Ellis remembered, and taming the Magpie

The Ellis Buddle Memorial Match on Oak
Disappointingly I couldn't fish this drawn-team match, which I have fished every year since its inception, but I know Shaun Buddle was chuffed that 25 anglers turned out this year. Ellis was an inspiration to me - once we had him sitting on his platform, with all his gear within reach, he would connect up his oxygen bottle and happily fish away all day. I don't have the result of this year's event, but I know it was won by Peter Harrison, and that some anglers caught only one fish in the five-and-a-half-hour contest. So it sounds like a typical fishing match...with mixed fortunes.

Shaun has asked me to include the following piece, which I am very happy to do:

"I would like to thank all who attended my Dad's memorial match on Saturday, Sept 3, at Decoy. I'm sure Dad was up there wishing he was still here, fishing with us all.

"I would also like to thank Decoy for the trophies, and Wendy and Joe Bedford and Mum Buddle for the prizes.

"It was so good to see you all, and I've no more to say, really, except well done to all the winners, and  Saturday, September 23rd is booked for next year."

I hope I will be there myself.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Peg 8, Magpie, Pidley, Sunday, Sept 4
Thirteen of us fished this Fenland Rods match, with 14 pegs going into the bag, and that included four on the island, which everyone, including me, fancied to produce the best weights. 

My right margin - where I caught most fish early on.

On the main bank I fancied Peg 7, partly because I had spent 15 minutes a couple of weeks ago watching Peter Holland catching very quickly close in on a top 2 to his right, and finishing with well over 200 lb. It's the next-best thing to doing it yourself. In fact Peg 8 is very similar - most of the swims on Magpie have been designed to give you a margin between bank protruding out into the lake on each side of the bankside platform - except that on 8 the nearest bankside is to the left. 

I pulled in several long reed stems there that were laying on the surface, but even so it wasn't possible to fish quite as close to the reeds as it was to the bank on the right on Peg 7. But I was happy enough, and also plumbed up on five sections to the right, against the grass there. My planned attack was with luncheon meat, which I love as it is such a versatile bait, and using a big lump is so often better than using cat meat because small fish can't nibble it away. It's not allowed on Decoy, so I don't get to use it often.

The left margin was quite snaggy next to the reeds.

I try mugging
At the start, with so many fish showing just under the surface I couldn't resist dropping an expander in front of them...to no avail. Then it was on expanders out in front of me, on the bottom, but I didn't even get a liner. To the left I saw John Smith on 10 take at least three good fish shallow in the first 45 minutes, and Shaun Buddle on 7 also had a fish or two not far out, on the bottom. 

A switch to luncheon meat to the righthand bank saw two carp and a roach come in, and after an hour that was all I had, so I was well behind both John and Shaun. I was feeding small, 4mm cubes, and was getting a lot of little touches, so I carried on, and in the next hour or so had about three more carp around 3 lb. Then came a very slow spell and I turned to the left margin, where I had been dripping in sweetcorn but never had a touch.

Small cubes of luncheon meat best
I put on a bigger piece of meat, in the right margin, and because I didn't get a single movement of the float I decided that they preferred a small bait, so went back to the tiny cubes. Slowly my bite rate increased, and a few carp, best about about 5 lb, came in, but it was noticeable that once I had hooked a fish that spot was barren for some time. So I started putting in meat to the left margin, in the slightly deeper water, and had an occasional fish there as well, switching sides after each fish.

Shaun blitzed me in the first 90 minutes. fishing paste short in front of him.

Then I had a look just to the right, against the bank, on a top two, and had a fish there immediately. So that gave me three spots to alternate, and I had a better spell, with the occasional tiny perch, some nice roach, but mainly carp around 4 lb. Shaun was now catching on paste in front of him an about three sections. I tried cat meat and had a fish or two, but went back to luncheon meat as it seemed to produce bites more quickly.

The lefthand swim was snaggy and I hooked up solid there three times, so moved out a little into the deeper water, where there were no snags, but not as many fish either!

Those pesky bites!
Shaun and myself had both been missing no end of bites, though. Every minute or two his pole shot up and occasionally his elastic came out, but more often than not it was a bite missed. He said afterwards that he was missing real sail-away bites on his paste. 

Mike Rawson had only two fish with 75 minutes
left, and finished with 36 lb 2 oz.

I steeled myself to not striking quickly, and indeed a lot of times, after bobbing about and dropping down in the water the float would settle again for about ten seconds before diving down in a proper bite. As if the fish was knocking it with his head before swimming away, turning round, and finally taking the bait. But I still foulhooked, and lost, half a dozen

One fish was a five-pounder hooked in the tail which came in very eventually, to chuckles from Shaun. and another, hooked in the outside of the mouth, also took a heck of a time to come to the net.

With about 90 minutes to go I tried mussel and this seemed to pick out the better fish, though one about 6 lb was foulhooked in the side, and that was almost as hard to net as the tail-hooked fish.

