Oh, those meeces. Steve Tilsley has been baring his soul on Facebook after mice apparently ate nearly everything in his garage, his car, and his garden. The only thing they didn't eat was his pole...and he's not been catching much on that anyway.
So I thought I'd bring to his attention (and to that of anyone else who has had mice in their midst) the best mouse traps I've ever found. They work EVERY TIME and have three huge advantages over the old type. 1) To release the (dead) offender just hold the trap over the bin and press the back; the mouse falls straight down. 2) Baiting the trap doesn't involve any possible chance that your fingers could be damaged; the bait is is a small cup which is taken out from the bottom of the trap, baited up, and then screwed back into the bottom (you can see the yellow bait in the picture). 3) To set the trap put it down and press the back lever. That's all - it sets automatically.
And because the bait is IN the little cup the little mouse has to climb up to it and put its little head down to lick it out. BANG. Job done. I don't know the name of the trap - it's made in China, and they come 12 in a box. Go on the internet and look for the packaging. 10/10.
Trevor Cousins thought he was being amusing when he said he'd pull out peg 1 for me in my first Spratts match of the season, on Elm. He'd read my last blog and saw that was the one peg I wanted to avoid. So in went his hand, into the bag, had a rustle around, and his sticky fingers brought out... peg 1. Lots of laughter from the other 15 blokes I used to consider as mates! I might mave moaned a bit.
Then someone said that peg 1 had won the Friday Old, Codgers match with 100 lb. Then Roy Whitwell said yes, it had - but hthe winner was casting to the far bank with a feeder for most of his fish, and I couldn't do that today because...Roy Whitwell would be sitting there. So I had to make do with what has been called by others 'the worst peg on the complex.'
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| Sun and calm water - not a good combination. That's Roy Whitwell sitting opposite. My main swim was in the reflection of the aerator at nearly 13 metres. |
I earmarked four pole swims - out at 13 metres towards the aerator; a shallow swim at 2+3 next to the end bank on my right; a simple 2+3 in front of me; and the deep water two metres from the bank to my left, where I remembered I had caught fish previously on this peg.
First cast and I had a bite, hooked what seemed like a small fish, and two seconds later it came off. Second cast and I hit a bigger fish which also came off immediately. Third cast and a big fish threatened to take me round the post holding the aerator; I hung on, gritted my teeth, and mercifully the fish missed the post. Several minutes later I landed a beautiful 9 lb common carp, best of the day. Off the mark! And I changed the 18-inch landing net for a larger 20-inch model, because in that wind getting it into the net had been a bit hairy.
Next fish was a chunky 3 lb F1, and then I had a long spell with nothing. Opposite me Roy couldn't get even a liner, and eventually, at exactly the same time, we tried the pole. I went out to almost 13 metres where I had put in sicros and corn, fishing a flattish area a little shallower than the deepest spot, hoping that there wouldn't be as much silt there. With a 0.75 Tuff-Eye float and corn on the hook I had a fish fairly quickly - a 2 lb bream.
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| I kept looking longingly to my left, where they all had a lovely Raspberry Ripple. |
Then came a 2 lb barbel on the corn, and immediately I started putting in hemp and casters, which I know barbel love. I probably wasn't going to do any good catching just barbel, but a) they are better than nothing, and b) they are very active fish, and if they started to root around for the casters it could attract carp. The water was still almost flat calm, but putting bait out was difficult as the wind blew my pole around as I shipped it out in my big pot.
I changed the hook bait to a bunch of five dead red maggots on the size 12 hook. I hooked one up the hook,one through the blunt end, two through the middle, and one through the pointy end. It ended looking absolutely horrible - a mess - because I've seen what maggots hooked all through the blunt end look like. They are quite un-natural. Mine looked like a bit like small ragged piece of meat.
Anyway, that bait worked for me. I foulhooked a barbel, being left with a tiny silver scale. Then I landed a three or four carp around 5 lb, plus a 4 lb barbel, and another two bream. I had to fish three or four inches overdepth and gently pull the bait towards me, wait 30 seconds, and pulll it another few inches until the float was only a pimple on the surface. Bites saw it only just disappear - they were tiny bites indeed. After a dead spell I had a look in the other three pole swims and never had a touch of any kind; nor anything back on the feeder.
So it was back to the pole, where I hooked a huge bream which shot straight out of the water and promptly threw the hook. One more bream came from the original swim, and I went into the deeper water just two metres to the left, having changed the orange tip which showed up against the reflection of the aerator for a black one now I was fishing in open water.
That move saw another bream, about 4 lb, and two smallish carp in the last half hour. I estimated I had between 50 lb and 60 lb - more than I had expected when I sat down. I had seen an occasional fish landed by the anglers to my left on the opposite bank, and had no real idea whether my catch was good or bad. But I was happy.
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| Bob Barrett - 29 lb 15 oz, from peg 18. |
I had four rigs to put away, plus the rod, and it was slow because there's a small step down to the platform here, and I have to be so careful when stepping down. So I hadn't put everything away when the scales came to me, as first to weigh. The first net went 43 lb and the last three fish, in my second net, weighed 13 lb - totalling 57 lb 11 oz. I then put my trolley into the van and missed the first half of the weigh in.
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| Peter Spriggs won with a cracking catch on a difficult day - 91 lb 2 oz, on cat meat. |
No-one else beat me, so I ended second and the other top-five weights came from the last few pegs on my bank, in the wind. I noted that the carp I saw being weighed tended to be bigger than mine were - typically averaging around 7 lb.
I sort of scrapped around, never managing to get two carp quickly. And I am certain that the hemp and caster kept fish interested. Most of my fish came within minutes of putting in bait, which was quite hard work in the wind. Even so I used less than a pint of casters, and less than a tin of hemp, which was probably about right on a day when the fish were never queueing up to be caught. I give myself 9/10.
I perhaps should have tried mussel in the main swim, as it's a soft bait and I got the impression that the fish were feeding only half-heartedly, perhaps feeling the the bait before actually holding it between their lips. Every fish was hooked very lightly in the lip. Roy Whitwell opposite had three on a pole for 20 lb 12 oz, and I was chuffed to beat him.
Next two matches are on Six-Island or Four Island, and I am trying to decide whether I should start on my short tops on Six-Island as it's quite shallow. But will there be enough elastic if I hook double-figure fish? If the forecast is correct the water should be a lot warmer after several days of sun, so big weights could be on the cards. However Trevor has slyly suggested that if I say I don't want the pegs 21 and 23 in Wednesday's match, which are narrow, opposite islands, or 24 or 25, then he will again manage to ensure they are the ones I get.
OK - I don't want pegs 6 to 14!
THE RESULT
22 Martin Parker 22 lb 8 oz 3 Dave Hobbs DNW
21 Peter Harrison 37 lb 8 oz 4 Trevor Cousins 32 lb 15 oz
19 Kevin Lee 25 lb 12 oz 6 Neil Paas 24 lb 8 oz
18 Bob Barrett 29 lb 15 oz 7 John Garner 21 lb 8 oz
16 Peter Spriggs 91 lb 2 oz 1st 9 Mike Rawson 22 lb
15 Graham Ward 44 lb 13 oz 5th 10 Dick Warrener 44 lb 15 oz 4th
13 Mick Ramm 27 lb 8 oz 12 Bob Walker 45 lb 7 oz 3rd
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