Another good day

Yew Lake, Decoy, peg 18

The day after taking 132 lb on Elm I found myself on Yew, which holds the biggest average fish of all the strips. Again 15 fished this club match, and again the wind was a strong South-Westerly from the left, slightly into my face. My peg is three from the far end (15 down each side).

Hoping I had learned a lesson the previous day I decided to concentrate on meat close in, but starting at three sections with pellet  to get a feel for the swim. However, in the first two hours I managed just one foulhooked five-pounder on pellet, and another three-pounder  also foulhooked, closer-in, also on pellet which I had put on because nothing seemd to want meat.

I walked up to Martin, on my right, who said he had seven fish and had started on his second net. I went back, put in some maggots next to the grass on my right, and promptly foulhooked another carp. Then I had one correctly hooked, and gradually sport picked up.  I fished mainly the close-in swim, at five feet next to the grass, and another down the shelf about two feet farther out. Beyond this the depth dropped to around eight feet.

My swim - eight feet deep in line with the edge of the reeds, but I caught most inside that line
within two feet of the bank.

Good fish start coming in

Swapping these swims brought some good carp, to 10 lb, but there was no pattern. Towards the end I started in the deeper water and hooked four or five barbel to 4 lb but they take so long to land!  One fish I had on was at least 10lb, and as I was about to net it the fish slipped under the landing net, caught the hook in the mesh, and was gone! That cost me...

By the end I was on my 40-year-old stiff margin pole with only about five deet of strong latex, which definitely helps land the fish more quickly – they fight less because the pole is stiffer.

As a change I also had a drop down the left-hand swim right next to the grass, and this brought two F1s, but I declined to stay on these – lesson learned. With 90 minutes to go I went for another net and again, with just over 15 minutes to go, I would have liked to get a fourth, but decided against it because again it entailed a longish walk back to the car.

The result. Trevor, second, had 80 lb on the last 90 minutes!

In the event I didn't need another net,  but I landed three big carp in that  17 minutes, bringing my nets to 48 lb, 47 lb and 43 lb (just five fish), totalling 139 lb 9 oz. Another good day, which brought me third spot. That lost ten-pounder cost me at least second place, for which I needed only another 13 oz.

I believe that Yew lake is a little deeper towards the far end than it is towards the car park end,  where I have had no more than five feet depth in Summer. And no pictures of fish because at the end my phone showed just 1% charge. Luckily I keep a portable charger in the car, so was able to recharge the phone sufficiently to take the results! These Smart phones aren’t that smart – my old one would hold its charge for weeks...

Next matches

I intend to fish a club match on Sunday on Willows, where carp and barbel should show. Peg 25 is the expected flier but I'd also be happy with 23, 24, 27, 29, 30, 31 and 35. But better weights have also been coming from the bay from 15 to 22 recently.  Out of the rest 2 and 3 would be OK.

Next day sees me in another club event on Horseshoe, where there are more F1s. If it's a strong North-Easterly, as forecast today, then anywhere from 13 to 20 would do me fine!

A good day

Circumstances have meant this is a bit late. Sorry.

Elm Lake, Decoy, peg 13

Peg 13 is in the far corner of this strip lake, and with the South-Westerly wind blowing into that corner I should have been very happy – but I never seem to do any good in these corners!  Fifteen of us fished this club match.

Withing seconds of the start John, on my left, was playing a very big fish, which I know was hooked close-in, in the deep water, probably on cat meat. I started at four sections out on expander, as the wind was so strong it wasn’t easy to fish any farther out, and after ten minutes  without a fish, and with John and Kev, opposite, landing much bigger fish closer in, I had a look in the deep water about two metres out, where the depth was around eight feet, because of the high water levels.

A 2 lb carp was followed by a 2 lb barbel, both on cat meat, and, with every intention of staying in that swim, a little to my right just past the end of two pipes which stuck out, I put in some corn and pellets, and had a look in the shallower water closer in.

Sure enough, in about five feet of water, F1s showed immediately – fish around 2 lb to 3 lb, but not quick. About one every six or seven minutes was the average. I dropped in at three feet close to the bank on my left – so close the float was actually touching the grass – and got another F1 the same size. From then on it was a case of catching a couple of each swim before changing sides. Interestingly the best place was right under the pipes, so that my float touched them.