A fourth net I didn't need
We were fishing to fishery rules - three nets with the fish split - but I didn't click the fish, so was unsure what I had, and put in a fourth net with 45 minutes to go, at which point Shaun told me that he had clicked 101 lb - much, much less than I had thought. Inevitably my bites slowed up then (as they do!) but I managed to add about four decent carp and a couple of smaller ones, on mussel, before the match finished.

Kevin Lee with part of his winning catch...

I hadn't taken much notice of the other anglers I could see to my left, or opposite on the island, so had no idea what they might have caught. But I strongly suspected that Peter Spriggs on 4 would have found a lot of fish, as he would have called out to the carp, and they would have been fighting all day to throw themselves onto his hook 😀. I honestly had no idea what I had - probably over 100 lb.

The weigh-in
I had five rigs to pack away, so as usual the scales came to me before I had finished. Sure enough Peter was in the lead with 115 lb, they told me. Shaun had already told me that when he had seen me catch towards the end right in the side (when I would have been using mussel) he switched, but his catch rate slowed. I should have stayed out" he said, "Instead of coming in close like you". But he still went into the lead, weighing 124 lb 3 oz.

...which included this mirror carp of about 10 lb.

 

My fourth net went 24 lb, and the other three all had around 35 lb in - total 133 lb 9 oz. And that led round to Kevin Lee on peg13, who had found 205 lb 13 oz on cat meat and paste, followed by Dave Garner on 14 with 76 lb 1 oz. But with the three pegs on the island to be weighed (34 was not drawn) I suspected I would drop down from second spot.

I should have switched baits

THEN I looked at the weighing board and saw that those pegs had already been weighed, and that they hadn't got huge weights, so I ended as runner-up. I think I was lucky, with Shaun only two fish behind me, because I should have tried switching baits occasionally during the times when I was getting touches but no proper bites. I could have tried sweetcorn (I had only one fish on it), or cat meat again, or paste, or even a bunch of maggots. I also forgot I had a pint of casters with me, which could well have brought carp in to the margin and got them feeding better.

Dick Warrener does more work than anybody at the weigh-ins,
including lifting my nets from the water for me. Thanks, mate.

Last to weigh was former club champion Dave Garner,
fifth with 76 lb 1 oz, all taken on a waggler.

So very well done to Kevin - he has absolute confidence in fishing those big baits all day while I need to start getting bites on smaller baits. And those three island pegs, which produced huge weights in a recent-three-day festival, were out of sorts. A real deluge of rain would help, I think.

Next match Friday on Yew Lake at Decoy, where we can expect carp of 8 lb-plus to dominate. I hope to avoid the car park end, say pegs 1 to 6 and 25 to 30. But I've known them to win - Decoy is like that; you can win from anywhere. Just give me a Raspberry Ripple!

Peter's run continues, on Beastie, Decoy

Peter Spriggs can't stop catching fish, and his amazing run of results continued in this Spratts match. He drew Peg 2 (my second-favourite swim on the lake) and fished first at six metres, and then in the margins for carp to 8 lb and a winning total of 130 lb 2 oz.

I couldn't fish this match, because I was up there in South Yorkshire, where they talk funny and where most of the grass was green - honestly. Down here in Cambridgeshire it's still brown, though there was some rain the day before I left, and I was told that a little fell while we were away. So no fishing for me, but looking around York was probably the next-best thing - it's a fantastic city.

Shaun Buddle was yet again in the frame, with 117 lb 4 oz taken at five metres and in the margins on Peg 3, with his best fish around 10 lb. Trevor Cousins was third from Peg 26,  a swim which used to be rated highly but which has not been producing big catches lately. Anyway he finished with 109 lb 10 oz from the margins on meat and corn.

A little bird told me that prawns, cockles, mussels and shrimps all caught fish...while the rumour is that Peter Barnes winkled out some of his fish on...winkles! But did he winkle them out of their shells first?

Incidentally I see that Peter Holland, another who is having a fantastic run of results in club matches and Opens, won a match on Peg 1, which is often left out.

My next match is tomorrow on Magpie at Pidley. Some very big weights, including over 300 lb, were taken on Magpie in the recent three-day festival, though I think a lot of the anglers were using caster. I've not ordered any, so pellets and then meat are likely to be my approach (with mussels up my sleeve)..

THE RESULT

2 Peter Spriggs          130 lb 2 oz         1st
3 Shaun Buddle        117 lb 4 oz        2nd
4 Martin Parker         86 lb 8 oz        
5 Mike Rawson         87 lb 9 oz          4th
15 Peter Barnes        41 lb 1 oz
17 Peter Harrison      79 lb 10 oz
18 Joe Bedford          60 lb 10 oz
22 Bob Allen            48 lb 10 oz
23 Alan Porter           81 lb 1 oz
24 Bob Barrett           80 lb 6 oz
26 Trevor Cousins     109 lb 10 oz    3rd

29 Dick Warrener      74 lb 8 oz
30 John Garner         71 lb 10 oz

I pick my bogey (again) - Six-Island

Peg 22, Wednesday, Aug 24
My name was last out of the bag, picked not by me actually, but by Trevor. Then: "Twenty-Two." Two little ducks...quack, quack. quack. And I may have moaned and said to John Garner: "That's the only peg I wouldn't have picked on that lake." Because I have drawn that swim more times than any other on the whole complex, and I can remember only once when I did OK on it. I was told some years ago that it's a great peg in Winter, because it's the deepest swim on the lake. But every time I've drawn it it's been in Summer.

