The Good, The Bad, and ...me, on Yew

 Peg 3, Monday, Oct 31
The good was that I was Golden Peg in this Spratts match at Decoy, so I stood to make a small fortune if I won (£60 is a fortune to me). The bad was that peg 3 was the last swim I would have chosen on Yew lake. I tend to favour the swims from about 10 round to 22, on the opposite bank, and would nearly always choose a swim away from the  car park. Corner pegs 1 and 30, right next to the car park, can always produce fish, of course, because you have more options, and I know 30 has won in the past. But you have to be optimistic.

Before the start - plenty of Raspberry Ripple for me (unfortunately cold and in
my face). I soon put the Goretex jacket on!

The previous day, on Damson, we had been treated to a pleasant, mild day, though with some rain. Today as soon as I stepped out of the van at the draw the wind felt ten degrees colder. On the bank it was blowing into our bank (pegs 1 to 15) from the right, and still cold. However I thought that the water would still be warm, so I ought to be able to catch a few of the big carp which Yew is renowned for.

I started on the feeder - three five-minute casts with sweetcorn, without a sign of a bite. So I changed to the pole, with banded pellet at top two plus three, where I could hold the pole fairly comfortably in the wind. I spent 30 minutes there, during which time Peter Harrison, to my left, had taken two carp on the pole, fishing maggot. Opposite me, Trevor Cousins had his first bite at this time, taking a small carp on the feeder.

On the bank opposite, in the corner, Alan Porter sneaked
enough fish out to finish in third place.

A change to maggot
I decided I ought to change to maggot - no good working out how others are catching if you don't make use of the information! I trickled in a few maggots every drop, and after about 20 minutes I hit, and landed, an F1 about 3 lb. Naturally I carried on fishing the same way, and occasionally I would catch a small perch.

I kept hoping that the feeding perch would bring in carp, so I kept on fishing like that for the next four hours, during which time the wind became colder and I had to put on my Goretex jacket over the thermal vest, thick shirt, and two sweatshirts (one of which had a hood).

In that four hours I caught about ten perch, but lost two big fish, one of which was possibly foulhooked, but the second one didn't feel foulhooked. I also hit two others which, momentarily, felt bigger, but which came off within a second. I had changed from hollow 17 elastic down to 13 hollow, to avoid bumping fish which might bite very timidly, and I had changed down from a 12 to a 16 hook. I felt confident  with that tackle, but have to put down losing those fish to "Just one of those things".

I Spy...a barbel, in Shaun's net. That one fish would have beaten my
meagre catch on its own. Note that I was so pleased to see some fish
that I got over-excited and took pictures of almost anyone!

Slow right to the end

To my right, with half an hour to go, Dick Warrener had not had a bite in his swim, which was almost flat calm. 

Thirty minutes from the end I changed to fishing corn at 2+1, and in that last half-hour Peter landed two more carp, also fishing about 2+1, one of which was foulhooked. Opposite me, Trevor got his second bite 15 minutes from the end, and landed a 10 lb carp.

I was really glad when the match ended, because I was on the verge of going back to the van and taking out my padded Imax jacket, as I was shivering with cold. Winter is definitely knocking at the door. My change to corn didn't pay off and I ended with that one F1 and ten small perch. Dick didn't get a bite all day, but I had no idea what the others towards the far end, had.

Four fish for Joe - and almost a frame.

The weigh in
I weighed 3 lb 9 oz, and Peter's four carp went 27 lb 12 oz, which actually gave him fifth spot, and last frame place. Past him Joe Bedford also had four fish, but ended 2 oz short of Peter. Then, on 13, John Garner took 57 lb 14 oz to the scales, taken on a feeder I believe, to win.

Most of the other best weights were down towards that end, with Neil Pass, fishing as a guest of John, coming second. We shall have to think seriously about whether to whether to invite him again if he's going to catch fish!

Alan Porter on 30 bucked the trend at my end of the lake, by taking five fish on a feeder, mainly by casting into the corner near the big pipe, and weighing 37 lb 8 oz. 

So another Golden Peg drawn for me went to a roll-over, but I couldn't be sad about that - local knowledge tells me that even Jamie Hughes probably wouldn't have won from my peg on that day.

My next match is probably not until next Tuesday, on Damson.

Neil Pass - second on his first match with us. Well done, Neil!

John Garner - winner with 57 lb 14 oz from peg 13.

John's best fish - probably over 10 lb.

THE RESULT

                            East Bank                                                                 West Bank

30 Alan Porter          37 lb 8 oz    3rd                            1 Dick Warrener            DNW
28 Trevor Cousins    13 lb 14 oz                                    3 Mac Campbell         3 lb 9 oz
26 Peter Spriggs        11 lb 7 oz                                     5 Peter Harrison        27 lb 12 oz    5th
24 Bob Barrett            4 lb                                             7 Mike Rawson                DNW
22 John Smith           24 lb 15 oz                                   9 Joe Bedford             27 lb 10 oz
20 Neil Pass              53 lb 4 oz     2nd                         11 Shaun Buddle         26 lb 14 oz
18 Bob Allen             37 lb 7 oz    4th                          13 John Garner            57 lb 14 oz    1st
16 Wendy Bedford   20 lb 5 oz                                     15 Peter Barnes           22 lb 8 oz

Fenland Rods 2022 - all the winners

 LADEEEES AND GENTLEMENNN

I PRESENT THE WOOOOOOOORLD CHAMPIONNNNNN

KEVIIIIN LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Les Bedford's widow, Wendy, was unable to present the Bedford Trophy,
fished in memory of Les. So her son, Callum, made the presentation to
Sunday's winner of the match, on Les' favourite lake, Damson, to Kevin Lee.

