Magpie Open

Rookery Waters, Magpie, peg 4

This winter pegs 1 to 5 (and particularly 1 and 2), 25, 31 to 35 and 38 have been most consistent, so I was pleased with Peg 4. There is no obvious feature here but there is a submerged island just out to the right, which I found was about 10 inches shallower than the surrounding lake. So I put on a rig to fish to the deep water, another for the shallower island, a light rig for the left margin, and two for the right margin – one for the deeper water about two feet from the bank and another for a shallow shelf in a tiny bay, where Alex Bates said the fish could end up.

The weather was a second warm day in a row, but the water was cold, and the bright sun, with no ripple, didn’t offer hopes of a huge catch. Still the water was a good colour.

I started with a small pot of 4mm pellet and corn by the side of the submerged island, with a half-gram Tuff-Eye with a black tip, as the reflections here were difficult, and after about 15 minutes I’d had two or three bites which I missed. On went a 4mm expander, and a good bite showed the pellet was untouched, so they were obviously liners. I hit the next two bites on corn, and two 2 lb carp were in the net. No more, so I put the shallower island rig out in the same spot…with no result (this had a red tip which I could see against the dark reflection, and it ensures I didn't pick up the wrong rig!) I tried over the island, still without a touch, then put the deeper rig back into the original swim, still with no result, so I trickled more feed in, but It appeared the fish had moved.

It was time to try the margin, so I threw about ten expanders out to my left, followed it with a pellet on the hook, and got a 4 lb carp immediately. But again, nothing followed. Very strange. So I tried the right margin swim, in the deeper water and had a carp on luncheon meat immediately…but then nothing!

Meanwhile the angler to my left on peg 5 had been catching fish up in the water near the reeds at about 13 metres. But I and the angler to my right didn’t have a really good feature like this, and we were both scratching around for the odd fish – though it looked to me as if there was the edge of a lilly bed just to his right.

Scratching my head, I simply had to have a go at the odd carp that I could see cruising around under the surface. They were moving quite fast, so didn’t look as if they were really feeding. However, first drop in to a black shape a foot deep with a small cube of luncheon meat saw another four-pounder in the net. And I spent the next three hours or so either targeting the very odd cruiser, or leaving a piece of meat just hanging there, at 7 metres, and waiting for something to grab it. Amazingly I had seven or eight fish like this.

The odd foray to the right margin with a bunch of maggots brought another couple of fish, but the shallow swim there never produced a touch. Then the angler to my left had three fish in ten minutes or so by slapping, and I got my shallow rig out with banded pellet with just 45 minutes to go.

First drop in I lost a fish after about a second, and next slap the same thing happened. On the third slap, a little farther out (I had eight feet of line above the float because of the bright sun) it resulted in a hooked fish, over 4 lb, which gave a great scrap before being netted. But no more. Then with five minutes left another came to a piece of ‘hung’ meat.

The scales showed 106 lb on peg 1 and 111 lb on peg 2. Now both these had proper areas of lilly pads to fish to, so I wasn’t surprised they had done well. Peg 3 had 54 lb and I weighed 58 lb, believing the angler on 5 had twice as many fish as me, so would weigh in 120 lb or so. But in fact his fish were smaller, and he totalled 89 lb, with peg 6 getting 75 lb, almost all in the margin under an aerator – I was told this peg has fished well on the inside several times recently.

Opposite 5 was the winner on peg 31 with 124 lb 14 oz, all taken at 16 metres to the reeds by slapping – very hard work!

The pegs from 7 round to the twenties didn’t fish particularly well, though Simon Godfrey on 22 had 124 lb 4 oz shallow – but he could catch fish in a bucket of concrete! The end result was that I was somehere around 10th I think, so for me it was a decent day and I think I did the peg a fair amount of justice.

It was interesting that the fish caught by peg 5 by slapping were smaller than mine, and also interesting that even in the coloured water catching a fish seemed to put all those nearby off – that’s been particularly noticeable when the water is cold. So it appears that having caught one fish I must be prepared to move within a minute or two if the next drop-in there doesn’t produce.