There had been a bright spot the day before - Tescos had stocked up with frozen mussels and I bought three bags. Be Prepared and all that. Sixteen of us fished this Spratts club match, and it was good to see Mick Linnell back with us.

A high wind (unlike my hopes) at the start.

The wind was quite fierce, a Southerly from right to left giving me something more than the ripple I love, but it was warm, and cloudy, with just occasional sun, and conditions were great. There used to be a huge floating bed of reeds on the left of Peg 22, but they vanished a year or two ago, leaving bare bank both sides, no more than eight inches deep against the bank But I plumbed up towards the platform on my left and found that at one spot, a couple of feet from the bank, there was a definite drop.

I plan to use three swims
Because of the wind I decided on three possible swims - four sections out in the deep water, the deep margin hole, and down beside my platform to the right, where it also dropped off a little. No point in struggling to reach the islands on a minimum of 13 metres.

Peter Barnes, back from Covid,  on 25 found
all these in the last half-hour, on cockle.

 I toyed with the idea of getting out my feeder rod, but suddenly felt that I could present a bait reasonably enough, even in the wind, and that the fish would likely move around as the weather was so warm. In fact one or two kept plopping in the surface (but I'm not good at shallow fishing, though I suspected Trevor might have a field day doing it). He was on peg 4, which I had a couple of weeks ago, when I struggled, taking F1s to the right and a better carp or two to the left against platform 5.

Overdepth was best
Opposite me today on 2 was Peter Spriggs, who could currently catch fish in a bucket of concrete. But I had a reasonable start, putting in a little hemp and trickling corn on top, and taking a 1 lb F1 within ten minutes, though the bites took a long time to develop - the float just dipping and rising a tiny bit as fish played with the bait. I kept changing the shotting and the depth and found that going overdepth by several inches was better than trying to fish dead depth. Eve so I had a lot of knocks before the bait had hit bottom.

With four or five smallish fish in the net I had a look in the deep margin swim, and had bites on corn immediately, but they never developed into fish. Nevertheless, that told me that there was something there - probably carp rather than roach, because of the way the float was moving.

Back to the four-section swim, where sport was still very slow and after three hours, with a little over 10 lb in my net, I rang my Dearly Beloved We Are Gathered Here to assure her that I was still alive and kicking, and that there was no need to sort out the life policies just yet. Then, after putting a few grains of corn in the deep margin swim, I wandered up to Dick Warrener on 25. he told me had had had just one bite, and one fish, after ten minutes and nothing since. 

Dick nearly had his arm wrenched off by this barbel...

A fish for Dick!
Then he suddenly shot forwards, as if he was going to dive in. A barbel had snatched his cat meat fished against the reeds, and threatened to pull his arm out of its socket. I walked back to my swim for my phone and took a couple of pictures. "You brought me luck," he said. And I decided not to risk doing that for every other competitor, so went back to my peg and changed the bait for mussel.

...and here he is unhooking it. That was the start of a good spell for him.

The effect was amazing - first drop in that deep margin hole and an 8 lb mirror took the mussel. Next drop and a five-pounder took the bait within seconds...but it came off at the net. It was the first of several I was to lose during the match.

One or two good F1s around 3 lb came from that swim, and eventually I took a chance and put in come bait just to my left, on a top two, close to the bank. Very quickly fish came in and in the next hour I had six or seven, best around 5 lb,, all on mussel, even though I kept trying corn, which produced nothing. A look in the right margin brought another five-pounder, foulhooked in the side, and I didn't get any more fish there, but I did get a ten-pounder on mussel very close in.

Peter has me worried
By now both Dick and Peter Spriggs were catching fish, and it seemed that every time I looked up Peter's elastic was stretched right out. I guessed he would soon be on his third net, while I had just started my second net, with 36 lb on the clicker for the first net.

John Garner, with his catch from Peg 18. His estimate
of "around 60 lb" was only a pound out.

When the deep margin swim died I started another, on a top three, to my left with the wind, which was now even stronger, and a good fish came from there on mussel, but then it was back to the top-two swim, where I spent the last hour, in about 18 inches of water.

I had tried the hole next to my platform earlier, and had the same sort of iffy bites, with fish playing with the corn. Now, stupidly, I forgot about that, and should have dropped a mussel down there, as there would almost certainly have been fish. In fact when the match finished I dropped some of my unused corn and micros down there and fish swirled immediately.

