Low weights, and a deluge, on Willows. But...

Sunday, Aug 3

I've been working on a new system for my tackle because sometimes I've sorted out rigs especially for a venue, and then forgotten about them, or I can't find the tops quickly enough in the tubes in my holdall. So I've bought a hard case for my tops. I was impressed that when I told Alex Bates that I wanted to get my Browning pole in the case as well, he immediately said I should consider the Milo case. That's because Browning sections are longer, by a few centimetres, than most other poles.

So the Milo case it was, and I gave it its first airing on Willows. I'd checked some blogs of mine and confirmed that the Willows is around four feet deep, so I put all my short tops in the case. Six were all rigged up, with the floats showing, and I just took those six out on the bank.

But while there's room in the case for my short tops plus landing net handle, I also took the old holdall down to my peg 14, because I needed the feeder arm and my long hook in case of getting snagged...and I really needed it! I'll have to think again about whether I need to take the old holdall down again,perhaps to hold my 14.5-metre section) or can I work something else out? Either way I was pleased with the set-up.

The match - on Willows, Decoy
Peg 14 for me, which was end peg. Twelve of us fished with all numbers 1 to 15 in the cocoa tin, and the flier 15 was not drawn. But (and I must be honest here) I didn't fancy 14 because I've fished it before and remember I had lots of problems in the margin - the main one being I couldn't catch fish there (!), while the late Les Bedford on 15 hammered the barbel in his right margin.

The right margin is short, but with no-one on 15 I had it all to myself. However, it
was very shallow indeed for most of its length, and I didn't fancy it would hold carp.

I plumbed up to find a horrible shallow-ish margin in the few metres to the right  between me and peg 15. It was less than three feet next to my platform, and rose quickly to 18 inches in two metres, very uneven and I plumbed up near 15 to find even shallower water down to a 12 inches - too shallow, I thought, for the cool wind that was blowing. The left margin was better - three feet or more and fairly flat. 

My feeling
I felt that the fish wouldn't be feeding well anywhere at all - just a feeling, possibly because the wind was cool. The water felt dead. But I set up a rig for eight metres and fed there. I would have preferred a longer swim but the wind seemd to be increasing a little. I started on a feeder towards the far bank and within five minutes the rod was nearly wrenched from the  rest as a 1 lb F1 gulped down the sweetcorn. But after half-an-hour, with no more fish, I went out to the long pole swim.

We've all seen carp in aquariums, garden ponds, and on videos sucking in food, or even gravel, and blowing it straight out. And that led me to start with a 6mm expander, hoping that something might take it in with other stuff. And it seemed to work immediately - I hit a fish that felt like another F1. In it came, and I broke down to the short top and short Number Four (really the Number Three, but my second section; it's confusing, ain't it?).

Problems
No sooner had I broken down and picked up the landing net than the "F1" put on a surge and shot straight into my right margin and under the bank. Just like that! The elastic was pulled right under the bank, and I couldn't see any of the rig at all. It must be undercut by several feet. And I immediately guessed that it was a barbel.

Up I got, took out the long hook from my holdall, and prodded around as far under the bank as I could. The result was that at least I managed to get the elastic back in one piece, but the rig was gone for ever.

Out again and next a big carp started to some in. I played this one farther out until it was ready to be netted; out went the landing net; and suddenly, with no warning, this carp shot into the left margin and buried itself in the reeds. Out came my long hook again, and in came a branch covered in twigs with the rig intact. Fish - 2; Me - 1.

The left margin looked great - a nice long reed-fringed
stretch of bank down to Stephen on 13. But
although fish came in, I had only two F1s there...

Quiet
After that things went quiet. I persevered in the long swim, fishing expander over a few micros, and occasionally I'd hit an F1, or a roach, or a small bream. Then in came a carp of about 2 lb, and things were looking up. Then things went quiet. Two F1s came from the left margin on corn, and eventually I started a new swim on a top three in front of me, which produced a couple more. When John Smith came up to me after a couple of hours, saying he hadn't had a fish, I think I had 12 lb to 15 lb, and was surprised when he told me almost everyone seemed to be struggling.