Next, our esteemed chairman John  Smith handed over the Club Cup, fished on the first
match of the season on Willows lake, to...Peter The Paste (aka Pete The Meat) Spriggs.

The shield for the biggest fish of the season went to Shaun Buddle, for his 19 lb 3 oz carp.

Top three in the Handicap match, fished on Six-Island lake, each receive a medal./
L-R Silver: Mac Campbell (me) - Bronze - Mel Lutkin; Gold - Kevin Lee.

THE BIG ONE

Already holding the Bedford Cup, and with his winning Handicap medal around his neck,
It's That Man Again, Kevin Lee, receiving his Club Champion cup from John.
Kevin is our treasurer (thanks, Kev) - gotta keep in with the treasurer!! The cup goes
to the best overall angler, with every match counting - no droppers. Well done again, Kev.

For the record, Callum went into the final match as the only angler capable of beating Kevin to the Club Championship, but Kevin's win in that last match ensured he won. Callum ended as a most worthy runner-up, followed by me, with Peter Spriggs fourth. I will publish the full result when I get it from our compiler, Mel Lutkin. Also:

The club decided to keep the system used to decide on the club champion - all matches to count with 15 points awarded to the winner, 14 to second etc. No droppers.

The club also decided that although we will all still aim for a maximum of 50 lb in our nets, for next season at least, we will count weights up to 60 lb, bearing in mind that we have to be able to lift our nets out of the water for weighing!

Covid having ruined our plans for a Christmas presentation night, with wives, for the last two years, we have asked Mel Lutkin to attempt to arrange one for next year.

See you all next season, lads.

Our club's final fling of the season, on Damson, Decoy

 Peg 1, Sunday, Oct 30
This was the last Fenland Rods match of the season, and the Bedford Cup, given in memory of Les Bedford, by his family. Les died at Decoy immediately after a Fenland Rods match in October 2018, and Damson was his favourite lake, so this match is always fished there.

Peg 1 is the swim everyone fancies, and on this occasion I got it! I've never fished it before, so I was surprised, on plumbing up, to find that the lefthand margin was very deep, at nearly four feet, while the right margin was only about 18 inches, which is typical for the margins on this lake. The weather was lovely - overcast but with a warmish wind, with Peg 1 well sheltered, so the water here had very little ripple, and was flat calm most of the day. That's my excuse, because I can tell you now that I didn't win!

Peg 1 - sheltered but with lots of features. The peg everyone else wanted...

A slow start
I started shallow on a banded pellet, to the right, and got several dips of the float, but no proper bites. A switch to the left also brought nothing. An expander was knocked off the hook so I changed to a grain of corn, which at last brought one or two F1s from about two feet of water, a little out from the right bank. Dick Warrener, on my right, had already had some fish on what looked to be the very edge of the shelf, at about four feet.

Dick Warrener in action next to me on peg 2.

I was certain I would get fish in the deeper left margin, and had been flicking corn in there, but the fish were slow, and after about an hour I had only about eight F1s. I then had a brilliant idea, and flicked in some maggots. This had a miraculous effect, and brought fish in within seconds, fighting just below the surface for the sinking maggots. I dropped in a hook with three maggots on...and promptly came up with a tiny roach.

I foulhook some
It was very frustrating - I could out in four maggots and the fish would be in a frenzy, but mainly ignoring the hook bait, and I foulhooked two or three. However, I was at least putting odd fish into the net, and a switch back to corn also brought some. Halfway through the match I had caught about 40 lb, all F1s, up to about 2 lb. I didn't think that would be enough, as Kevin Lee, two swims to my right, was catching on a feeder cast to the far bank, though Dick appeared to now be struggling.

At last - a decent picture of John Smith, our chairman, on peg 9,
who arranges all the fixtures for us. Many thanks, John.

I had one particularly galling incident, when I hit what seemed to be a big fish and found the line had caught round the pot on the end of the pole, and the fish broke me. I can't remember that ever happening before.

'Proper' carp from the deep water.
Soon I went out into the deep water - about eight feet deep -  next to the aerator at six sections of pole, and immediately caught mirror carp of 3 lb and 8 lb, followed by two more F1s. I wasted a bit too much time there, trying cat meat which produced only one fish, but had only a few F1s in the next hour, though I did get broken by a particularly big fish. The deep rig, which broke at the loop, was made up some time ago, on 5.5 lb line. I must remember that now the fish are much bigger, I will have to remake those rigs on 10 lb line if I use them in Summer. I will probably get away with it in Winter, though.

Martin Parker had 84 lb 5 oz and you can see that his fish were 
mainly mirrors unlike my catch. Martin does fantastically
well considering he is completely blind in one eye.