A good last hour
That last hour saw several more big F1s and carp to 8 lb on the top two, but I lost another four or five good fish which I am sure were not foulhooked - the hook just pulled out. Several of my fish were hooked on the outside of the mouth, with one hooked on a barbule, so they clearly were not taking the bait properly. I also felt several fish very briefly when I struck, with the mussel gone - the fish must have been holding it in their lips, as I had imagined.

Second to weigh was Peter Harrison, and when this
first net went 50 lb I thought he might win, but he had only 
8 lb 15 oz in his second net.

Peter was still hitting fish, and when the match ended he called out "Fish On" and I called out "Fish On"...and 30 seconds later I called out "Fish Off" as yet another slipped the hook. I estimated I had 70 lb, and perhaps a bit more.

The weigh in
Bob Barrett was first to walk past me, saying he had no more than 40 lb, then John Garner admitted to 60 lb, both of which amazed me as I had thought I would be way down the list. 

Peter Spriggs was first to weigh, and I got there just in time to see his second net being weighed. But there were only two wet nets on the bank, and no more in the water. So he hadn't got as many fish as I thought, and he told me he, also, had lost several.

Martin Parker's third-placed catch from Peg 9, in the corner.

Round to Trevor on 4, who did not weigh, but said he had about 40 lb and, like me earlier, had found his best carp against platform 5. Then, to my amazement, round to me nobody else exceeded 70 lb, with Martin Parker second on 63 lb 12 oz from my favourite peg 9.

 My second net was weighed first, and I had clicked 33 lb, but must have forgotten to click one as it went 44 lb! The other 36 lb net went 42 lb and amazingly I had eclipsed Peter's catch.

Dick managed 60 lb 7 oz after that terrible start, and last to weigh was Peter Barnes (welcome back after Covid, Peter) with 25 lb 1 oz, all taken in the last half-hour on cockle. So I finished as winner from my Bogey Peg 22. What do I know?

Mick Linnell fished a feeder to the aerator on Peg 10 for his 57 lb 6 oz.

Mike Rawson was on 15 - I didn't fancy that peg
myself, as it was fairly calm all day, with back wind. 

Mussel

I have a lot of faith in mussels when fish are willing to feed, because I can put in lots of corn or pellets, and a mussel will still stand out, being big and light in colour, as well as light in weight. I put half on the hook (unless it's really small) and put in only two or three halves with each one, and sometimes just the other half of the mussel. That seems to be the best plan for me.

Today the carp were almost all playing with the bait for a good minute or two minutes before deciding to take it. Dragging it along proved better in inducing a bite than lifting it. Two gudgeon took half a mussel - how do they do that?

THE RESULT

2 Peter Spriggs           82 lb 9 oz          2nd

3 Peter Harrison        58 lb 15 oz         5th=

4 Trevor Cousins        DNW

6 Alan Porter             48 lb 6 oz

8 Wendy Bedford       11 lb 1 oz

9 Martin Parker          63 lb 12 oz        3rd

10 Mick Linnell           57 lb 6 oz

12 Joe Bedford           17 lb 10 oz

13 Shaun Buddle        49 lb 15 oz (all in one net)

15 Mike Rawson        33 lb 7 oz

17 Bob Allen              41 lb 4 oz

18 John Garner           58 lb 15 oz         5th =

19 Bob Barrett            34 lb 5 oz

22 Mac Campbell       86 lb 15 oz          1st

24 Dick Warrener       60 lb 7 oz            4th

25 Peter Barnes         25 lb 1 oz

Where have all the mussels gone? (Long time searching) - Crow, Pidley

Peg 5, Saturday, Aug 20
What have I done? Last season I revealed a special secret to the special followers of my blog - the power of mussels. I revealed that Tescos sold them cooked, and frozen, for a few quid a packet, and I explained how to hook them - through the little round piece of gristle.

Now what happens? I go to my local Tescos last week, only to find not a mussel on their shelves. There were prawns - hundreds of packets, from Canada, Greenland, the Pacific, the Atlantic, in fact from all over the world. There were frozen calamari squid, shrimps, haddock, cod, crab sticks, octopus, huge tiger prawns...but no mussels. And trips to Iceland, Morrisons, Sainsbury and M&S were also fruitless - prawns by the million, but there's not a mussel to be had within a hundred miles of Huntingdon. And my fellow-anglers are doubtless sitting smugly at home with their freezers full of them. Mates indeed!

Peg 5 - the white line is on the artificial turf, taken from Man U's training ground.
(Perhaps that could explain some things!)

I did have a few from previous trips which had been thawed and re-frozen, and I hoped one or two might still be firm enough to hook...but the stupid thing is that I forgot I had them in my cool bag so I didn't try them anyway! Wot a Wally. So on to the 15-entry Fenland Rods club match.

Feeder first
My peg 5, was at the Western end of Crow Lake, and there was a strong Westerly wind, so the pegs everyone fancied were at the Eastern end (where Pete The meat was drawn, the man who can't stop winning). I was told that the wind was so fierce down there that the anglers were in danger of being blown off their boxes and over the fields to Chatteris. Some hope. But yes, the wind was quite fierce.

