Spratts on Willows, and I fish Kingsland

While my mates in Spratts club were fishing on Willows, at Decoy my wife and I were playing bowls at Potters. We played four First Round games, winning three, and advanced to the seni-finals, where we met the same couple, from Lakenheath, who had given us our one defeat. The semi-final went OK until the last end. The score, after seven ends was 4-3 to them, so it had been very tight. And on the last end Margaret and I had our worst end of the week. 

When I came to play the last bowl of the match we were three down, partly due to my having played horribly short on a horribly-short jack! I managed to salvage a bit of pride with that last bowl, ending within three inches of the jack, and cutting our oponents back to 1 shot, but we were out! They lost 8-4 in the final to the massive favourites from Bromley, Kent. But an enjoyable tournament.

Semi-finalists are invited back in December to play in the Champion of Champions. We qualified for this year by getting to the semi-finals last year; and as a result of this latest tournament we have another invite for next year. The overall winners get to play the final at the World Championship in January (Spoiler - it's not likely to be us!)

The Spratts match on Willows
Neil Paas did rather better in the Spratts match, fishing mussels and corn in the margins from peg 16, to the right of the overhanging tree on 15. And as he was Golden Peg he added £89 to his winnings. Overall the weights look to be pretty good for this changeable time of year.

THE RESULT

1Mick Ramm            32 lb 8 oz
3 Mike Rawson         34 lb
5 John Garner            50 lb                3rd=
7 Bob Barrett            20 lb 12 oz
9 Peter Spriggs         72 lb 1 oz          2nd
11 Roy Whitwell       48 lb
13 Kevin Lee            50 lb                 3rd =
15 Martin Parker       40 lb 6 oz
16 Neil Paas             79 lb 2 oz         1st
18 Trevor Cousins    40 lb 3 oz   

No pictures of the match, so here are alpaccas from my village.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Peg 7, Kingsland Small Carp Lake, Sun, Sep 21
A sad day because Richard told us that he and Theresa are planning to move out of Kingsland farm in October. He's farmed there for yonks, and someone else is taking over when he moves to his house in Whittlesey. He will be letting the clubs know the details to book in future, as the newcomers are going to continue the fishing, and all current bookings will be honoured.

In the meantime BT gave him the moving present of cutting off his phone three weeks before the agreed changeover date, leaving him with no phone line. They will put him back...if he signs another 12-month contract, even though it is their mistake. You couldn't make it up!

But he leaves with our best wishes, and thanks for the marvellous fishing there. I particuarly love his big platforms, especially since he's put in the big, wide steps down the bank, at not too steep an angle.

00000

Twelve of us Fenland Rodders fished, using six pegs each side. leaving out 1 in the weedy corner. My peg 7 was at the far end of the first bank, and I didn't particularly fancy it as it was in shade on a cool day. But when I saw the swim, with reeds about 12 metres in front, and all round the corner, I changed my mind. I like reeds, which give cover - my approach is to hook fish first and then worry about landing them.

So shallow

I was fairly quiet when I took my first lot of gear to the swim, and immediately saw a fish swirl onlt a few feet in front of the platform. So that would be my first spot to fish. Plumbing up gave me a bit of a surprise - the deepest spot was where the fish had swirled, and it was 2 ft 4 inches deep there! And it got even shallower the farther out I went.

Lots of lovely reeds. but when the sun came out on my right, their moving shadows
on the water immediately in front of me probably spooked the fish.

I did what I have done on here before - put out a rig with corn with no groundbait or loose feed, as this attracts the 4 oz fish. And it worked. First drop and a 1 lb 8 oz common came in. That was when I realised I might have a small problem with the landing net that is supplied - it's big, and heavier than I am used to, and I did find it difficult to move around in the water. Still, I didn't lose any fish because of it.

After that first fish I had hopes of lots more, but sport was slow, though I had indications all the time from liners or small fish. It didn't help that the tall reeds were waving about in the wind, casting moving shadows over most of my swim, which must have spooked the fish in such shallow water, and I had to fish in the sunny area, still close to the platform, to get bites. 

There was a little wind at one time, but no Raspberry Ripple, and the surface was flat calm in my swim all day.

Meat better

A switch to a small cube of luncheon meat was better than corn but I had only a few 2 lb carp and a couple of dozen smaller fish in the first two hours. I'd still not put in any loose feed, as I was confident of making up ground later when the better fish started feeding in earnest and the smaller ones moved away.