Big decision to take

Others seemed to be catching bigger fish, up to 10 lb, and I had to decide whether to go back to the meat or to carry on putting smaller fish in the net using pellet. I decided to carry on. In retrospect this was probably the wrong decision.

With two-and-a-half hours to go I went for a third net (50 lb maximum allowed) and had quite a good spell, then everything slowed, until I eventually decided  I needed a fourth net. I normally stop at around 40 lb to allow some error. But my watch then showed just 17 minutes to the end, and by the time I’d walked the 13 pegs to the car, got the net, and returned I decided it wasn’t worth the bother.

A good time had by all, with six catching 100 lb-plus.

So I carried on fishing...and had the best spell of the day (Sod’s Law). In came two F1s, then a four-pounder, all placed into different nets, and when the whistle went I was playing a six-pounder, my best fish of the day, which I landed. I put it into the last net...which brought it well over the 50 lb limit! If I’d put it into my first net it would have counted. My final weight was 132 lb 7 oz, for fifth, and if I’d put both my last two fish into that first net, which went 39 lb,  I would have been third!

By the end it was raining quite hard, so no pictures of my swim or any fish! The match was won by Dave Garner, our club champion, who does not posses a pole, with 173 lb on waggler and meat – though after the first hour the wind had changed and was then behind him, and into my face. He was more than 10 lb over in his nets, so a super performance. But the better weights tended to come from the windier end, as often happens.

And whatever the result I’d had a good day; which is what it’s all about.

I draw the Golden Peg, but...

Cedar Lake, Decoy, peg 20

This was the first Fenland Rods club match of the year, fished by 16. There’s water lying everywhere on the fields, and the water level was well up, leaving the platform on peg 22 (which has been one of the hot pegs during the Winter, partially underwater, so it wasn’t pegged. However, from the results it looks as if the fish have spread out, so 22 and the peg opposite, Number 6, probably won’t necessarily be better than the rest from now on. My swim was almost eight feet deep – showing how much extra water is in the lakes after this incredibly wet spell we’ve had.

The weather was really uncomfortable – a cold North-Easterly (not the mild weather forecast) and persistent rain from start to finish (hence no pictures) – not heavy, but enough to soak everything and to make my hands cold. By the end I was shivering, even though the wind on our bank was from behind. But I was, at least, on the £100 Golden Peg!

Fish first cast!

I started on a Method feeder with a pop-up and hit a carp of 3 lb first cast, followed immediately by one of 6 lb. A third cast brought nothing so I had a quick look in the deep-water margin swim, which was just as deep, where I had been throwing maggots. A 4 lb barbel was the first fish – foulhooked. This was followed by another, smaller fish, and after a blank ten minutes I decided to have a look at 13 metres, which was where I imagined my main swim would be, putting in about ten grains of corn and a few micros with each drop-in.

Again, first cast produced a carp, of about 4 lb, to corn, but it never produced fish regularly. I could see liners coming every minute or two, but didn’t strike until it looked like a bite, and they came only at intervals of about 10 minutes. A couple were foulhooked so I looked up in the water at various depths, but never had a bite! Back on the bottom came another bite or two, and another fish foulhooked.

Barbel in the side

So it was back, for the moment, to the side swim, where another couple of barbel came, and then the swim died. The float kept dipping but not turning into a bite, and I am convinced these were barbel snuffling around the bait but not taking it. I’ve noticed this before when barbel are in the swim.  Back to 13 metres with corn and another couple of fish foulhooked. At one point about 90 minutes before the end I foulhooked four fish in four casts at 13 metres, landing the first three. Among those I had lost I’m convinced there were some over 4 lb - although foulhooked, they felt like sacks of potatoes, rather than dashing around everywhere.

From what I could see not a lot of fish were being caught, so I thought that perhaps I might frame, but was annoyed I had foulhooked (and lost) so many fish. Afterwards I found that a lot of anglers had the same problem, and an angler on Oak Lake, behind me, told me the same thing. Of course, landing foulhooked fish is partially down to luck – there’s no standard way of playing and landing them that I know of. The worst, I have found, are those hooked in the tail, and those hooked in the nose.

A short spell on cat meat down the side, which produced just one 2 lb bream. In the last half-hour, with about 50 lb in the net, I put in two bait-droppers of maggots into the side swim, hoping this would keep the roach away, and took three more barbel to 4 lb, two hooked on the outside of the lip, which further convinced me they were taking the bait only half-heartedly.