Mike Rawson got off to a great start on my right. Great to have
him back on the bank following a stroke.

I started as advised by those who know the lake, on a hybrid feeder cast 40 yards to the far margins. It took a few minutes to catch a carp, about 2 lb, on a banded 8mm pellet. A change to dead maggot brought another of 1 lb, and after nearly 90 minutes, and two fish which unaccountably came off as I was about to net them, that was all I had, while Mike Rawson, on my right, had eight or ten fish on a feeder, including one common that looked to be 6 lb-plus. 

The power of luncheon meat
Mike was using luncheon meat. Why hadn't I brought any? There's plenty, ready-cubed, in my freezer. I thought I'd keep things simple, for a change, but I really should have brought some - it's such a versatile bait. You can feed 4mm cubes, and bait with 6mm or 12mm cubes, varying the size of bait. And the fry can't nibble at luncheon meat like they can at cat meat. Roach have been the bane of lots of anglers' lives this year on Decoy, where cat meat is allowed but luncheon meat is banned. I always take luncheon meat to Pidley...except when I don't. Wally Mark 2, that's me.

My fishing van (plus Mike with his fish).

Fish on a pole

I felt I simply had to come in on a pole line, in the deeper water at five sections, though I needed a long lash because of the wind. And there I soon found a fish or two, all around the 1 lb 8 oz mark - plump F1s on corn that fought like tigers on my 13 hollow elastic. Most bites came when the wind dropped for a few seconds and I could hold the bait steady.

 I had an hour there, just potting in half-a-dozen grains at a time, before putting in a little hemp and corn on a shorter line in slightly shallower water at 2+1. To my left Shaun Buddle had had a few fish on a pole, but didn't seem to be emptying the lake, and beyond him I kept seeing rods bending and elastics stretching.

Shaun retires hurt
I had a steady three hours or more on that shorter line, taking a fish every few minutes, but with the biggest fish only between 2 lb and 3 lb. Then Shaun Buddle came up to me, saying he had about 30 lb but was going to pack up as he had done something to his back, which was really painful. He said he didn't need any help, so took his time packing away. I rang next day and his back was a bit better, so I assume he hasn't pulled a disc.

There were a few spots of rain, but not enough to make anybody put on a jacket, and the wind picked up, at one time threatening to blow the top of my side tray off, but manfully I held on to it. I should have been given a medal for that - Wally In The Wind, perhaps.

My shallow left margin - fish came in but wouldn't feed.

Fish in the margins

Towards the last hour I put cat meat and hemp and some groundbait  in the near margins, which were only nine inches deep, because I been told that fish will come in close - and they did! Swirls and mud clouds there saw me dropping in a piece of cat meat and getting four sail-aways, none of which were hit. Obviously liners. I should perhaps have gone out to the deeper water at about two feet, but instead decided to go back to 2+1, where I carried on hitting fish on corn.

The carp seemed to be knocking the bait as it fell, but I had to wait until the float gave a definite indication before striking, and even then I hit only about half of the obvious bites. But it was steady sport. 

I watch a local legend

I spent 15 minutes watching Peter (Dutch) Holland in the Over 60s Open on Magpie 8 on Wednesday, and he was fishing just as he had in a recent match on Decoy, when he was next to me, and won.

He explained to me after that match just how important accuracy had been - and here he was, again, dropping a very small amount of bait with each cast into exactly the same spot, on a top two, and fishing his bait right on it. Simple - and as I fish much of the time - and he won that match as well, I am told, with over 200 lb. Anyway, that was how I fished this match from beginning to end being as accurate as I could with my placement, (except for the bait dumped in the margins). And it was working fairly well for me.

Four come unstuck
But then something strange happened - in the last half hour four good fish, all probably over 3 lb, came adrift near the net - the only ones I lost on the pole. I could see them clearly. However I did land three or four smaller ones round 1 lb. I had no idea how much the other anglers had caught, but I had had a really enjoyable day. To my right Mike seemed to have slowed up a lot, and I hoped I had at least beaten him.

Matt Lutkin included several fish around 5 lb.

Callum retrieves a net from the windswept lake.

The weigh in

I was astonished to see that Matt Lutkin on end peg 2 had several fish of 4 lb-plus in his 61 lb 12 oz catch; I had seen no fish of that size all day. I thought I might have 60 lb, but we fished to the fishery rules - three nets with the catch split, so no clicker was needed and I really wasn't sure of my weight. I love that you don't have to worry about going over 50 lb, though of course I have extra nets with me if I feel that I am approaching that weight in any one net.

As I thought, Mike had slowed up after that good start, and totalled 47 lb 3 oz, and my nets weighed around 35 lb, 25 lb and 27 lb for a total of 87 lb 1 oz. And unbelievably that led right down to the last two - Peter and Mel - who had been "catching all day" according to the nearby anglers. Everybody on the bank  seemed to have good fish around 5 lb in their nets, except me. 😢😢

Kev Lee with friend (bigger than any
of mine!)