Mike Rawson then came along the bank and reported that Martin Parker and Mel Lutkin were catching 'a fish a chuck,' which cheered me up no end! Then the rain started chucking it down. I couldn't see the float properly in the maelstrom, so came back inside, on corn, and the fish went mad!

In about 20 minutes I must have landed ten more F1s and one 3 lb mirror on corn - every cast the float was dipping, though some were obviously liners. Then the rain stopped, the surface became calm again, and bites tailed off. Minutes later the match ended. It reminded me of a recent match when I caught in the rain but the fish went off when the surface calmed down.

The weigh in
I was first to weigh. I estimated I had about 80 lb, but in fact the total was 96 lb 4 oz. Kevin had fished a banded pellet on his feeder, and said that when it landed, the far bank - about 35 yards distant - became black with carp. He ended with 119 lb 12 oz; but to his right Shaun Buddle had been matching him fish for fish, on the pole. It was quite tense as Shaun weighed, but he finished exactly 1 lb short of Kevin's catch.

Mel Lutkin on end peg 13 also had lots of mirror carp in his 89 lb 10 oz.

I walked along with the scales, and it slowly became apparent that the farther I walked the more 'proper' carp were in the catches. Peter Spriggs, on 5 with 94 lb 12 oz, said he had, like me, mainly F1s. But you can see from the catch pictures of Martin and Mel that they had mainly mirrors and commons. Perhaps this is proof that the fish are slowly moving into their normal Winter areas, as happens every year.

Anyway, I was mightily surprised that I ended third. Well done to Kevin - the most consistent angler in the club. Next blog will show the presentation pictures.

The next day...
Next day was a Spratts match on Yew, and if the weather was going to be anything like it had been for this match I fancied that it could be a good day. Alas, Winter was about to remind us what might be in store around the corner...

THE RESULT

I miss a frame place by 1 oz on Oak, Decoy

Peg 30, Sunday, Oct 23
Been busy since this match visiting my two brothers (we meet up only occasionally since one lives and works in Africa). Thunderstorms were forecast for this Fenland Rods event, and there were a couple of spectacular lightning flashes as I drove to Decoy, though none during the match.

There was just a little light rain at the start, and I was lucky that it was forecasted to blow from the South-East later, which would be over my back. I had the shortest walk to peg 30, in the corner of Oak lake, and I managed to fix the umbrella so that it would keep my pole holdall and all my stuff dry, as well as me.

Shaun Buddle told me before the match that he had won here fishing to the corner, on the left, and that was the obvious place to fish, so I started there, at ten metres. The water here was sheltered a little by bushes, and was nearly calm at the start, while on the swims to my right there was a bit of ripple. The skies were dark and I picked out a newlymade rig with a float which had a really bright yellow top, which would show up well against the dark reflections of the reeds.

A dank, dark, day, with my swim sheltered from much of the wind (unfortunately) by
the bushes on the end bank. Most of the other swims had a good ripple (not that I'm moaning!)

The new float worked fine
The float tip was just visible - it seemed to sink lower than it had in my water butt at home. But I could see it well enough, and within 15 minutes I had hooked and landed a fish about 6 lb on corn, about a metre from the reeds, three feet deep. Next one came off, as did the one after that. 

That, unfortunately, was the pattern for much of the day. Within the next hour I had about three fish in the net and had lost six or seven, mostly after I had broken down to my new short top. After an hour, when the rain really started pelting down, I had to take off a small shot so I could see the float better in the melee caused by the raindrops smashing into the water. 

During that heavy rain I had my best spell, hooking about six more, to 8 lb, and landing every one. Most took the corn while I was dragging it along the bottom. Although the rain was, in technical terms, "chucking it down" I heard only one thunderclap.

In corner peg 16 on my bank Mel Lutkin
found just over 40 lb, admired by Joe Bedford!

More lost fish

Then the rain stopped, the water went calm, and I started losing fish again. I think it must have been because they could perhaps see the pole above them, although I had a longish lash. A switch to banded pellet in front of me at 2+1 brought a good carp first drop, then another on cat meat straight afterwards. I thought I had cracked it, but never had a touch for the next 20 minutes. At that point I should have tried the right margin, which I never looked at all day, but the rain must have blunted my brain.

Instead, I kept trying back towards the lefthand corner, with a very occasional fish, but got the impression that the fish were moving away from the bank. Eventually I  made the switch I should have done much earlier in that swim, and with only 30 minutes left I went into the deeper water and had a near-ten-pounder first drop. I the few minutes left I hooked two more, getting both right to the net before they pulled off.  Dave Garner told me (later) that he had won a match fishing the right hand margin this season, which really cheered me up!!!.

Kev Lee - 176 lb in the most atrocious conditions.

By the end I estimated I had 12 or 14 fish in the nets, but must have lost 20, of which only two were probably foulhooked. I then thought back to the start of the match, when an orange-coloured mud cloud was seeping towards me along the bank from the corner, possibly from a pipe somewhere. Later there was another trace of it, and I wondered whether that had been affecting the fish in some way? I'll never know.