The (rather wet) results sheet.

To my right Tony Nisbet fished at 6 metres, after taking a few fish down the side, and took fish regularly on a 6mm expander, to win with 85 lb 4 oz, and I was second with 64 lb 4 oz. But the weights were spread around pretty evenly, and I was impressed that on such a difficult day my mates caught as many as they did. It was the sort of day when, because of the cold and wet,  I just could not bring myself to get up and start adding extra sections, or putting on different rigs. 

The one thing I should have done was to follow Tony’s lead and start a new swim at six metres, which would have been much easier to fish. But I didn’t actually realise he was catching so many fish. Mike Rawson took almost all barbel down the side on a maggot feeder - something I believe I should try more often. But you can't do everything.

Dave Garner, last season's Club Champion,. took third place - it's astounding how he catches on cat meat whatever the conditions, using just rod and line! 

So a pretty good result for me...but no £100 to put in my back pocket.  I know that a good angler would have found a way of avoiding those foulhooked fish. However, hats off to Tony. My next match is in two weeks time, on Elm. Hopefully it will be a little warmer.

I manage to frame

Kingsland Large Carp Lake, Coates, Cambs

There were 12 of us in this club match, and were given (as matches here seem to be now) the Eastern bank of the lake. Our peg 1 was in the first corner, down to 5, where there was a pleasure angler, and then 6 round to 12, in the U-shaped end of the lake). This is a great water for fishing shallow, and I used to use a pellet waggler, but now we’re always on the Eastern bank we are always facing any prevailing wind with West in it, which can make float fishing difficult, and  if the wind is behind us, as it was on this day, it’s always an Easterly which is never ideal for fishing shallow.

The fishing can be great, with lots of double-figure carp, but the banks are awkward, and you can’t lay everything out within easy reach, so I just took my rods and main pole, leaving behind the margin pole I like to use for lumps and which usually take here. The wind was cool, but at least there was no rain. My swim was 7, with the usual reed beds extending a few feet out – though towards the right, the higher numbers, there are two or three swims where you can fish very close in. Unfortunately I never seem to draw these.

My swim, with reeds either side, which can make it
 difficult landing fish  in Summer.

I started on the Method, with yellow pop-up, and after about 45 minutes took a 5 lb carp. After another 30 minutes biteless I changed to a pole, where I had put in half a pot of pellet and corn, and took carp of 6 lb and 8 lb in the next hour, fishing five sections out with corn. Then a hour went by without a fish – but Trevor, to my right, started taking carp regularly about every 15 minutes, on a pole. The swim was about 8-9 feet deep from just past the reeds and seemed not to alter depth by more than an inch or two right out to where I fished.

But landing carp on a top two when fishing eight feet deep was quite difficult, particularly since they simply kept refusing to come up to the surface. I was glad I had a puller on my Preston 13 Hollo elastic, as without it I would have had to use at least three and possibly four sections. The water was still cold, so obviously held more oxygen than it does in Summer, and the fish took advantage of that, taking well over five minutes to land, though Trevor seemed to be having less trouble.

Eventually I managed to hook a three-pounder...in the tail! It scorched away into Trevor’s swim but eventually landed up in my net. Then, for the next two hours, I couldn’t get a fish. I tried cat meat over dead maggots near the side where John, to my left, had taken a fish which we later weighed at 16 lb 5 oz (one of only two fish he had all match), getting several obvious liners from fish near the surtface, and striking at just two bites. Both hooked fish, and both the fish came off after five seconds – the second was definitely foulhooked so I assume the first was. I also hooked two roach on a bunch of deads but they, also, both came off.

John played a big carp for around 15 minutes, eventually landing it. But he ended with just two fish.

 

John's 16 lb 5 oz common.

Last-hour sprint

With 45 minutes left and just four fish weiging about 19 lb I knew I was well behind Trevor, who had 14 or 15 fish. I was at a loss to know what to do and in fact at one time started to nod off on my basket because of the lack of action. Another cast on the Method brought not even a liner, so I decided to ‘start again’ – fishing as if the match had just started.

I added another section, brought my droppers down again to within ten inches of the hook, and put on a small pole cup, filling it with ten grains of corn and a topping of Micros. I had watched Trevor carefully and he seemed to be fishing like this. To all intents and purposes I was fishing a nerw swim.