Callum with 81 lb 13 oz.

                                                                                                                         


                                  
                 

Peter had come in late to that 18-inch line, about six feet from the near bank (as I should have done), and picked up some proper cat meat fish, and totalled 99 lb 4 oz for the win, with Mel on the end Peg 23 finishing with 74 lb 6 oz. So I ended as runner-up to Pete The Meat, who recently had a run of nine match wins in a row, in various club matches and Opens. Well done, Peter (again).

Pete The Meat, winner with 99 lb 4 oz in difficult conditions.

Memories

Next match on Six-Island on Decoy, where the wind direction will almost certainly affect the weights. But it's full of fish, so you know there's always one within a yard or two of your bait. 

How different to the Fen Drains, where I started my matchfishing in the 1950s, where (especially in the 1970s after the introduction of zander) you could fish all day and not see a fish, and where to all intents and purposes there hadn't been any in your swim all day. One match I remember on the Low Level saw five sections of 12, in a line, in reasonable weather conditions, with not a single fish caught! 

This truly is the golden era of fishing for me.

THE RESULT

A Comedy of Errors, by William Shakespeare (sorry - by me) on Cedar

Peg 3, Tuesday, Aug 16
The problems started after I had taken my gear to my swim, when I had to drive back to the toilet. But no problem - I felt fit as a Stradivarius violin as I walked back to my peg, only to realise I had left my lovely big Nu-Fish side tray behind. That really was inconvenient - because I was on a platform I had to place my various bait boxes either behind me on my holdall (which meant I couldn't easily open it) or on the platform (which meant if I hadn't already kicked it in, I had to get off my box and bend down every time I needed some bait).

Peg 3 - the right end of the lake, but not much in the way of long margins.

Shaun Buddle had had the same swim a few days previously, and had come next-to-last on the lake with 83 lb 15 oz. I could see possibly why - there were reeds a couple of yards each side of the platform so the only shallow swims were very close to the platform. But I was happy with 3, as on Cedar the car park end often has the edge on the other end. No matter - in the first hour I had three carp for about 16 lb out at 2+1 on a 6 mm expander pellet. Corn didn't produce a bite - only the expander. The wind gave a nice ripple, though it was from the East and almost into my face. 

A reasonable start
Those three fish seemed to me to be a reasonable start as the only other person I had seen land anything was Bob Barrett, opposite, who had one or two on feeder down the margin. Peter Spriggs on 26 (my favourite swim on the lake) didn't seem to have had anything at his usual 2+2 with cat meat or paste. But fish were moving under the surface, so I guessed Trevor on 7 would probably have mugged a few. I couldn't see him from my swim.

Wendy Bedford, smiling after the rain, on Peg 12 in  the 
corner. Behind her is her brother-in-law Joe, aged 93, who still
fishes all our matches.

The next two hours passed in a blur of boredom - two carp lost and two landed, and I can't remember where they came from! I had dropped into a nice-looking cut-back to my left, the other side of the reeds, with my pole lifted over them and then dropped parallel with the bank, and did get bites, which could have been liners or roach, but no fish. Then the sun came out and it was so hot I had to stop to put on suncream.

Rain (remember that?)
Half an hour later the sun went in and - ah! Blessed rain, just a sprinkle, so light that no-one even put on their jackets. Only the second lot of rain I have seen for a couple of months. My garden at home certainly needed it. Actually when I got home my wife said we hadn't had a drop!

Then I had a carp or two on cat meat in the right margin, potting in just two chunks of cat meat each time, where I had earlier put in a couple of big pots of dead maggot, hoping for barbel, but catching just tiny perch. Then the rain picked up a little, and I put on a my jacket. Then, almost imperceptibly the rain came down a little harder, and some put up their umbrellas. Then flashes suddenly made me realise we were actually sitting in a thunderstorm, my trousers were soaking wet under my old waterproofs (which I had been meaning to change for weeks) and my umbrella was in the van.

Joe Bedford - 42 lb 10 oz -and still as dry as a bone.

I put on my boots
Back to the van, where I changed my soaking shoes for boots. Incidentally I saw the Duke of Wellington the other day.

He was in Boots!        (sorry about that - it just slipped out).

To be honesty I hadn't expected rain, even though it has been forecast, because so many recent forecasts have been wrong. Then, putting up the umbrella was difficult because I have a back fixed to my box, and there wasn't space on the leg to fit the umbrella holder. I could have taken off the back, but by now the rain was absolutely pelting down, so I stuck the umbrella in one of the scaffold poles on the corner of the platform. It was a deep pole, the umbrella lay quite low, and I ended up almost crouching, like a garden gnome.

And bugga me, that was when the fish decided to start biting. Three or four came in, including a 3 lb barbel, and cor it was a job landing them - I had to lay the pole horizontally, and wait until the fish came to the surface, because I couldn't get it high enough because of the umbrella. And those fish really did fight, but at least I didn't lose any. And it was a real pain bending down to pick up bait from boxes no full to the brim with water. Then the rain stopped and it became quite hot.