The weigh-in
Kevin Lee, on the opposite bank on 12, had started fishing at about eight metres with banded pellet and found fish steadily, with his best spell, like me, being in the heavy rain. Then he came into his left margin with cat meat and ended with a magnificent 176 lb 4 oz , to win, having had the rain in his face. Next angler along, on 14, Dave Hobbs totalled 90 lb 9 oz. Former Club Champion Dave Garner had struggled in corner peg 15, also with the rain in his face.

Shaun Buddle's best fish must have been at least 15 lb.

Over to the Eastern bank and opposite Kevin. on 19, Shaun Buddle had 138 lb 4 oz, while on his left Callum Judge just pipped him by 1 lb 10 oz for second place. I was last to weigh, with 90 lb 8 oz, which was just 1 oz less than Dave Hobbbs, so I ended fifth.

End of the match, the sun has come out, and runner-up Callum shows a nice mirror carp.

Although the top weights were at the other end of this strip lake I felt I should have had more. Not because I lost so many (I didn't feel I did anything wrong ,playing them) but because I should have moved round the swims more quickly. Trouble was I couldn't see those who were catching, so I had no idea whether I was doing OK. Interestingly several others told me they had unaccountably lost fish properly hooked.

BUT I had had a most interesting day's sport, and on the way home I was treated to a lightning show so fierce that I had to lower the visor in the van to stop it blinding me. A day to remember, after all!

THE RESULT

Help from Alan Scotthorne on Six-Island

 Peg 18, Friday, Oct 21
Alan Scotthorne wasn't actually at this Spratts club match, you understand, but it was a recent quote from him I had seen that definitely increased my catch. The advice was from Alan to Tom Scholey, published in the most recent edition of Match Fishing, and described by Tom as one of the best pieces of advice he's ever had. It was, quite simply: "If you think it, do it!"

Now I've always tended to spend too much time, if I know fish are in the swim but not biting properly, trying to catch them, knowing that I really ought to change swims. I'm not alone - who can resist trying to snare those pesky fish waving their tails at you in shallow water next to the bank, but refusing to take a bait of any sort? It becomes a sort of personal challenge, which I nearly always fall for. Today was different - I made several changes much more quickly than I usually do, and  in the end they paid off, so thanks for that, Alan.

Trevor makes the draw.

Peg 18 used to be the 'flier' on Six-Island, but recently other pegs have been just as good. However, on this day I was invited to draw the Golden Peg out - and 18 stuck to my fingers! So no pressure, then...

Fog, rain, cloud and sun
The fog was quite thick on the journey to Decoy, and rain was forecast, and indeed some did come down while we were setting up. I got an umbrella up quickly, and luckily a few minutes later the rain stopped, and we had only a few more spots during the match. The sky was overcast at the start, but the sun came out later and it was a very pleasant Autumn day, but the fishing was hard.

Fog at the start, but it slowly cleared. Peg 18 is only about 10 metres to the far bank.

I started on the pole at 2+1 with banded 6mm pellet - I have a lot of confidence in that method now after tuition by Ben Townsend. It took half an hour to get a bite, and then I lost the first fish, almost certainly foulhooked. To my left were five other anglers in this end of the lake, with another five round the corner I couldn't see, and my five didn't seem to be catching anything.

I land a foulhooker
Next fish was also foulhooked, about 6 lb, hooked in the pectoral fin, but it ended up in my net. However after an hour that was all I had, though I had had some tiny knocks, showing that fish were in the swim, so I switched to fishing the far bank, which in this swim - the narrowest on the lake - was only about 10 metres away. Again it took half an hour to get a bite, on corn, but no fish. However three F1s came in the next half-hour, but I also lost three, which came off after just a few seconds.

With about 11 lb in my net I wandered along to my left to see John  Garner, who said he had five fish for 2 lb 8 oz, and he said John Smith, to his left, probably had just one good fish. Back to my swim, and after another 45 minutes two or three more F1s, best 4 lb, came in. I was getting touches all the time, and the corn was so cold to the touch that I wondered whether a different, smaller, bait would do better for the F1s. 

Maggot was the obvious choice, and for once I didn't waste time - I switched to maggot straightaway, but the result was a tiny perch, and I went back to corn. I was pleased that I didn't just carry on, all th while wondering whether maggot would work. Bu I couldn't see things getting any better, and the wind was getting stronger, so minutes later I switched to a swim to my left in the deep margin.

A fish first drop

First drop and another F1 came in on corn. A similar patter then followed - a 3 lb F1 next drop, then another a few minutes later, and a 3 lb mirror. I was getting knocks, and several times I lost the corn without feeling anything - a sure sign that carp were holding the bait in their lips. I couldn't induce a bite by lifting the bait, but I did get some by dragging it along the bottom, fishing about two inches overdepth. One more F1 came in and I felt I had to do something, so put in some casters I had riddled off that morning into the really shallow swim to my left - it was only about 12 inches deep there.

The winner, Bob Allen, was camera-shy, but Bob Barrett, third on Peg 11 
with 51 lb 3 oz,had no such qualms, 

Within minutes I saw a couple of swirls, and dropped in my shallow rig with corn - nothing! Mud came up, which is always exciting, but I spent no more than ten minutes there. Next I put casters and hemp farther out on the next shelf, about three feet deep. There I got bites, but no fish. So it was quickly back out to the deeper swim again, and an 5 lb mirror was my reward.