Next match sees the first in my weekend club series, on Cedar at Decoy.

Operator Error – a match best forgotten

Rookery Waters, Raven, peg 9

This was an Over 60s event on the new Raven lake, opened 18 months ago. It’s in a rough horseshoe shape with the round end flattish. All the pegs are on the inside of the horseshoe and you can park your car at the peg, which will make it a very popular venue. Peg 1 is at the bottom of the first leg, moving up, across the back and down to peg 28-ish at the other end of the horseshoe. Peg 9 is two before the first corner.

Raven has margins only 1 foot near the bank, quickly dropping to almost 3 ft and then a very steep drop to 8 ft which you can reach on a top two if you stretch out. I saw it before it had water, and the margins were flat, which shows you just how much the bottom is affected by wave and fish action.

I didn’t know much about the lake, so started by putting some corn and luncheon meat almost halfway with a bait dropper then fishing bread punch across at 13 metres, fishing ten inches deep to the far bank, then moving back out for three or four feet, then deepening it six inches at a time and repeating, until after more than 20 minutes I had not had a touch of any sort. That was a bit surprising as there was a good wind, and plenty of ripple.

So next it was down the deep swim with corn, and after another 20 minutes still not a touch. So I tried my close-in swim for another 20 minutes, feeding with a toss pot close to the edge of a bit of weed, still without any indications. The cold wind was getting up, and this decided me against going right across again – possibly a mistake. So it was down the track again, and after 20 minutes I got a 1 lb carp on corn, without feeding anything, and a few minutes later another. Then another 20 minutes without a bite. Very frustrating.

So it was in to the side again, and immediate action with a 1 lb F1 on corn about 20 inches deep, just touching bottom, and two more foulhooked and lost (a scale left me in no doubt) and then another on pellet. Fishing off the bottom did not bring a single bite. Another 20 minutes and a 6 oz carp hooked in the mouth, and I wandered up to Alan on my left, who had four fish to my five.

The rest of the match followed a strange pattern – 20 minutes fishing the deep swim and baiting with a tosspot, and I was about to try the far bank, despite the gusty wind, and I would get a fish, which led to another 20 minutes of inactivity, then just as I was about to change, another fish would come. I finished on the inside following a magnificent spell of three fish in 15 minutes, and with 45 minutes to go was about to look right over when another one came along…so I persevered down the edge and wasted the final 45 minutes!

As the scales came I was astonished to see a 47 lb at the end to my left, then Keith Rayment with 35 lb, and I know he had most of his fish in the deep water. Alan weighed 6 lb, and my meagre haul of 15 fish went 12 lb, with the angler to my right on peg 9, on the corner, DNW-ing.

It’s not a criticism of everyone who DNWs, but I dislike seeing it unless it helps the weighers-in in bad weather. Weighing-in helps the competitors decide afterwards whether there’s a definite pattern to the weights, and I have always (rightly or wrongly) regarded it as a bit of an insult to those who do weigh in…almost like saying “I can’t be bothered with you lot”. On natural waters it also used to give liars the chance of boosting their imagined weights, though on modern commercials that’s not an issue, since others can see what they are catching. Anyway, the angler on my right told me had had 11 carp and lost 17 better ones – though I suspect they were foulhooked, as a couple of my 1 lb foulhookers felt like four-pounders on steroids! So he probably had roughly the same weight as me, fishing right across. His wind was very slightly off his back, but it still must have been difficult as it looked as if he needed a full 16 metres to reach the far bank in the corner.

Anyway, the final word on not weighing in goes to Kevin Ashurst who once told me in his inimitable Lancashire accent: “If you haven’t weighed you haven’t catched!”

To my surprise 80 lb won, the end peg on the other leg, where it was almost flat calm, with (from memory) a 60 lb and a 50 lb to his left, and another 50 lb at the flat end , who had a backish-wind. At least I beat the anglers either side. But I really should have given the far margin a proper look, even though it would have been a little difficult in the wind. Kevin Peacock, behind me on the other leg, had 32 lb across on luncheon meat, though he found it difficult.