Alan Porter with 74 lb 2 oz. I guess they were taken on a feeder, as 
Alan is a whizz using that method.

Another storm
Umbrella down and suddenly the cat meat stopped working but corn took another barbel in the same swim - the deep margin under the branch of a small bush. Then the heavy rain came down again, and up went the umbrella. The lightning flashes were so bright they hurt my eyes, even though I was cooped up under the umbrella, though mercifully the thunderclaps came several seconds later, so the lightning wasn't directly overhead. 

The surface of the lake looked as if it was hailing - huge drops, that knocked the float sideways, but the carp started biting again on corn; and I had a job landing them again. They were really warm. One little roach I plopped back into my first net, which I had estimated at 40 lb.

A distraction

It didn't help that my doctor had texted me during the match, basically asking if I fancied having a Kodak Box Brownie camera shoved down my throat to check that I really have got coeliac disease (that's caused by the body's reaction to gluten), and I kept wondering how to say that I didn't really fancy it. Sort of distracting. I decided to  swerve that investigation and go straight onto a gluten-free diet, but I haven't told him yet. Back to the important bit...

Twenty minutes before the end a lovely silver common about 7 lb came in, on corn, from the shallow margin close to the platform, where I had seen reeds moving. But after that I couldn't get a bite. Then just as the match ended the rain cleared off...I had thought before the match I would welcome rain, but when you're sitting like a drowned rat, with even the handkerchiefs in your trouser pockets wringing wet, your view of the world becomes decidedly less optimistic!

I ended with an estimated 26 lb in the second net for a total of 66 lb-ish. But I had seen Peter Spriggs catching well in his right margin, and made him favourite to win. Although I hadn't noticed it in the storm, a bedraggled John Smith had already packed up and gone home from Peg 16, where he had had four bites and three fish.

Trevor - so sophisticated he always combs his hair before I take his picture.

The weigh in, and my estimates are way out...again

I was first to weigh, and the second 26 lb net weighed 35 lb 15 oz (!), while the first 40 lb net showed 50 lb 1 oz on the scales. That little roach had taken it over, so my total was 83 lb 15 oz - exactly the same as Shaun had had a few days earlier!😃 I fully expected that to come nowhere.

Next to me on Peg 5 I had half expected Peter Harrison to have had a lot more than me, but when he totalled 79 lb 12 oz I realised things must have been more difficult than I had expected. But not for Trevor, who had had a blank first hour before mugging about 90 lb on pellet (how does he do it?) and then  adding another 70 lb on the bottom. He ended with 161 lb 13 oz.

The weights then became much lower than I had anticipated, right round to Bob Barrett on 24, and I was still lying second at that point. Not for long - Bob had winkled out  95 lb 14 oz. He was followed by the last person to weigh in, Peter on 26, who had a magnificent 194 lb 13 oz, all from that deep margin to his right on cat meat; and he hadn't put up his umbrella all day. A great job; well done, Mate.

I get a new bib and brace
So I ended fourth 😁 and last frame place but I know a drier, better-prepared angler in that swim would have caught more. And next day I bought an new Goretex bib and brace, so I can again sit out in the rain if I need to. The old bib and brace will do for those days when I just need to protect my trousers when unhooking fish. I think it was the cat meat slarred on the knees and the hard use (kneeling down and crawling about in mud time after time), which rendered them no longer waterproof, even though I had tried to re-proof them exactly as instructed. The material is actually wearing quite thin, and I have worn and abused them literally hundreds of times.

Next match at Pidley on Saturday on Crow lake, the newest on the complex. It will give me a chance to use the feeder with confidence, though I expect to change to pole later in the match.

THE RESULT

                       East Bank                                                              West Bank

26 Peter Spriggs        194 lb 13 oz           1st

24 Bob Barrett            95 lb 14 oz            3rd              3 Mac Campbell        85 lb 13 oz     4th

22 Joe Bedford           42 lb 10 oz                                5 Peter Harrison         79 lb 12 oz

20 Mike Rawson        22 lb 10 oz                                7 Trevor Cousins      161 lb 13 oz    2nd

18 Bob Allen              43 lb 10 oz    `                           9 Shaun Buddle                DNW

16 Alan Porter            74 lb 2 oz                                 11 John Garner            44 lb 7 oz

14 John Smith                DNW                                    13 Wendy Bedford      36 lb 10 oz

Another 'Thanks for coming' on Damson

 Peg 11, Monday, Aug 8
I've had some pretty average results lately, and peg 11 on Damson didn't fill me with any thoughts of suddenly emerging as a gold medal winner. (Obviously I've been watching too much of the Commonwealth Games!) But the end pegs on this East bank of Damson were pretty calm, and in any case the early swims tend to produce slightly better weights a lot of the time. Peter Harrison was on Peg 1 (which I admit was also calm) but he's so consistent it seemed inconceivable that he wouldn't feature somewhere in the results.