A perch on corn
Again I had lots of knocks on corn, so put on a big worm. Result...a tiny perch. Back immediately to corn and the result was...another tiny perch. On corn! That one worm, which I had taken off the hook when I unhooked the perch, must have leached smell into the water which was still attracting perch. No other explanation. Thanks goodness I hadn't put in any chopped-up worms. 

An hour to go and I had an estimated 28 lb. I had lost another fish or two, one of which was a big F1 clearly hooked in the mouth. One or two I had landed had been hooked under the chin, so they definitely weren't taking the bait properly. But I was pleased that I was landing these hard-fighting F1s in half the time I would normally take, following Ben's advice.

A make a vital change
Next thing I saw John Garner landing a good carp; then another; then another, all from the deep margin. I assumed he was using cat meat (he was) but I couldn't see why better fish wouldn't take my corn bait, and I was still getting liners. HOWEVER I remembered that quote and got off my box, picked up a cat meat rig, put in a few cubes, and dropped in a cat meat bait. There was just 30 minutes of the match left.

No more than a minute later I was playing a  7 lb mirror; then next drop another the same size. Suddenly the sky became so dark that I had to take off some shot to be able to see the float better, and wasted two or three minutes doing that. No bites in the next few minutes so I changed to mussel and hit another big fish which came off after a minute or so. Five minutes to go and the next fish, also on mussel, was a small F1; then no more time, and the match finished. John Garner had had at least one more good carp, I saw.

The weigh in

Within seconds of the match finishing the rain started (hence so few pictures) - light drizzle at first and then much heavier. All our gear was soaked, but by the time we had finished it had almost stopped, so the weighing in took place in comparative comfort. I admitted to 45 lb.

On Peg 1 Peter Barnes had one fish with half an hour to go, but added four in that last, frantic, 30 minutes, and totalled 25 lb 10 oz. Round the corner, then, to the anglers I hadn't been able to see, with Mike on 4 weighing 29 lb 13 oz and and on peg 6 Bob Allen had fished paste all day for a brilliant 79 lb 15 oz. He said he had dripped in half-a-dozen pellets first cast, followed it up with a lump of paste dropped on top, and and been playing an 8 lb mirror within 20 seconds!

Joe, at 92 years old, can still catch 'em. He was fifth
with this 42 lb 14 oz catch, taken on feeder.

The next three anglers, Joe, Bob and Wendy, had all fished the feeder all day, mainly close to the bank, for weights of  42 lb 14 oz, 51 lb 3 oz and 26 lb 9 oz, putting Bob into second place and 92-year-old Joe into third. To my considerable surprise I then weighed 52 lb 12 oz, just pipping Bob. John Garner's last-hour sprint on my left had taken him to 42 lb 8 oz, while our organiser Trevor on 24, with the wind in his face (which he and the rest of us thought would be best) had a roach and two carp and didn't weigh in. 

That left me in second spot, thanks to that vital last-hour change, when many times I wouldn't have bothered - but the Golden Peg was a roll-over, of course.

A visit to Specsavers due?
Steve (aka Ivy) Tilsley is a local legend who posts his results on Facebook, and from time to time he announces a Twat In The Hat award for memorable acts or comments on the bank. I wouldn't be so cruel as to do that...but if I was it would go to John Smith. As we were packing our gear away after the match John said he had about 13 lb - possibly 15 lb.

His weight?  It was 25 lb 14 oz, with one fish that must have weighed almost 13 lb on its own!!! I think a visit to Specsavers is on the cards.

THE RESULT

1 Peter Barnes           25 lb 10 oz
3 Martin Parker          DNW
4 Mike Rawson          29 lb 13 oz
6 Bob Allen                79 lb 1 oz        1st
8 Joe Bedford             42 lb 14 oz     4th
11 Bob Barrett            51 lb 3 oz       3rd
13 Wendy Bedford     26 lb 9 oz
18 Mac Campbell       52 lb 12 oz     2nd
20 John Garner           42 lb 8 oz
22 John Smith            25 lb 14 oz
24 Trevor Cousins      DNW

Back to Beastie with a Bang

 Peg 18, Thursday, Oct 13
That session with Ben Townsend on Sunday, learning how to play fish more quickly, came in handy on Thursday when I found myself in the one swim on Decoy where it is essential to get the fish under control quickly. Peg 18 is next to the bridge on Beastie, and it has proved to be the graveyard of many a matchman who failed to prevent big carp from diving under the bridge and breaking their pole. I know 'cos it has happened to me in the past.

YES! A peg I really fancied - an unusual state of affairs for me lately.

Peg 18 is only about 30 yards from Peg 16, where I was pegged the previous Saturday, but the differences in the two swims could hardly be greater. You have a typical margin swim to the right on 18, with overhanging reeds, but turn to the left and the bridge is literally six feet from the platform, and often that's the area where the fish hang out. No matter - I like the swim, and it can hold a lot of fish on occasions. 

BUT frankly I didn't fancy my chances of winning - out of the 13 of us fishing this Spratts match, Trevor Cousins was on famous peg 30, and Peter Harrison, who has been having some really big catches lately, was on 4. It's probably not as good as 5, but Peter was quite capable of winning from it from there. 