Bottom line is that it was probably ‘Operator’s Error.’

Another match of two halves

Open on Westwood Lakes, Falcon Pool, peg 1

This was only my second visit to Westwood near Boston, Lincs – the first was five years ago in a match on Skylark. I like the arrangements – 9 am draw, which was good for me as it’s almost an hour-and-a-half drive there for me. There’s a good shop (Westwood’s feed pellets only, which I don’t mind) and a great restaurant. Then the match doesn’t start until 10.30, by which time even I can be ready to go. My regular club matches give only an hour or less, and I am rarely ready to start when the whistle goes.

It was good to see several old mates at Westwood, and then there was the bonus of being able to park the car behind my peg – a bonus which gets bigger as you get older! A cold wind was blowing, but at least it was over my right shoulder. Falcon is a little over 13 metres wide, and I found it was very shallow right over, which was out of the equation quickly, as the wind got up. The main species here are F1s, with some barbel.

There was a small hole at three sections out, about a float-length deeper than the surrounding area. It was about four feet here. So I set up a 0.5 gm Tuff Eye – my favourite float – with another similar rig a little shallower to fish down the centre track. Tuff Eyes have four interchangeable tips, and I put a black tip in the three-section rig and a red one in the slightly-shallower rig – this stops me picking up the wrong one…which I have been known to do in the past! For far-bank fishing the yellow is always my choice, against the reflection of the bank. Then I chose a light rig for the side – an old Browning float whose name I have forgotten - though I didn’t expect to see anything feed there because of how cold it was.

I got bite after bite on expander pellet in the three-section swim, all of which were liners, as the pellet was untouched. I also briefly hooked several fish, which were obviously foulhooked as again the pellet came back intact. I tried putting the micro and 4 mm feed pellets in with a bait dropper to get the fish down, but nothing changed. They were obviously cruising around but not feeding. A change to the other shallower rig to fish off bottom brought no bites at all!

Then I saw clouds of mud coming up right in the side – in less than a foot of water – and tried there with maggot, but got not a single touch. So I tried a grain of sweetcorn down the side – at about 20 inches deep – and got a small F1 first drop-in. But nothing followed.

Frequent changes of swim and bait saw me with just three small F1s at 1 o’clock, halfway through the match. Annoyingly I could see the next man, Ron, three swims to my left, steadily taking fish four sections out, where I couldn’t even get a liner! Then suddenly I took a 12 oz fish out in front, then two or three more, followed by a lull, and I turned to the inside, where I started catching F1s up to 1 lb. As Victor would say: “I don’t believe it!”

This pattern followed to the end of the match – three or four fish out on pellet then three or four more on maggot down the side in about two feet of water. I found out later that Ron had been catching with his float almost against the reeds, on pellet, in about 12 inches! I tried that briefly, but had to revert to the deeper side swim, just down the shelf, to get a bite. Most came on a single maggot as I just teased the bait sideways. Right at the end a 2 lb bream came in – foulhooked on two maggots. But they all count.

Anyway, I weighed 32 lb, almost all F1s, with all but three taken in the last two-and-a-half hours. Ron had 64 lb for fourth (I think). The match was won to his left with 101 lb, fishing the inside, with several weights in the 50s. And I was reasonably happy at the end, as I wasn’t last, and had I caught as well in the first half as I did the second half, I could have framed.

I still don’t know what went wrong at the start, as I didn’t overfeed. But I wonder if a larger 1 gm rig would have allowed me to control it better – even at just three sections – in the difficult wind. And next time I will also have a tiny really thin-tipped float for the side as an alternative, in case it makes a difference. Until you try it you never know.

