Not unhappy with my draw in this Fenland Rods match, though I think peg 18 is a better Summer peg than later in the year. The margins are nice - 11 inches to 14 inches, then dropping down quickly to two feet-plus. The deepest spot I could find in the swim was exactly 3 feet, just in front of the bunch of reeds to my left, so that is where I started.
By this time rain was falling and it kept on for a couple of hours. However that didn't stop a family fishing three different spots next door on Four-Island lake from walking along the bank to each other every few minutes. It didn't affect my swim at the start - a 7 lb carp came on a 6mm expander very quickly from the reed swim, and I immediately switched to fishing the far bank, at 11 metres.
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| My left margin - most of my fish came from just in front of the reeds. |
Disappearing carp
I had a missed bite right across, then promptly landed another seven-pounder on corn. Back to the reed swim and a little later my third carp came in - a better fish approaching 10 lb. Back out to the far swim, and I had a liner or two, but couldn't work out where the fish were. Sometimes they seemed to be right across in the reeds, then in the deeper water a couple of metres towards the middle; then they would disappear. And it took me a fair while to think that perhaps the walking about had affected them, though the walkers kept close to the far side of the bank.
Whatever it was, I never had another fish from the far bank, and concentrated on the reed swim. That brought an occasional carp, over 4 lb, and then a few F1s, which wanted the bait either just off bottom or just touching it. So I put the rig out over the deepest spot and let it drift a few inches towards a shallower area, and that brought bites. I foulhooked just two - both times a scale came back to me. Otherwise I felt I was managing to avoid the liners.
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| The right margin was also shallow, but carp came to the maggots I put in about a metre from the bank. |
A good finish
Unfortunately I wasted the best part of an hour trying to catch more fish in that right margin swim. The carp were creating big vortexes in the water, but I never had another. Then, 15 minutes from the end I went back to the F1s...and had five to 3 lb in that time! A big mistake on my part - I should have learned by now that if I can't catch a fish within ten minutes when I know they are there, I must move.
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| Mike Rawson had 32 lb 9 oz but was still packing his van when the scales arrived, so I got Kev Lee to hold Mike's biggest fish, which probably weighed at least 10 lb. |
The weigh-in
I was amazed that Kevin Lee on 3 had only 34 lb, though after the match Roy suggested that the bank-walkers must have affected his swim. Then the scales went round to two pegs I always fancy - six and eight (though they had rain in their faces for the first two hours). And here Dave Garner and Roy Whitwell had done the business, taking the first two places. Dave won with 76 lb (Well done, Dave) with Roy on 66 lb 14 oz.
I thought I had at least 65 lb, possibly 70 lb, but in fact this was one of the few times I had actually over-estimated the weight, and I totalled 60 lb 4 oz, for third place. It seemed to me that a lot of the catches were weighing less than they had looked like, and several of the anglers agreed with me. Why are the fish weighing so light?
To my left Martin Parker had really struggled, landing just three fish. I had seen Allan Golightly, on Martin's left, land two or three good fish late in the match; he told me afterwards that he got them from the shallow margin. Allan was fifth - a good result from that peg on the day, I feel. I didn't try the really shallow swim against my left bank, where it was only about ten inches...but perhaps I should have done?
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| Dick Warrener with some good carp in his 40 lb catch. |
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| Callum Judge - fourth from peg 12 with 48 lb 9 oz. |
Afterwards I thought that I should have tried worms in that right margin, when the fish were oviously there. And not trying that left shallow margin, even if only for five minutes, was another obvious mistake. But all-round on a difficult day, when the angler I could see best, Martin, was not catching, I think I am worth 7/10. I felt I would have done OK in the other part of the lake, pegs 6 to about 14.
A late hospital appointment for Sunday means I can't fish until next Satruray, on Crow, at Pidley. I'm happy with any swim there, no matter how hard it blows. I will be taking cuttings from my pelargoniums this week, but can't find any stems with no buds on, so I will have to just pinch the flowers off.
THE RESULT
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