Good fish feed on Cedar

 Cedar peg 6, Sunday, Sept 30
A windy day greeted the ten of us on Cedar lake, Decoy and the decision was made to fish from the West bank, with a backish wind, as this allows us all to cast a feeder across to the far bank if we want to. The wind was from the South-West, so theoretically the carp would probably have drifted down to the higher numbers, but Cedar, alone among the four strip lakes, has a reputation of fishing  better towards the car park end, where peg 1 is situated. I still favoured that end to have an edge; but what do I know?

I did start on the feeder - and first cast a 2 oz roach took my pink wafter. But after half an hour I hadn't added anything and had a look on the pole.

I started fishing close-in to the left,
but never had a fish that side.

Into the deep water
With the surface so rough I thought the fish would probably be all over the lake, so I went to the deep water on a top two, though it was only four feet deep. Like all the strip lakes here the deepest water is very close to the banks. I assume it's because that's the main patrol route of the fish. Beyond that the bottom is definitely more silty, and up to a foot shallower.

To my right Mel Lutkin on peg 5 had an early fish or two fishing a fair way out. On peg 2 Mick Rawson had,  I think, five carp before Kevin Lee on 4 had caught anything. I saw Kevin was fishing close in, and that gave me a bit of confidence on my top two. In fact Kevin told me later that he never had a fish near the margin - he could get bites only out on a top two plus three.

No reeds in my right side bank, but
I had all my fish there.

A big undertow

I fished to my left (the wind was from our right) and soon found that there was a big undertow along that deep water run, but I couldn't get a bite on corn. Before I went back to the feeder I tried to the right, into the wind, and found it much easier to control the rig. I also saw what I thought were tiny knocks - the float seemed to be rising just a little, and holding up slightly in the run. Were they roach bites? I fancied they weren't, so carried on, changing to half a mussel, and never went back to the feeder.

Mussel a couple of definite bites, so I cut that half mussel in half. First drop and the float slowly went under, and my elastic came out a little. It turned out to be a 3 lb bream; very happy with that. Another followed that one; then another. The next fish was a 6 lb common carp, and I felt I was now properly underway, though 90 minutes had passed.

I got up to take a picture of Mel playing a carp...

... in time to see Kevin land one.

To my left, Dick Warrener had had a fish or two. The margins on his peg 7 are lovely - down to 18 inches - while the only shallow water I had was a tiny cut-out to my right, where it was about three feet deep. But I expected Dick to have a good finish when the fish came into his shallows. I stayed in the deep water, about four feet, on a top two, and slowly began to catch fish. But it was hard work, and the next couple came on a 6mm expander inched through on a 0.75 gm rig, while the main mussel rig was 1 gm.

Mel gets into gear
Mel now started to hook fish quite quickly, though some of them came off. I had lost three, none of which seemed to be foulhooked. Beyond Mel I could see Kevin now starting to catch well, still fishing well out.

Mel had a good spell halfway through the match, mainly at about 2+3 sections.

I put micros and some hemp into that tiny cut-out and followed it with my rig baited with corn. Three times I pulled out to find the line had caught an underwater root of some sort, though the hook pulled clear easily. Next drop and I had a definite bite, which I hit, only to see the hook pull out two seconds later.

 I never had another bite there, and I stayed mainly in the deep water, finding another four or five carp, from 4 lb to 10 lb. Almost every drop in I could see tiny movements of the rig, but rarely enough to strike at. There must have been a lot of active fish down there.

Long fights
Dick eventually had a double-figure carp from his margins, and it gave him a massive fight. While he was playing it I landed two nice carp. Then I had the same problem, - a fish hooked in the pectoral fin, and while I was playing that one Mel landed two! Another 3 lb bream came to my net, and three times I struck at bites only to see a big bream jump clear of the water, not hooked; presumably just startled by hitting my line. 

Black clouds approach as Dick hits a fish. But we had only a few spots of rain.

Half an hour before the end the indications suddenly stopped, and Mel, who had had three or four quick fish, was now also struggling for a bite. Kevin said later that the same thing happened in his swim.

A last-minute carp
Two minutes before the end I had changed to corn, still unable to get a bite, and and hooked another carp which came off. With 30 seconds to go I dropped back with corn. Fifteen seconds later the float dived down and I was in business again. Seconds after that the whistle blew, and I shouted "Fish On", expecting to land it fairly quickly. But the fish had other ideas and it took me five minutes - the hook was on the outside of the mouth and was about 6 lb. Still, they all count, and I thought I might have 90 lb, but assumed that Mel had more than me because in the last hour he'd come a little closer in and had had a good fish or two there.

To my left Dick had had a very big double-figure common from the margin, but had added only one more carp in the last hour or two. All my fish had come on a top two from the deep water, or within a foot or two of it. 

Dick lands his best carp. Note the odd angle between the landing net and handle - the end ferrule had come adrift, but Dick had spares handy.

The weigh in
As usual I was last to pack up, with two rigs to put away not used (one for banded pellet and another 3 gm rig which I had thought I might need if I had fished long); plus the two rigs I used; plus the feeder rod; plus an assortment of bait. (As I did that I thought I really should have tried banded pellet - you never know how the fish will react to a new bait). Then that last fish had put me behind anyway.  I grabbed my phone for some pictures only half packed away, but there was no rain, so no problem.

Mel Lutkin - 86 lb 11 oz on mussel.

Mike Rawson, after that good start, had obviously faded, and he weighed in 41 lb 5 oz from peg 2. Peg 3 had been left out, and Kevin on 4 had done his usual, and had four nets in. He weighed in 144 lb 10 oz and had obviously won. He never had a fish near the side.

Mel Lutkin on 5 weighed 86 lb 11 oz, all on mussel, and had never put a single piece of any bait into the swim. I think he fished a stationary bait all day, while I tended to inch my rig through with the big undertow. I totalled 89 lb 6 oz, but would have been beaten by Mel but for that last-minute fish. Dick had  64 lb 14 oz, and next to him John Smith said he had eight bites, landed three fish, and lost five. He was so disheartened that he didn't weigh in.

Roy Whitwell - second with 115 lb 6 oz.

Roy Whitwell on 9 had a lot of his 115 lb 6 oz on a feeder, and he ended second. I thought I might be third, but Callum Judge on 11 had 91 lb 10 oz, and like me he was playing a fish when the whistle went. He said it was about 2 lb...and he beat me by 2 lb 4 oz! So I ended fourth after a most interesting day's fishing.

Marks out of ten
Most of the other anglers had taken few of their fish close to the bank, so I was pleased I'd managed to do that. Presentation was absolutely key all day - I knew the fish were there, and I kept altering the shot and depth, and changing the rig to catch a fish. Putting in a few micros and hemp kept fish in the swim, though I wondered whether I could have caught without putting in any loosefeed, like Mel did. The only time I tried that, putting a mussel out a metre or two past where I had been baiting, I had a bite and lost the fish within seconds, probably foulhooked.

So I give myself 7/10 and look forward to Tuesday, when Spratts fish the same lake. If there are more than 13 we will definitely hve to fish both banks, in which case I'd like to draw on the East bank, from 14 back to 26, with peg 26 favourite. I will take some of my short tops, which will be more suited to the four feet depth I fished  in this match, and it should allow me to land the carp more quickly.

Dick Warrener's best fish.

The winner, Kevin Lee.

THE RESULT