The other possibility is that I could have used a sloppy groundbait with hardly any feed as most fish were F1s and I have read that this can be productive for them. I’ve had good catches of F1s from Tunnel Barn Farm fishing as I did here, fishing with very sensitive rigs, but at Decoy, the venue I visit most often, the majority of fish are mirrors and commons, and groundbait is allowed only in a feeder.

Fishing is a never-ending learning process and I am happy, next time, to try something else. A small piece of worm used to catch me crucians in matches when most others were struggling, and that’s another option.

So a nice venue, not too deep, with good banks that enable you to get a full 16 metres behind you. There are Opens on Sundays and Tuesdays, and an Over 50s on Thursday, and I look forward to going back there.

A late finish at Pidley

Magpie Lake, peg 33

This was the regular Over-60s match at Rookery Waters, which is only 20 minutes from my home, and although the café serves breakfasts I usually make do with just a mug of tea. The draw is in the café and I drew on the island, peg 33.

This swim has had some form, though 35, to its right, has been a real flier this Winter. My peg has an island out at about 2 o’clock around 25 metres away and a sunken bed of reeds at 11 o’clock to my left, at about 20 metres. But the good news was that John, on peg 35, said a mate had fished on 32, to my left, yesterday and had 31 good carp – with several over 4 lb – at about 8 metres.

I looked and sure enough there were three carp not far out there, just under the surface. So I determined on three lines – in front at 11 metres, the same distance out towards 32 on the left (which had no-one in it) and a shorter line to the left at 8 metres, closer to the bank as the wind was from the right. I also had a hair-rigged leger, which I used towards the island.

Unfortunately my carefully-laid plans fishing pellet in front and maggot to the left, brought me just three roach in the first four hours! One reason was that five minutes before the match started the light wind, which had been bringing just a few spots of rain from the West, turned a full 180 degrees in seconds, picked up power, and immediately brought very heavy rain from the East, while the temperature dropped. I’ve never seen a wind change so quickly.

I had asked John, earlier, whether he would be putting up his umbrella – and, looking down his nose at me, he replied disdainfully: “No, I shan’t be doing that!” Minutes after the storm started I peered out from under my brolly to see John’s was definitely in place!

John had three early carp, then 90 minutes blank, and then a run of smallish carp around 2 lb. I hadn’t seen much else caught, though after three hours the angler on my left said he had had four carp. I tried touching bottom, laying on, and fishing up to a foot off bottom, with pellet, bread and maggot, all to no avail. So when my mate Colin came down with 45 minutes to go, to see how I was getting on, I was not a happy bunny. Finally, and partly because I was getting cold, I tried the leger again towards the island – once close to the reeds, then a few feet out, and then halfway.

The last cast with corn brought a strong pull, then the tip dropped back, then it went again – not a real wraparound but a definite bite rather than the tiny liners I had been seeing. I struck and it produced a 4 lb carp. There were now about 30 minutes left and I decided to go out towards the same spot with sweetcorn on a pole at 13 metres. It hadn’t worked previously, but I had just noticed three anglers lose carp, so perhaps they were on the move.

I put in a half extension to my Browning Z12 and it felt good, because it gives a nice balance and I can grip it really hard if I wish because it’s strong. The Z12 gives you three reversible half-butts, so they fit into several of the sections. A few frozen grains of corn went in with a tosspot. A couple must have floated and immediately attracted the attention of a couple of mallard. I don’t mind this as I am certain that the fish learn to associate ducks feeding with the opportunity of food for themselves. Even if the fish are not hungry I suspect that habit and instinct urge them to move towards the commotion.

Anyway, within a few minutes I was playing a carp, about 3 lb. Next came a missed bite, then another two carp around 3 lb. I found that I had to leave the bait still for a minute or two, then lift it and if I was going to get a bite it would come almost immediately. It felt as if the fish were lying in wait an inch from the corn and waiting for it to show signs of life. Then they would pounce.

The shout went up to end the match and John on my right was first to weigh, 25 lb, while my four carp and three roach weight 17 lb 10 oz. As usual I had underestimated the weight of my fish! Kevin on 11 won with 28 lb, and there were three around 25 lb – 26 lb. So I was probably fifth or sixth, but out of the frame. The angler on my left had another three carp, I think, for 16 lb

Conclusion.