Out it went, and almost before the bait had wafted down to the bottom the float shivered and jerked under. I struck, and hooked a 6 lb carp. A good five minutes was spent landing it . Out I went again, and hooked another carp, about 8 lb.

 I was letting the rig settle and then dropping the bait directly and holding the rig steady before, after a minute, letting it drift slowly to the left. Normally I would drop the bait in first, but with so little time left the accuracy of the baiting right over the float gave me confidence.

The next cast saw the float go under but I realised that it was the corn. Somehow during the last fight the shot under the float had slipped and the float had dropped down the line. I moved the float up half-an-inch, tightened the shot underneath it, and next time it sat perfectly and I had a bite as soon as I allowed the float to drift very slowly. This gives a tiny bit of movement to the bait. This fish was 6 lb and the next drop-in brought another of 8 lb, which I landed five minutes after the match finished. Adding a section had occasionally brought me fish before, but not as spectacularly as this. Four fish in the last 40 minutes, while Trevor had started to struggle.

The weigh-in

Ninety-year-old Ted on Peg 1 weighed 31 lb 15 – what a great bloke. I was told that a lot of the fish in the first few pegs came in the last hour. I had no idea whether they had been catching but I felt, all day, that no-one was likely to have a huge bag. I was top weight down to me, with 48 lb 3 oz. Then came Trevor – and I found out the reason he was landing fish more quickly than me – I had 8 fish for 48 lb, average 6 lb; Trevor had 17 fish for 61 lb 3 oz, average around 3.5 lb.

 

Terry Tribe - Mr Happy!

Bob Barrett - Mr Unlucky!!

A tie for 1st place

Two pegs farther down was Bob Barrett, who had taken some better fish close-in, on corn. He had about ten...and they also weighed exactly 61 lb 3 oz. Talk about unlucky – he was on the Golden Peg but because he wasn’t the outright winner the money couldn’t be paid out.

I ended third with Terry Tribe, former National winner, fourth, taking his fish nearly all close in. So all-round I was happy. And with my next match on Sunday on Cedar Lake at Decoy I’m likely to start the same way as I finished here – a soft approach at 13 metres (wind permitting),  a meat rig ready for the side, and another side rig for maggot if the barbel show.

I wouldn’t mind pegs 1 or 26, at the car park end, or around peg 6 or opposite on 21. But, as always, I’m happy just to be fishing, and with slightly milder weather (though the water will still be cold) there’s a chance of winning off any peg.

Hurry up and take the picture!!

The result

My plans changed

Sorry - can't fish the match on Thursday now. I expect to fish a Decoy Open probably on Sunday.

A satisfactory match on Oak

Oak Lake, Decoy, peg 24

This was a regular Sunday Open, fished by some very good anglers (12 of us in total), and I was dubious about doing well, unless I managed to pick peg 10 or opposite on 21 or 22. In the event 24 stuck to my fingers, which, although only 20 yards from the hot area, hasn’t been regarded as anything other than average. But with the slightly warmer weather the anglers were hoping the fish might have started moving from the areas where they have been coralled all winter. That hope was dashed for me when Adam Playford, on my right on 22, next to the bird hide, had a big fish on within a minute of the match starting!

Foulhookers and double-figure fish

I hooked a fish at 13 metres on pellet after about 20 minutes, but it came off immediately – probably foulhooked. So I potted in a small amount of pellet and hemp and had a look down the side, in the deep water, where I had been throwing maggots. Within two minutes I hooked a big fish which was obviously foulhooked, and which came off ten minutes after being hooked. It went to ground near the side, but rather than being snagged, I think it just stopped swimming – it felt like a sack of potatoes. Probably a very big double.

In the next two hours I managed to hook a three-pounder on corn and lose another huge fish after a long fight, also obviously foulhooked by the way it swam. So halfway though the match it was Carp -3; Me – 1. I had 3 lb in my net, and Adam and the angler opposite, Steve Harwood, seemed to be on their way towards 100 lb!

Maggot works!

Desperate, I started using maggot, and managed to catch  four more – three around in the side, in the deep water, where it was a foot deeper than at 13 metres, and one out at 13 metres – all on maggot. I learned later that most of the better weights were taken on maggot, but with the air a little warmer than recently I had banked on pellet working. You can’t win ‘em all... Two of my fish were around 10 lb with one at 6 lb and another around 8 lb.