Two hours after the start I walked up to Kev Lee, who had 42 lb on his clicker, and I think he had most well out from the bank. I had about half that. Interestingly although I was getting lots of movement of the float as the small fish played with the bait, when I dropped the rig into the shadowy area next to the reeds in the corner, I had nothing - not a single liner.

I start using loosefeed

When I got back from seeing Kevin better fish were swimming around sipping the surface, and I managed to dob one on mussel. I then felt that the fish were becoming more positive in the way they came into the margins, so I started feeding half-a-dozen cubes of meat with hemp when I dropped in. My theory is that they would attract the better fish as they fell through the water, but would soon be eaten, leaving fish to be looking around for more for a minute or two. And it seemed to work, as I had some more two-pounders and hardly any smaller fish.

Soon I started putting in about a dozen 8mm hard pellets, assuming that the little fish wouldn't eat them, That worked better, though when I put in a rig with a banded 8mm pellet I didn't have a touch at all. That seemed very strange.

To my left Martin had had some on bread on the surface, but they never went mad. So I carried on putting fish in the net, now using mainly larger luncheon meat cubes, and as the match wore on the fish got bigger - an occasional three-pounder and one of 4 lb-plus on worm, though sport was still slow. Then  mussel in the left margin took four or five very quickly. Moving all the shot under the float worked best. The fish must have watched it fall.

It was frustating, though - the float was moving around now with what I was sure were liners, and I had to leave it for ages until I got what I thought was a proper bite. In fact I lost only about four foulhooked, and landed one.

The last 20 minutes

With 20 minutes to go I started on a third net, with about 40 lb in the first two. Mussel brought three or four fish of 2 lb-plus, all still from the close swims, and then I hit a sack of potatoes which obligingly drifted towards my platform when I hooked it. I put in the landing net and the fish woke up, stretching my elastic, in the short top I was using, a good 20 yards, and it surfaced almost in front of Martin. It must be foulhooked, I assumed. And I expected it to ping off.

Mel Lutkin watches the scales like a hawk!

But incredibly the hook held and I saw it was a good 'un. The whistle went while I was still playing it, and five minutes later it was in the landing net - best fish of the day at about 7 lb. I'd not seen how the anglers opposite had got on, but I knew Callum was Golden Peg, and he's on a great run.

The weigh in

That last fish made me late and I missed Kevin weighing in his 123 lb 9 oz (not sure how he caught them). Then the weights were around the 40 lb mark until I weighed in 97 lb 8 oz and we went to the opposite bank. Roy on 10, in the corner, had struggled to get away from the small fish. and I suspect that that may have been down to the swim being partly shaded, like mine. 

Allan Golightly, who lives in
the same village as me, had 
31 lb 5 oz. 

Callum lost a fish, almost at
the net, that would
have won him the match.

Callum had several around this size.

Dave Garner next door had done well, fishing his usual waggler and ending with  a nice 74 lb 15 oz. Our guest angler Stephen Thompson had done well with 56 lb 1 oz, and then Callum weighed in his three nets - remember he was Golden Peg. He had had some on 2+2 and he ended in the margin. He said he'd lost one really big fish at the net, and that came back to haunt him when his weights were totalled - 119 lb 11 oz. That fish would have won him the match... Kevin had saved us the Golden Peg kitty.

Kevin ended as winner, an unlucky Callum second, and I was third. I suspect that the sun shining on the far bank helped warm the water just that smidgeon which encouraged the biggerfish to feed there.

Dick Warrener went to help Mike Rawson, who had slipped on
the bank, and came back to see his top four had slipped into the
water. He promptly  divested himself of some clothing
and waded out to get it - in that horrible, slimy mud on the bottom.
Both angler and top four were reported to be injury-free.
His reward was a section win.

Marks out of ten

Later I realised I hadn't tried to fish to the reeds out at about 12 metres, because I had indications all day in front of me. But clearly I should have gone out, even if just to rest my short swim. I had tried dropping in next to the reeds in the shaded corner, without any takes, and I saw very few fish swirling there all day. But the reeds opposite were in the sun, so I should have tried there.

However feeding so little paid off, really, as I happily caught the smaller fish for a couple of hours, and then had only two or three the rest of the day, while the four to my left seemed to have struggled to get away from the small fish. So I give myself 8/10 as the others on my bank struggled (apart from Kevin, of course).

We fished four sections of three.