I can’t pinpoint anything I did wrongly. Sometimes you know, afterwards, that there were things you should have tried but didn’t – not in this case . The angler opposite, I was told, had 16 lb all in the last 30 minutes. So it was probably just one of those days when the carp in some spots were willing to feed occasionally and the carp in others were late starters. The story of my life!

What did I do wrong?

Over 60s, Magpie Lake, Pidley, peg 11

It’s been difficult for everybody in February, because of the weather, and I’ve been no exception.  The same pegs had been dominating on Magpie, and 11 had not been doing much, though I was told someone had had four carp from it, on a straight lead cast to the reeds.

Conditions were good, with only a light breeze, but it was cold. Despite trying corn on a straight lead, my main pole attack with expander pellet at 13 metres, and a maggot swim in deep water near the right-hand margin, where I managed just two roach on maggot. Once when I lifted the rig up at 13 metres I foulhooked a carp about 18 inches off the bottom, but it came off after a few seconds. I plugged away there for the next 90 minutes with not even a liner.

Alan, on 13, to my left, managed three carp for 13 lb in the last hour and a half, for fifth. Opposite on 35 there was 35 lb for second, and it was won on 31 with 39 lb, fishing only about 8 metres out. I don’t know what else I could have done.

Open, Decoy, Yew peg 16

This was the last Sunday Open before the commercial part of the Winter League final, and there were 80 entered from all over the country. I managed a good draw in the far corner of Yew, with a strong breeze into me from the left. I put out a few grains of corn and some expanders in a cup at 13 metres and started on a straight lead with corn. Soon the angler opposite had a couple of carp to his left, into the end bank, and the angler on my left had one long – probably at 14 metres. Meanwhile I had not had a touch so I changed to the pole with an expander at 13 metres, which proved fruitless . Then after about 90 minutes I had a 4 lb carp on maggot close to the end reeds just off bottom. But no more followed, so it was back to expander pellet at 13 metres, and after another hour or so a 5 lb carp was in the net. Then it was a case of changing around, with two more carp from my righthand swim, as I got gradually colder and colder.

I tried a margin swim to my right on and off, but apart from one tiny touch – probably a liner – it produced nothing. Then I had two fish briefly pricked on the main maggot rig. In the last hour I lost three carp in succession – one long and the other two on the maggot rig. One of those was at least 7 lb, and none seemed foulhooked. I have to assume they were just hooked very lightly, as happens in cold water when they are just mouthing the bait.

Not happy, but it would have made no difference as my four fish went 22 lb 10 oz, for almost last on the lake. The other five anglers in my section – three opposite and two to my left – all weighed between 60 lb and 80 lb. Andy Geldart won my lake – and the Open – with 154 lb from a swim five to my left, opposite the bird hide. The swims on all four strips which are in line with the hide or just past it, tend to have an edge. Put a superstar like Andy on one of these when fish are willing to feed, and he’s always in with a good chance.

I was once told that a narrow strip of gravel runs through all the strips here, so that could be the reason fish like it. The whole area is littered with gravel pits, so it’s quite possible that explanation holds water.

Again, I don’t know what I did wrongly. My left margin was difficult, into the wind, and I didn’t fish it seriously. Perhaps I should have targeted it properly in the last hour. The angler on my left told me had had four fish late on in the margins. But when you’re cold making these big decisions is always difficult. I know this is rated as a good summer swim, and with the breeze into the corner I was hopeful at the start. I’ve never managed to draw it before, so at least I now have some idea of the layout.

I can’t beat myself up about coming last in my section – I just still feel privileged to be able to take part in a match with that class of angler.