I draw a good 'un...
ALSO Bob Allen had asked me to draw out a peg for Peter Spriggs, who also can't stop winning. Bob's argument (which I strongly refute) was that since I reckon every peg I draw, or have drawn for me, is rubbish, perhaps I could do the same for Peter.

Well, that theory went up in smoke when I drew out Peg 2, where Callum Judge had won on Saturday with over 180 lb! I rate that peg highly as well, and everybody knows that. So a groan went up, in anticipation of Peter winning, and as I surveyed my swim 18 on this lovely calm Autumn morning I reckoned that with the pegs those three anglers had drawn I would probably be fishing for fourth place.

Peg 18 - lots of features! No Raspberry Ripple, but that didn't matter as it was a lovely, windless day. A lot of the fish, mainly F1s, came from next to the scaffold pole, on corn. The white bag I always have holds a bottle of water, which I take everywhere as my saliva glands have been damaged by radiation.

The start

I left the rods in the van because on a flat-calm day like this I fancied a day on the pole - in the Fens such calm days are a rarity. I had five different tops made up because the depth varies so much in this swim. Plumbing around in front of me I found a hard bottom in five  feet, on four sections, and started there with banded hard pellet. To my left Shaun Buddle on 17 and Dick Warrener on 15 were both into fish inside the first half-hour, while I had just one F1 of 1 lb. I had one or two liners, and felt that the fish were coming to the feed, but I didn't want to waste a lot of time there.

My best-ever match catch came from this swim, fishing to the right margin, so that is where I next came. But after 45 minutes fishing corn I had had just one more small F1, a 2 lb bream, and a carp of 5 lb. I was chuffed to get that into the net within about 20 seconds - much more quickly than I would normally.

Great to see bream. This net, by Dick Warrener, weighed 38 lb.

The bridge swim
Next it was round to the bridge, and I started right next to the scaffold poles nearest to me. In the next half-hour two or three more F1s came to corn, best well over 4 lb, then out of the blue, a mirror of almost 10 lb took the bait. I had that in front of me within 30 seconds and a minute later it lay in the landing net. But that swim seemed to dry up and I went a little deeper, and found fish, mainly F1s.

The channel under the bridge is much shallow right next to the bridge - perhaps three feet, and it deepened by about 18 inches as you came away from it. From that moment onwards I had to drop in all over the area, with the different rigs, as I couldn't get any number of fish from the same spot. And I couldn't decide how they wanted the bait presented - just touching bottom or laying hard on. Several fell to my special method, which can be deadly, but even that wouldn't work all the time.

How to recognise an F1
Now that F1s are becoming so big  they can easily  be confused with commons. Someone asked me recently how to easily tell the difference. The easiest way is: F1s have no barbules by the side of their mouth. Commons and mirrors have one each side.

My long top put to the test
Mostly I was fishing my normal-length Browning top two, which can't bring the fish under control quite as quickly as the shorter tops I bought recently. So when I dropped in right next to the bridge and another big mirror was hooked, it really tested the top two. The fish went under the bridge, but dipping the pole top right under the surface, and hanging on (and gritting my teeth) saw the fish turn and come back into open water. That also ended in my net.

Dick's carp - this 34 lb consisted mainly of four big ones.

Shaun and Dick seemed to be catching slowly but steadily, and I assumed that they were probably beating me. I guessed that several of their fish were bream, as they came in quickly, but looked a good size. You can amass a big weight of bream fairly quickly if they keep coming, and run to 3 lb, which they do in Beastie.

Hardly a good bite all day

I lost about six fish, which all came off within two seconds of being hooked, so I must assume they were foulhooked. All day the carp, and mainly F1s, played about with the bait for ages, and I hardly had one good bite where it dived straight down. The bites looked like roach, but I had only three roach, on corn, plus one gudgeon (on mussel), all day. It was very frustrating.

Cat meat fished on my special method took a good carp in the deeper water in the centre of the channel, where I have had fish in the past, but it seemed to me that the fish were being spooked every time one was hooked, as it was rare to get two in two drops in the same place, and cat meat in the channel didn't tempt any more.

Change to mussel
In the last 90 minutes I changed to mussel, which worked slightly better (but that could have been because it was later in the day) and took some more, including another around 8 lb, but the fish played about with the mussels as well. I put a third net in when I reckoned I had about 80 lb and the first fish in was the best, at around 11 lb. A little before the end I went back to corn, and fished it a few inches off  bottom, which did bring three more F1s.

I felt I had not fished it well, particularly that I hadn't changed bait enough times, because sometimes that can bring an instant result. Also I hadn't gone back to the long swim in front of me, where there had been fish earlier (even though I couldn't catch them).

The fish come in to tease me
All day, in the flat calm water, I had fed sparingly, mainly with just the small pole pot. At the end I threw in the remaining handful of corn, the tiny amount of hemp I had not used, and a handful of micros, down beside the platform in about a foot of water, which I had not fished. 

Less than five minutes later fish had come in and big swirls of mud were coming up! I'm sure they know when a match finishes!!! But should I have fed more heavily?

Callum Judge - runner-up on 23 with 97 lb 6 oz
taken on mussels fished mainly off bottom.

