Big fish on Oak in a big wind

Peg 10, Oak, Decoy, Sun Mar 15
Some sun at last, as I drove to this match, and several partridges flew across in front of me - the first I have seen this year, though pheasants have been numerous. Happy with Oak peg 10, which Roy Whincup described as 'the flier' when I drew it. Half of this JV match were on Oak and half on Yew, and Roy had given us the West banks, which meant that the howling wind was slightly at our backs. And yes, I had to agree that Oak 10 can be be a flier, it's roughly opposite pegs 20 and 21, which have won so many matches on Decoy.

Biggest handicap was the wind
But the wind made things so difficult. It's a long time since I fished in such conditions, and within an hour or two it increased so much that I could feel it getting under my box and lifting me up slightly. You had to anchor everything down, and wedge any unused pole sections securely. And because it was also quite cold I wasn't surprised that after almost 45 minutes of my fishing the pole at 2+3 I hadn't had a fish and I'd seen only one fish caught, somewhere to my left.

When the sun came out at the start, before the wind was at its worst,
the conditions were almost tolerable. Here's Peter Harrison in action.

So it was on to the feeder just as Peter Harrison, on my left, changed from feeder to pole. And he caught a nice carp! Then the angler on my right had one, and it was well over an hour after the start when I had my first wrap-round. That turned out to be a near-5 lb golden common which fought like a tiger. But at least I had a fish.

Somewhat unprepared for a bite
The next couple of hours saw me take four carp around 8 lb on my hybrid feeder with hair-rigged sweetcorn. I had to leave the rig in for 20-plus minutes most of the time, and one came while I was unprepared. I had to get up to grab some pole sections before they were blown in, and thought that while I was off my box I'd have a pee. I'd just unzipped my trousers when I saw my rod being pulled right round...the pee would have to wait! 

That fish came in, so no harm done. I might try that again instead of pouring out some coffee!

But in the meantime Peter Harrison, having had a couple more fish on the feeder, suddenly had a purple patch on the pole - three big carp in about 20 minutes, and a fourth one was lost. He was well out at about 2+4, and (I don't know how he was managing to hold his pole out in that wind; perhaps it's slightly thinner than my Browning Xitan).

If this video works you can see just how the wind was rattling the top lid of my side tray. And later the wind was worse.

Just one on mussel
Peter took another two or three on the pole while I managed just one, on mussel, on 2+2. Cat meat, which has been catching carp here recently, didn't bring me a fish, though I thought I had one or two touches. 

The 2 gm float with heavy wire stem, looked great in the waves, which now reminded me of what it used to be like fishing the Great Ouse Relief Channel. And I was sure the presentation was OK - I could hold the rig steady, or just left it go with the fierce undertow left to right. Then the rain started - steady but not heavy, and the temperature dropped again.

Ten minutes left and...
Ten minutes before the end I hit another good fish on feeder which I played to within a few metres of the bank before the hook pulled out! When the whistle went I picked up the rod, wound in a few turns...and promptly found myself playing another big fish, which also came off very quickly. So carp were obviously now gathering in that area. And Sod's Law dictated that now the wind had started to drop. I ended with six, and Peter had nine, with all his pole-caaught fish on cat meat. The angler on my right had three.

The weigh in
It was still raining as we weighed in, and I wasn't going to ask anyone to pose with their fish - I think after the battering we had taken we all wanted to get back into our vehicles and peruse the results. The first three anglers, I am told, never had a bite or a liner between them. Andy Mitchell had 63 lb, and Roy Whitwell on peg 8 had eight, I think, mainly on a medium-sized Method feeder with various-coloured pellets, for 76 lb 10 oz.

The three fish caught by angler on my right weighed 35 lb 11 oz  and my six went 48 lb 12 oz, which was sixth out of ten; Peter Harrison's nine went 82 lb 7 oz and he was second on the lake, won by Matt Martin on corner peg 15. This was his first match with JV, and he had three on the pole and nine on a hybrid feeder and dead reds, for a total on 108 lb 4 oz; well done indeed, Matt.

Marks out of ten
If I'd landed that fish which came off I would have proably had around 60 lb, so I can't beat myself up about not winning from a 'flier.; I'm actually happy I managed to get a respectable weight in those conditions, with those good anglers, so I award myself an easy 7/10.

Yew lake fished not quite so well. My next match is Tuesday on Elm, and the only peg I'd like to miss is peg 1, which can be poor, but on Decoy anything can happen. I have got used to fishing the feeder this Winter, which has often been the only viable method to use, so I have a lot more confidence in it even though I prefer the pole.