Back in the old routine

After a few weeks of getting up in the morning to see the whole world covered in frost, an operation, and some follow-up treatment, I found a window in the Arctic conditions – according to the internet Sunday would see it up to 6 degrees, or 4 in the North-East wind. Bravely I checked my tackle on Saturday night, and took some dead maggots out of the freezer ready for a trip to Decoy. Unfortunately I forgot to take the live maggots from my fridge, so was going to have to buy half a pint at Decoy.

At Decoy by 8.30 am, and the Open already had 49 anglers in it – I was the fiftieth. It felt good to get back into a match atmosphere, meeting familiar faces from Wisbech, my old stamping ground, and seeing the Great and the Good preparing for the forthcoming Winter League Final (which will see half the competitors on Fen Drains and half at Decoy – 34 teams of 10 in total). They included some faces I knew but had never met, including Jon Arthur and Lee Kerry, who makes some extremely good You Tube videos in his garage telling about his latest matches. Then there was a good sprinkling of others practising for the Final – a high standard but I was just happy to be there.

The match was on Damson, Cedar, Oak and Yew, with five anglers in a section. I drew Oak 9, towards the slightly favoured end. I have been told in the past that that a strip of gravel runs across these strips about two-thirds of the way down, so I was near it (there are 15 pegs down each side of Oak).

Start was at 10.30 and I started, as I frequently do in Winter, with a straight leger and hair-rigged sweetcorn on a PR36 with quickstop. After the first cast, which produced just a few tiny liners – a mere twitch of the tip as fish off the bottom flicked the line – I put in a small amount of dead maggot, half-a-dozen pieces of corn, and a pinch of hemp at 13 metres. Another fruitless cast on sweetcorn and I went onto the pole line, using a 1 gm Tuff-Eye float and a piece of corn. Just a couple of tiny dips, which were obviously liners, so I changed to two maggots on a size 16 PR 478 hook.

I had plumbed up in front of me and was delighted to see that over a distance of about five yards going to my right the bottom shallowed up by about three inches. So I fished in front of me just off bottom, was at dead depth a little to the right, and could lay on to my far right. All of which produced nothing for 90 minutes. To make a change I swopped to a half-gram Tuff-Eye, but it made no difference.  So I stuck on the 14.5-metre section and two put-ins later had a proper bite, which resulted in a 5 lb mirror carp. I had not put in any more bait, but risked putting a bit more in at 13 metres with a bait-dropper, ensuring it got to the bottom. Then, after a fruitless half-hour here and at 14.5 metres I went back to the leger with two maggots.

Within five minutes a 3 lb carp took it – or so I thought, because it was actually hooked under the chin, but they all count! Meanwhile the angler to my right had had three carp, I think, on a pole at about 14 metres. Over the next hour or so he tried legering, and had a look in the side, as I did, but nothing was forthcoming there.

Then to my left on peg 11 Robert Edmondson started hitting fish – carp around 5lb or 6 lb - on a straight leger with a tail of about a foot – the same as me. I couldn’t see what he was using as bait – it looked white, so I thought it might have been a pop-up. But after an hour, during which time I tried fishing up to a foot off bottom with no result, I had another fish, at 13 metres, a 5 lb golden mirror  which I think was foulhooked somewhere at the back-end, on two white maggots, but in the net the hook fell out so I couldn’t see exactly where it had been. They don’t fight as much as in the summer, but the clear water meant they shy away from the landing net, and I was glad I recently purchased a long, slim, light Matrix handle which meant I could reach right out to them.

At this point I started shivering violently, because the North-Easterly, though not much more than a stiff breeze, was bitterly cold. Everyone I could see had their hoods up and were clearly suffering – not a word was being bandied about. That forecasted 4 degrees had been decidedly optimistic! I had managed to remember to bring a flask of boiling water, and a hot cup of beefy drink definitely revived me slightly. Then I just gritted my teeth for the next hour, and had a look in the side, where the tow was against the wind and enabled me to drag two maggots along the bottom or hold them still – but not a bite!