Trevor did the draw - a leftover from Covid which I quite like as it means I know where everybody is before they disperse to their pegs. And he welcomed Mick Rawson back to the fold. Mick had decided, at 6.30 in the morning, to fish the match, so he must be feeling OK. The water was greenish, but some extra had been pumped in so the level was well up.

A nice-looking swim, but the tree area yielded very few fish.

The swim looked good

Peg 11 looks nice, with a tree to the left and reeds to the right. And I felt that I would catch at least something. To my left was Wendy, fully recovered from breaking her shoulder in February, when she had been getting ready to come fishing and fell over her trolley. She had her usual smile for us all, which gave us all a lift, and she would be feedering. 

Wendy is back, smiling and still catching fish.

I was confident that caster would catch fish in the shallow margins at the start, because although there are roach in the lake there are millions of carp around 2 lb, which can go mad in the first few minutes. And sure enough, first drop with a banded caster saw me hook a good fish...which came off. To my right Trevor had an early fish, on his favourite banded pellet. But then things slowed down.

A slow start for Trevor and me
Trevor had, I think, in the first 40 or 50 minutes, about five fish for 10 lb, which is much less than he would normally expect on this lake, while I had about one. Plenty of knocks and bites, but the fish weren't feeding properly. At that point I ditched the casters shallow, and tried corn on the bottom, among the reeds to my right. Immediately a 2 lb carp took the bait, and in the next hour I got another half-dozen. Trevor had still not gone on his usual rampage, though.

We could see John Smith catching on Peg 15 on the
end bank, but he lost some fish, in snags,
 which would have propelled him up the list.

A switch to mussel brought another few fish, and then a switch to the left margin brought another few and I had a really good 30-minute spell with the best fish around 5 lb. But with about two hours to go I could hardly get a bite. I had earlier heard several splashings from Wendy's swim, and wondered if I should have put up my feeder rod, but I couldn't be bothered in the heat, still thinking I should be able to catch. On the end bank to my right, on pegs 14 and 15, Shaun Buddle and John Smith had been catching quite well in the deep water, so that's when I made a change.

I should have gone deep earlier
First drop on a 2+1 in about eight feet of water and I had a fish on corn. But it took me another 30 minutes to catch two more. By now Trevor was virtually biteless, taking just the very occasional fish, and Dick in the corner on 13 told me later had had had just three fish in the last three-and-a-half hours. One more fish on the last hour on mussel completed my catch. I should definitely have tried the deep water earlier.

I'm always taking pictures of Peter Spriggs, 'cos
he catches so much. So here's a snap of his net!

I had kept dropping into the lefthand margin, and in one particular spot about 12 inches deep the float never stopped moving. I am certain this was carp playing with the bait (I foulhooked just one which came off). There were hardly any liners - just the float pulling down to the surface, then up , then down again, and this was repeated time after time. If I  moved the rig just a couple of feet out, or towards me, there were no indications at all. The fish must have been all cooped up in that one spot under the tree, but with no intention of feeding..

The weigh-in
Peter Harrison did win, with 132 lb 6 oz , all from the margins, in Peg 1. Second was Bob Barrett, who fished his favourite method, which does so well - feedering in the margins. I should really try this some time - he ALWAYS catches fish that way, and has won on Damson before doing it. He weighed 118 lb 8 oz, using a banded pellet.

John Garner - a true mate who will always help me
after the match if I'm in trouble (but he still beat me).

Shaun on the end bank was third, with Peter Spriggs framing yet again, on Peg 7. Wendy finished with 35 lb 11 oz, all taken early on, and on my right Trevor had 51 lb 6 oz, and I was chuffed to beat him with my 61 lb 11 oz which was actually ninth out of 14, which could have earned the proverbial "Thanks for Coming" but didn't!

Next match on Cedar, which is thankfully after the weekend, when temperatures are forecast to be high; then a week Saturday on Crow at Pidley. My plan (such as it is) is to feeder across with pellet (to avoid the really small carp) and then come in on a pole, always keeping an eye on the near very shallow, margin.

                                                                                                       RESULT

                                         

Bob Barrett always catches on a feeder
dropped right into the margin!

                                1 Peter Harrison      132 lb 6 oz     1st
                                2 Joe Bedford              8 lb 5 oz
                                3 Martin Parker         69 lb 9 oz

                                4 Bob Barrett           118 lb 8 oz    2nd

                                5 Mick Rawson         27 lb 9 oz

                                7 Peter Spriggs        115 lb 12 oz  4th

                                8 Bob Allen              100 lb 1 oz

                                9 John Garner             83 lb 2 oz

                              10 Wendy Bedford        35 lb 11 oz

                              11 Mac Campbell          61 lb 11 oz

                              12 Trevor Cousins         51 lb 6 oz
                              13 Dick Warrener         34 lb 6 oz
                              14 Shaun Buddle        116 lb 13 oz   3rd
                              15 John Smith              108 lb