fought like demons on the 14-16 yellow Slik elastic, and I lost only a couple, foulhooked. In fact I changed the elastic up to 16-18 green, and this was much better, and I was able to land the next fish much more quickly.
After I landed that fish, and with a couple of hours to go I came into the side with mussel (which was what Dick had had his best fish on). To be honest I should probably not have moved, as I had been catching quite well on the long line, but I wanted some bigger carp. I had some casters with me and put some in each cast, and I think it helped keep carp in the swim.
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| There were some big carp taken - this one was by Stephen Thompson on peg 25. |
The match ended as I was unhooking the best fish - a common around 12 lb. Happy days.
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| Part of Stephen's 63 lb 9 oz bag. |
The weigh-in
Allan weighed 54 lb and Dick just 35 lb - disappointing weights after a nice start. Roy Whitwell had walked by and said he had "a fair few fish" which suggested to me he had bagged. And then Callum said he'd had the best four-and-a-half hours fishing he'd ever had, and admitted to 150 lb. They both said that Mike Rawson had landed a couple of "baby pigs", and Stephen Thompson had another. So although I thought I had 100 lb-plus I clearly hadn't won.
In fact my three nets of fish went 111 lb 4 oz. Roy had started, as usual, on a feeder,cast right across to a platform on the far side, and had then changed to a pole - the result was 138 lb 14 oz. And Callum's estimates was good - he finished with a magnificent 169 lb 5 oz, while Mike's big fish helped him to fourth spot with 86 lb 6 oz - not bad for someone still recovering from a stroke.
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| Roy Whitwell had "a fair few." |
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| Callum Judge had more - 169 lb 5 oz for a memorable win. |
I ended third, and was pleased with myself for bothering to change elastics. My biggest mistake was probably to move off the long line while I was still catching, but I had the feeling I needed some bigger fish, which was correct. I did try paste (honestly) but had only a liner or two. In the end I had the fish lining up, with two for over 20 lb in the last eight minutes. So I give myself 9/10, because it was always on the cards that the fishing would be better towards the far end where the wind was blowing.
I undoubtedly lost too much time playing those carp on the 14-16 elastic. The fish were so full of testosterone that they went mad in the landing net, even after a long fight.
Next match the Angling Trust Veterans National on Wednesday at Springvale near Retford. Top weight is expected to come from Newcastle lake, but I suspect the wind and rain will be a contributary factor. I wouldn't be unhappy with some of the pegs on First Spring, where I fished last week, because I picked a few brains of the anglers who did well on there. PS (Fish O'Mania pics also below),
THE RESULT
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| It rained at Fish O'Mania, especially in the second half! |
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| Martin Parker and I watched Lee Thornton, who used to fish with us in Grebe AC. He now lives oop North where they talk funny. Lee, fishing his second final, ended with 28 kilos (61 lb) and finished 17th out of 25. |
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