Spratts on Elm, and the Vets National

 Martin Parker and myself were due to fish the Angling Trust Veterans National on Wednesday, do did not enter the Spratts match, which was fished on Elm lake at Decoy. The fishing was hard, and from what I gather, a lot of the fish came towards the end of the match. Here's the result:

1 Joe Bedford               4 lb 4 oz
3 Wendy Bedford         8 lb 1 oz
5 Peter Harrison         61 lb 8 oz    3rd
7 Bob Walker             31 lb 7 oz
9 Peter Spriggs           69 lb            2nd
10 Roy Whitwell        45 lb 3 oz 
12 John Smith            DNW
14 Neil Paas               74 lb 10 oz    1st  
16 Trevor Cousins     51 lb 3 oz    4th
18 Bob Barrett           47 lb 12 oz
20 Mike Rawson        DNW
22 Mick Ramm         24 lb 8 oz
24 John Garner         43 lb 12 oz

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

The Veterans National

This match was held at Springvale, Beavercotes, between Newar4k and Worksop, and only a couple of miles from the A1. Martin and I had fished at Springvale twice - once on a pleasure session and once in Thursday's Over 55s Open. And both times we really enjoyed it. You can drive to every peg, there's hard standing from the road to each peg, and you place your box on a large concrete slab, which is absolutely level,  sunk into the bank.

Eighty pegs were allocated for the Veterans match, fished by age 65 upwards (The Masters for anglers 55-plus was fished on different lakes).  But it was announced at the draw that only 68 were fishing our Veterans match. Martin and I drew adjacent pegs on the favoured Newcastle lake. It's the second time we've been drawn together in the Vets National, the first time being at Peatlings.

I had a spare peg, but...

I was peg 19 and Martin was on 20, to my right, and there was a spare peg on my left. Unfortunately the wind, which was fairly strong much of the time, was from left to right, so fishing into it made presentation difficult especially since you have to fish with a lash of at least 12 inches at all times. Nevertheless I plumbed up near the bank to my left, and found it went from about ten inches next to the bank to about 16 inches a metre out. The righthand margin was similar, but much shorter because Martin was pegged no far away.

My usual building site before the match, with Martin standing.

I set up rigs for the margin, plus one at five metres, in about three feet, and another for 10 metres in about five feet.

In the five metre swim I had a definite liner while I was plumbing up, and then the same happened in the left margin, and although I hd planned to start on a Method feeder to the island I actually started in the left margin.

A fair start

I had a small carp very quickly on corn, and then a 1 lb tench., The angler on 17 then started catching fish on his Method rig, and after a short biteless spell I was intending to use my Method rod, but couldn't resist a drop down with the pole to my right margin, where there was a little hole about 14 inches deep right next to the bank. That produced a 2 lb bream, and a 2 lb carp.

From then on I alternated between the two margin swims, occasionally going out to about a metre from the bank, but mainly staying well inside, and sometimes catching in the very shallow margin - no more than eight inches - farther to my right. I actually wasted too much time fishing to the left, and wasn't surprised that everyone I could see with a pole was fishing downwind. Martin told me he had a very slow start.

I feed casters

After an hour I had about 12 lb in the net - not brilliant, but the angler on my left had now come onto a pole himself and didn't seem to be bagging, though he was definitely a fair way ahead of me. I had been feeding just a few casters into the two margin swims, and now sport picked up a bit. 

After another hour, with about 35  lb in my first net, I changed to Miracle Paste. I'd bought it at the Fish O'Mania final after meeting Stece Gregory, who invented it, at his stall. I was the first person to ever do a feature with Steve; it was at Drayton in the 1990s, and I remember I had used it a lot after that. It was great to meet him again.

Halfway

Back to the match, and when Steve Fitzpatrick, Head of Competitions at the Angling Trust, came round about halfway through, I remember telling him I had 50 lb to 60 lb. I was now switching baits to keep bites coming - corn, worm, paste, dead maggots, and then caster on the hook. I still had my bag of micros on my tray, and had not put in a single one - casters and a few grains of corn had kept fish in my swim.

You are allowed to feed groundbait here, and since I had Method groundbait mixed up and wasn't using it I put in a little with every pot, so it made a cloud. That definitely brought the carp in.

Now the fish started taking a bunch of casters on the hook, still in no more than 18 inches of water, and I had a really good spell, with the fish getting bigger. Several of 6 lb-plus came in, the biggest almost 10 lb, and as the nets you are given are 18 inch models it was a little hairy at times. Several big carp threatened to flick themselves out of the net as I drew it up to unhook them.

My best spell
In my best spell I guess I had 45 lb in 45 minutes. You are given three nets - one for silvers, and I twice had to walk up a short distance to a spare peg to get another net, aiming for no more than  40 lb as the limit is a strict 50 lb. 

A session with Ben Townsend a year or two ago gave me the confidence to get the fish in more quickly than I used to, without losing any that were correctly hooked. However one fish gave me the runaround...it turned out to be a 3 lb barbel! I also had an ide which almost wrenched the pole out of my hand, and another small tench.

With 45 minutes left I guess I had lost about seven carp foulhooked, which was probably less than many had done. Fishing so close to the bank, where carp kept swirling in the shallow water, makes foulhooking them more likely. What I had not done was go out to the longer lines during the slower spells, to check whether there were carp there. I am sure there would have been, and that probably cost me the match.

My estimate

Only three fish came in the last half-hour, and I was playing a six-pounder when the match ended. I'd not taken much notice of Martin during the match, but I couldn't help seeing his elastic stretching out in the last couple of hours, so I guessed he had at least 100 lb, while I had clicked 154 lb.

The weigh in

Coming up to peg 16, the leading weight was 72 kilos from peg 5.

Danny Sixsmith was on peg 16. I remember him from several Nationals, and in fact a few years ago, when I was sixth, he won my section on Tunnel Barn Farm and I think he framed in the first three places, which he has done several times.

This time Danny weighed 64 kilos of silver fish, all taken on a longish line  feeding worm (and possibly something else). He told someone he hadn't had a single carp. The next angler, on 17, had 70.275 kilos (approx 154 lb) and I thought I had about the same.

In fact my five nets came to 70.300 - so he must have been really fed up, because that 25 gram difference is about half an ounce! That left me in second place so far. Martin had 34.125 kg, beating the two anglers on our bank on his right.

On the opposite bank I saw the weighers-in were taking a long time to complete their weighing, and in fact two nets there beat mine by a few kilos. I finished fourth overall, winning my section by default, and giving me £50 and an Angling Trust medal, the third I have won over the years, though I have won my section of ten several times, without getting a medal for that - this must be a new introduction. Martin finished in 22nd place.

Marks out of ten

I suppose it has to be done. I was delighted to finish fourth in a National, but I know I should have won. I should certainly have gone out to one of the longer lines to rest the margins properly.  Having said that I didn't go mad with the feed as the fish were already in my swim. I used one-and-a-half pints of casters and about half a tin of corn, and just a few dead maggots. My honest assessment is 6/10.

We both agreed (as did every angler I spoke to) that this is a delightful fishery. It's almost impossible to get a pleasure peg at weekends at the moment, and there are lots of club matches every day, as it's bang in the middle of a heavily populated part of the country filled with matchmen. I can't wait to go back.

The full result is on: https://www.hotfishin.com/app/matchresults/Angling-Trust/Angling-Trust-Veterans-National/75BPJS4X/

Next match Sunday on Lou's lake, Decoy. I've won from peg 14 the last twice I've fished there. Perhaps the Fenland Rods anglers would like a rover, because quite often half of that lake has a ripple and half doesn't, and you so often need a Raspberry Ripple!