The weigh in
By the time I had packed away the rigs and got the trolley into the van the scales were round to me. Peter Spriggs was leading, but I was surprised that he his weight was only 78 lb 14 oz, and I thought I had more than that. Someone told me that Callum on 23 had had a good day. Those pegs from 21 to 25 have a good reputation, and they often dominate the Opens, though I have never done particularly well from them. So I though Callum could have continued his good run and had a really big catch, which he is capable of doing.

Both Dick and Shaun had in the 70s, and my three nets totalled 118 lb 10 oz, which was leading - one net was about 2 lb over the limit and I wondered whether that would cost me a frame place. Callum had fished mussel all day, off bottom being best, and he ended with 97 lb 6 oz.

On 30 Trevor Cousins had mainly just a few large carp, one on the feeder and the rest he had mugged. He said that the fish had been just under the surface almost all day in front of Joe on 29 (who at the age of 92 was never likely to fish a long pole shallow) and that with the sun behind him he (Trevor) had been able to see the occasional fish drift into his swim. But as his weight was just 61 lb I ended as the winner, with Callum runner-up.

Most of Joe's 18 lb catch was this 11-pounder.

Last to weigh - our organiser Trevor with 61 lb, mainly taken mugging. These two weighed over 24 lb. 
Thanks for everything you do, Trev.

Next match Friday on Six-Island (which has five islands, honestly). Normally I would be fishing at the weekend, but a Special Birthday falls then, and the family have ordered me to stand by for a surprise. To refuse would be highly dangerous to my health...

THE RESULT

2 Peter Spriggs           78 lb 14 oz        3rd
3 Peter Barnes            44 lb 3 oz
4 Peter Harrison         75 lb 7 oz
5 Bob Allen                45 lb 14 oz
15 Dick Warrener       72 lb 15 oz
17 Shaun Buddle        76 lb 7 oz            4th
18 Mac Campbell     118 lb 10 oz          1st
22 Bob Barrett            25 lb 14 oz
23 Callum Judge        97 lb 67 oz          2nd
24 Mike Rawson             DNW
26 Martin Parker        73 lb 11 oz
29 Joe Bedford           18 lb 14 oz
30 Trevor Cousins       61 lb     

A bad start, and a bad finish on Beastie - plus where's the cup?

Peg 16, Saturday, Oct 8
I love Beastie lake - every swim is different. Even so everybody knows I like certain pegs more than others - 2 and 18 in the main lake and 9 and 13 at the back of the spit; but these latter two were left out because not everyone likes those pegs. We had been allocated 2 to 18, and that meant that of the rest, only peg 7 was left out, with the rest round to 18 on the bridge. The wind was cool, but it soon warmed a little and overall conditions were fine, with no rain.

The sun was right in front of us, so I shot this facing left, where
Dave Garner's platform was only about eight yards away.

Unfortunately I didn't get 2 or 18, but my peg 16 had the option of casting to the island and it has nice margins. My plan was to start on the feeder, but when I plumbed up at 2+1 on the pole I found a small depression and a fish hit the line, so I decided to start on the pole. On my left Dave Garner fished his usual waggler with cat meat and had a good first hour, with four or five carp. 

I had one or two  indications, with just a small F1 and a roach taking my corn, and after almost two hours I estimated Dave had 30 lb and I had 1 lb! Of course I should have gone onto the feeder, especially since Mel Lutkin, on 17 to my right, also had some carp, on a feeder. But having dripped corn into the swim for some time I was reluctant to come away, in case it suddenly came to life.

Lots of action in the first hour...but unfortunately not in my swim!

I change elastics, and then...
Then the pole swim came to life, with a carp around 9 lb which stretched the 13 hollow elastic far too much for my liking, almost into Dave's swim, then almost into Mel's swim. With that in the net I switched the rig onto a stronger orange bungee elastic...and Sod's Law decreed that my next ten fish were bream! They stretched that elastic about six inches (!), but at least none came off. They weighed from 2 lb to 3 lb.

Dave had slowed down a little, and when my swim slowed down I had a look in the margins, which I thought would produce, as the wind was blowing into them from the front right; soon the sun was in front of us, and neither Dave nor I could fish where we had been, and now the left margin was fishable as the sun had moved round.

But that lovely-looking left margin didn't produce, while the right one gave me a couple of F1s and a few roach. Disaaaaster was looming...

When this was in Dave's landing net it looked to be at least
20 lb to me. But when we weighed it, the scales showed 15 lb.

Scrapping around
I scrapped around on corn for another bream or two, in a new, shorter swim in front of the keepnets, and eventually thought I'd try cat meat in the lefthand margin. A Miracle...a carp of 5 lb. Two or three more followed, and a change to mussel brought even quicker bites from another two or three. Thirty minutes to go, and I was steaming!

Then a real disaster - I played a fish well over 10 lb for some minutes, and had it almost in the net, but it eventually came off. Next drop a smaller carp came in, followed by a foulhooker which played me for a long time before waving goodbye. Meanwhile Dave's swim had come alive and was was netting them quickly.

Five minutes to go and another big fish was on my pole...and that was possibly also foulhooked. It lumbered around and felt huge, and I thought that if it was hooked properly it would take me absolutely ages to net, so I took my time as the match was almost finished. Then that one, too, came off. A terrible end just when m swim had perked up. Mel didn't catch much in the afternopon, and I guessed that I had perhaps beaten him. I had clicked 60 lb, which I guessed was well behind Dave, who had landed a fish which looked to me, from a distance, to weigh 20 lb.