Almost opposite Robert, Bob Bates, from Wisbech, on peg 22, next to the bird hide, started hitting fish on a pole, fishing towards his right (away from me), while Robert also kept on catching every 10 or 15 minutes. With half-an-hour to go I put on a hair-rigged pop-up, set about a foot from the bottom, and almost immediately was playing a 3 lb carp. The bite was not a real wrap-round – the tip pulled round a little, jumped back, then pulled round a little more and I waited another two or three seconds before I struck. A very half-hearted bite, but I had cracked it! There was time for another three or four fish.

Err, actually, not for the first time, I hadn’t, and there wasn’t. No more fish for me. I was thinking: “I don’t believe it!”  Then the match ended. In club matches I am always the very last to pack up and leave the bank, but in Opens I get back to the car at roughly the same time as most of the others, which I quite enjoy. And it was so on this occasion. I still don’t know how club men manage to get everything away in the car while I’m still packing my holdall!

Along came the scales and my two five-pounders and two three-pounders went 24 lb! Obviously I should have gone to Specsavers; but I know I always under-estimate the weight of fish. Then I saw that the first three in my section had weighed 13 lb, 16 lb and DNW. Robert weighed in 91 lb, and reckoned that it should be good enough to frame (top five) so I might take the section by default.

Robert told me that he was using sweetcorn, and said: “The fish were just there. I didn’t do anything special. They don’t move at this time of year.” An honest assessment from man I have known for years. But you’ve still got to catch them! And Robert is a much better angler than he likes to make out. It was interesting that neither he, nor me, nor the angler on my right had a touch of any sort in the side.

Back at the car, Jon Whincup, on end peg 28 on Cedar, told me he had fish alongside the end bank, at about 12 metres, and near the side on both sides of him. The wind was blowing down towards his end at the car park, but it was so cold I hadn’t imagined it gave any advantage. In the end he was catching his fish a foot off bottom, on maggot, and estimated he had 85 lb. I fact he weighed in 91 lb 8 oz for fourth. Robert was fifth, so I took my section by default – a very pleasing outcome, especially in that sort of company.

The fish were well spread – first and third were on Damson, second on Yew 18, with Jon fourth and Robert fifth. Bob Bates, who sat opposite, to my left, ended with 71 lb on maggot. And there were good weights all round – I think I was in one of the worst sections. The standard of fishing there was just awesome. I know I am not in their league – but I like to think I can give them a run for their money!  It’s good to be back in the old routine.

Two and a half lessons learned

At the beginning of December there appeared a three-day mild spell, with temperatures up to a heady 8 degrees C, so I went to fish a Decoy Open. It was held on Elm and Cedar, with about 10 or 12 on each. My peg was Cedar, 22.

I can’t remember the exact details of the match, but three incidents stick in my mind. Firstly – I put out a straight leger with a soft piece of sweetcorn first cast and after five minutes or so a 2 lb F1 nearly took the rod in. I had set the clutch to give, so I picked up the rod, waited a second or two until I had gauged the size of the fish, and tightened down the clutch, flicking off the anti-reverse. Playing fish on the clutch brings terrible line twist, so I prefer to play them by backwinding.

Next cast, with another piece of sweetcorn, which had been frozen and thawed so it was very soft, the same thing happened – rod round, I pick it up, and…bang! I had forgotten to re-set the clutch and this fish, which felt really big, took off before I could do anything. Hooklength  gone. One lesson learned.  I laid the rod down and had a look on the pole, which gave me a few fish to 8 lb, fishing at 13 metres, in the next couple of hours.

Next incident came after I put an 18-inch hooklength back on the leger gear, thinking it would give a slower fall, which might be more appetising to a fish cruising off the bottom . Another wrap-round found me attached to a big fish, for at least ten minutes! I have to assume it was foulhooked, as after ten minutes I was nowhere near to seeing it start to tire.  I kept putting the rod tip under the water and holding it, so gradually it would come in towards me; but then it would be off again.