Adam’s swim dried towards the end, but Steve carried on catching fish regularly and his winning catch of 128 lb consisted of just 18 fish. This is the peg I was on two weeks ago when I weighed over 100 lb.

Me with a 10 lb-plus friend.

Runner-up Adam Playford, 81 lb.

How the top men fish

Across from me a little to the left Chris Barley on peg 6 was working hard, continually moving swims from 13 metres, to about 7 metres and then down the side, and catching odd fish all day for an impressive third place.

One tends to think that top anglers like Chris can tell as soon as they get to the water’s edge how they will catch, and where. In fact they usually fish very little differently to the way most of us fish – learning as the day goes on and trying stuff until they find something that works. I once sat behind Nigel Baxter to watch him fish a whole match at Decoy, and afterwards I decided he fishes very little differently to the way I do...except that he obviously does it just a little better. It brings home to me that fishing is not an exact art – it’s almost always trial and error.

I managed sixth, which I was pleased with.

Happy...

The results are shown and I was happy that, in the end, my five fish weighed 37 lb for sixth spot in a strong field of 12, which also included Barry Mason. Three of mine were foulhooked, but then most anglers had this problem. The water was ice cold, however the fish were moving, swirling near the surface, but obviously not in feeding mode – Rob Goodson fished shallow for a long time for just two.

My next match is on Cedar this Thursday, when the best weights may come from around peg 6 or opposite around 19. When the water has warmed up the fish should move. The carp here are not as big an average as in Oak and Yew, but there appear to be more barbel, so dead maggots down the side may play a part.

Not a happy bunny

Six-islands Lake, Decoy, peg 20

This was a club match, with 11 fishing, and I would have preferred pegs 4 round to 14, which were forecast to have a ripple in a Westerly wind. But I wasn’t unhappy with 20, as it’s the peg where I won a Decoy Winter League this Winter, and when I got to my peg I remembered exactly where I had had my fish. At the start my swim was almost flat calm, and the sun was shining – not ideal in Winter. But I was still optimistic.

Calm water and sunshine at the start - the wind picked up gradually.

Unfortunately I couldn’t repeat any sort of success. I started at 11.5 metres on pellet over micros to the end of the island, but hooked just one fish in the first hour which came unstuck after one second.  I stuck it our here for nothing for another hour, also trying corn, and eventually coming in to the inside of the island, and getting a few roach on maggot. I then tried maggot in my first swim, for some roach and then a 2 lb F1 – but no more came.

The rest of the match was spent working my way round four swims, mainly with maggot, bites were spasmodic, and apart from a couple of perch every fish was a roach, best about 6 oz. The other two swims were down the track and into deepish water on a top-two plus one. Mick, to my right on 18, started catching fish very close in, and I could see he was almost four feet deep. However my bank had fallen in, giving a horrible bumpy margin and I had to go farther out to find the deeper water, but there was no feature to fish near, like a quick drop-off or reeds, so I had to just watch Mick pick up about seven carp in the last couple of hours.

The result - not brilliant but the water is still very cold.

Wind became a nuisance

The wind had started changing around – one minute from the right and next from the left; and one huge gust blew me into the island, snagged my rig, and I had to pull for a break and concentrate on closer swims for the next hour, just catching a few roach. Then the sky became overcast and it became much colder. Half-an-hour from the end I tried pellet again, at 11.5 metres, and foulhooked another 2 lb F1.

Bob, second with 42 lb 3 oz

Trevor - with 64 lb 8 oz on corn.

I weighed exactly 10 lb, next to last. Rob Allen, on my left, managed just four knocks on a feeder for three fish weighing 8 lb 7 oz. The windy section had fished a bit better, and Trevor, our organiser, won on peg 13 with 64 lb 8 oz on corn - and he was over the 50 lb limit in one net! Bob was on peg 9 – a peg I would love, as there are so many options (good margin to the right, shallow in the corner, the end bank within 13 metres, and an aerator 25 yards away in front) but have only drawn about twice in 20 years! Interestingly Peter, on 11, had nothing after three hours and tried cat meat in desperation, taking carp and the odd barbel for 34 lb 7 oz. I hadn’t had the nerve to try it! But I still believe that there weren’t as many fish willing to feed in our stretch of the lake at the car park end.

Mick thrashed me next door
 (we went to junior school together).

Peter's catch, taken on catmeat, which
included some barbel.

Next match may be an Open this weekend,but I haven’t decided which day is most convenient.