I needed only one carp for third place.

The weigh-in
On Peg 2 Callum had had his catch of a lifetime - a brilliant personal best of 183 lb 9 oz, which won. Very well done, mate. On 5 Kevin Lee was fishless after three-and-a-quarter hours, but then found carp in his margins and hammered them to the tune of 159 lb 7 oz, which took second place.

No-one else could challenge those catches, but the next weights were bunched - Peter Spriggs 81 lb 14 oz; Dave Garner 81 lb 5 oz; Dave Hobbs 79 lb 11 oz, and me with 78 lb 10 oz which left me in sixth place. Just one of those lost fish would have boosted me to third. Ce'st la vie. (That's French for It's A Bugga).

Next day I was due to met Ben Townsend for a tuition session (see below), hopefully on how to land carp more quickly - as I know I take longer than most others.

WHERE'S THE CUP?
Our chairman John Smith didn't fish the Beastie match, but asked me to ask the others to bring the cups they won last year to the next match. Of course I couldn't remember who had won them, so I consulted the blog entry for last year's match, to see who had won what.

Yes, the Club Cup went to Allan Golightly; the Bedford cup went to Peter Spriggs, and John had told me the biggest-fish cup had gone to Matthew Lutkin. I couldn't for the life of me remember who had won the Club Championship...but the blog told me. The winner was pictured there holding the cup. It was me!!!

Here's last year's winner. Now I remember!

So I looked for the cup at home. Couldn't find it. My wife said she'd not seen it for years, since I won it the first time. We hunted high and low (well mainly high actually, since it would have been displayed on the top of the china cabinet). Not there. Where was it? Had we been burgled? Had I left it somewhere after being presented with it?

The only possible answer was that I took it to be engraved and left it there, because I was given it after the last match, so it couldn't have been engraved earlier. So today, Monday, I took a trip and Yes, there it was on the engraver's shelf. It had been there almost a year.

BUT I'm not the only local idiot. Next to it stands a Challenge Cup (sport unknown) which has been there, awaiting collection, since 2019!

A DAY WITH BEN TOWNSEND
I've known for a long time that I would do better in matches if I could land my carp more quickly. Other anglers almost all land their fish more quickly than I do. I tend to play them too gently, often for several minutes, which is not only bad for the fish, but exhausting for me as well (particularly now I have a problem with my right arm and hand) and I knew that Ben could help. 

He's a class act - fifth in the World when he fished for one of the England Youth teams when he was 17, and he's been getting some huge weights in big matches, as well as putting hugely-informative videos up on You Tube, detailing matches he has been fishing. 

So on Sunday we met up at Decoy, expecting to go on to the low number on Willows, because the other lakes were all booked; but Ben found out that Cedar was unexpectedly free, and we agreed to sit there, choosing Peg 4. I wasn't out to catch a lot of fish - just to get a few in as quickly as I could.

My new gear
I've just acquired two of the Browning short tops, and after seeing one of Ben's videos I put Matrix Slik elastic 14-16 in one and 16-18 in the other, and I set one up with a 0.5 gm float and a banded pellet. Ben suggested this, which was fine with me as I don't fish banded hard pellets enough. Behind us on Elm lake the anglers in the JV match were finding sport pretty slow, but I took a picture of Chris Saunders managing to land a good carp hooked in the tail.

Chris Saunders was enjoying himself on Elm lake playing  a fish foulhooked in the tail.

It took us perhaps 20 minutes to get a bite on pellet, fishing close to an overhanging bush, where we expected barbel. Ben sat on my basket, got a bite, and within 15 seconds a 5 lb carp was in the landing net. I honestly felt that I had already had my money's worth, just watching that. He had almost tricked the carp into diving headfirst into the landing net. The rig was on 5 lb line.

Next it was my turn, and I did as instructed, and honestly, within 15 seconds of hooking on, I, too, had a 5 lb carp in the net. There was no question of pulling the fish's head off - I felt I hadn't put on any more pressure than I normally do. Then we changed to maggots, and I managed just one barbel, which took longer to land (as they do) and after that I went a bit farther out, and had a few more carp on banded pellet.

Ben also suggested how I fed, which I was happy with, and it worked. We seemed to be catching better than the anglers in the match behind us. The wind was now quite strong. I also changed the long Number Three for a short one with the short top, to see how it felt.

I guess I had probably eight carp in total, but not all came in as quickly as that first one. Ben explained that all fish fight differently (as we all know) and it wasn't always the biggest fish which caused the biggest problems. It was a matter of keeping the fish under control and trying to stop them getting up a head of steam. Sometimes you have to be a bit patient.

Halfway through the session we changed to my normal long top twos, with 17 hollow elastic, and it certainly felt different. Not all came in as quickly as the first one, but I still landed them all in a fraction of the time I would normally take. All a matter of technique.

I was very satisfied that I now had a feel for what I was doing, and we packed up after about three hours. So far as I was concerned it was Mission Completed. A brilliant day so far as I was concerned. I got more than my money's worth.