The crunch came when it was close to me, but started moving again to my left, about ten feet out and parallel to the bank. Rod tip was in the water, and the fish was dangerously close to the next platform; so I plunged the rod right down and held. I felt it stop, and then start to drift back towards me an inch or two. Suddenly, with no effort on the fish’s part, the line went slack. The hooklength had parted about halfway along.

Afterwards I think I worked out what happened. The fish was probably foulhooked somewhere on the right side of the mouth or head; it was moving to my left, so pushing the rod down would have brought the line, under tension, across it back. I suspect it then caught on the hook of the front spine of the dorsal fin and as the fish turned the line was cut as if it had been sliced with a razor blade. Half a lesson learned, I reckon – I will stick with my normal short hooklengths, so in the same scenario it will be the tough Maxima reel line which comes across the back of the fish. Half a lesson learned.

Finally, after three hours and a bit I reckoned I had a little over 30 lb, mainly on the pole, which was looking good because I hadn’t seen much else being caught; then my left-hand neighbour had a purple patch, landing about four good fish, probably 5 lb each, while I sat biteless. So with half-an-hour to go I got up, went to my holdall, and got out my 14.5-metre section. I can’t fish over 13 metres for a whole match, as I’m no longer young and the muscles give up eventually, but on it went to 14.5 metres (a true length as this is a Browning Z12). First put-in I got a 2 lb F1.

Next put-in a missed bite, then a better carp. And then another carp. All without my having put any feed in on the line at all! I weighed in 45 lb, which was top weight along the far bank and to my right; but my left-hand neighbour put 48 lb on the scales. Those two lost fish had cost me top weight on Cedar. So second on the lake…and I picked up not a penny! Elm produced the top five or six weights, topped by 128 lb, with several over 50 lb, and my neighbour won my section. No complaints – I’d had a good result, for me, and had an interesting day.

The third lesson was the most important. I will be more ready to push the boat (sorry, pole) out in future. But I will still probably leave 16 metres for fishing to a feature. If there’s plenty of bank behind, two rollers make it reasonably easy to fish 16 metres, but on most fisheries I go to  there is not that amount of room behind – and certainly not on the strips at Decoy, where it would be overhanging the lake behind.  Breaking the pole down twice, or even halfway , is a real pain at 16 metres, so I do it as little as possible.

Soft sweetcorn

I throw very little bait away, and always freeze unused sweetcorn after use. In a club match on Horseshoe, Decoy (peg 20) in November I found it was the only bait I could get proper bites on. A hard piece resulted only in a foulhooked F1, so I tried a soft piece and picked up odd fish all day, fishing at about 10 metres close to the lillies (which were still showing there in November, before the first freeze). Maggot brought a couple of tiny roach so I stuck with the corn, managing 40 lb, which was enough to win the match.

It sinks more slowly than hard corn, but whether it’s that which attracts the carp, or the fact that it is soft, I have no idea.  It worked, so I used it!

Was it the rig?

In the middle of the freeze I had a pleasure session at Rookery Waters,  Pidley, dobbing bread ie: no loose feed or groundbait – just suspending bread somewhere above bottom. Matches are being won doing that, picking off carp moving around off bottom.

I dropped in peg 1, and put out a small piece of bread punch at 10 metres near the lillies. Within a minute a 2 lb carp was on its way in. Now readers will think I’m strange, but at this point I had done what I wanted to do – prove to myself that it worked! Just to give me confidence. So I walked round to see an angler on peg 20 (nice swim with an overhanging tree) and another on peg 38 (which has been the most consistent peg this winter). I got back about 20 minutes later, put out the rig, and immediately got another carp.

At this point I do what I usually do when pleasuring – I took off the rig and put it in my box, knowing it worked. Then I put on another similar rig, except that this one had a lighter hooklength instead of being straight through. In the next 90 minutes I never had another bite on bread, though just before leaving I tried a couple of maggots and hooked two small roach on the bottom, and a rudd  fishing about a foot deep.

After two fish in two casts on the first rig I must assume that something on the second rig wasn’t right; but it’s still a mystery. Anyway, if I get back there and want to fish the same method the original rig will go back on.