Halfway through and I had started seeing my float moving slightly whenever I dropped the rig in. I was sure that fish were coming in, so I decided to keep feeding micros. I put in half a big pot at a time, mainly loose, with just a few squeezed to get to the bottom. My thinking was to bring in carp, attracted by the falling micros and hemp, and hope that occasionally one would be tempted by my cat meat or mussel.

I try the right margin
I was getting those tiny movements of the float in the left margin and stayed there for a long time ( the increasing wind made perfect presentation difficult in the long swim). But with no more fish I had a quick look in that horrible right margin, about two metres away, just before it sloped upwards. I had no faith that I would catch carp there, so potted out maggots and went out with a tiny rig and two maggots. To my amazement that brought a bite immediately - a roach.

So I scaled up to a normal carp rig and went out with cat meat. To my eternal surprise that produced a 5 lb mirror. And now I was seeing those tiny movements of the float every time I put in loosefeed and hemp. In the next hour I landed two carp and lost two more which I thought had been hooked properly. One was my own fault - I'd not got extra sections handy and the carp shot past peg 15 (which is only a few metres away) and came back into the bank, rubbing the line across the platform leg, and the hook pulled out.

The air gets warmer

Around this time the heavens opened for ten minutes, and after the deluge the air seemed warmer and I felt that I might get a fish or two more. In desperation I dropped in very close to peg 15, almost next to the platform leg, with mussel, even though it was only about 12 inches deep, and to my surprise, again, got a bite from an 8 lb carp, which I landed. 

Soon after that, with about 50 minutes left, another one came in about 9 lb in a hole I had found which went down to 18 inches-plus, and I expected a bit of a bonanza. But no - I was till getting knocks, and the occasional pull-down that looked like a proper bite, but no more fish except for a 2 lb bream, and another big bream which shot out of the water when I struck, but which wasn't hooked by the time it landed. Really frustrating as I am sure that big carp were still mooching around every time I fed.

I had clicked 39 lb for the first net and 10 lb for the second, and tought that would not be very good, as I had lost three fish.

The weigh in

I'm always almost last to pack up - Martin Parker is almost always last, depending on how many kitchen sinks he's brought with him. But I am usually ready with my camera in time to follow rthe scales for the last half of weighing in. Not today, though - the scales were almost upon me very quickly.

A quick look at the board showed me the reason - everybody had just one net to weigh in, and Kevin said that 39 lb was leading. I asked him what his own weight was and he replied: "Thirty-nine pounds!" Stephen, next to me had just 5 lb, which showed me that it had definitely been hard. And for a change my clicks were  pretty  good  -  39 lb 13 oz for the first net; 10 lb for the second; total 49 lb 13 oz for the (unexpected) win.

The peg we had all fancied, peg 1, had produced 36 lb for Callum, who ended third. Kevin had had two nice carp early on, on a feeder, and another a bit later. I think he got the rest in open water, and not in the margins.

Marks out of ten

I had also started a new system with my tray - putting some of my lesser baits in it at home, so they lay before me when it was opened at my peg. I'd tried paste, and maggots, but why hadn't I tried a big worm? Having seen the recent underwater videos it's clear that for no obvious reason fish will all be more interested in one bait than another, on different days.

Still, I'd had a look at the margin I really hadn't thought would do any good. And I think my plan of pulling fish in with plenty of falling mcros was probably the best I could devise on a difficult day. I did lose three fish I should have landed, though - I must concentrate more! So I give myself 6/10. 

Next match Thursday on Six-Island, which I love. If it's difficult I don't mind where I get pegged; if it's a warm Westerly give me 8 or 9.

My health

I've had a conversation with one of the consultants on my team who has told me that the biggest of the cancerous lesions on my lungs (I think there are six) is now 32 mm long, and agreed with me that it's worth considering radiation on it while I am still comparatively fit. Chemo is not on for this secondary cancer, and I suspect surgery would now be a last resort.

So I'm having a meeting with my team at Addenbrookes next month, when all the aspects of radiation will be considered. If we go ahead it will be every day for two weeks (only half the time I had radiation on the prostate), which will inevitable curtail some of my fishing. But all-round, I think that's good news.

THE RESULT