Return to match fishingAFTER AN 18 YEAR sabbatical I returned to the competitive world of match angling. It may have been a big mistake. Let me explain:
I had this chat with a guy I sort of knew from my regular trips to the local commercial. He mentioned a small get-together, just a little sweepstake, and as he’d seen me bag-up on the carp, he thought I might be interested. Well, I was. After all, I’d worked at the fishery for a while and knew it pretty well. I reckoned I could catch from just about anywhere and quite honestly I thought I could show them a thing or two! So I agreed, nothing to lose, everything to win. He’d sort out the formalities; all I had to do was turn up on the day. Match Day soon arrived and, well, let me take you through the events of the day as they happened: The Draw I arrived in the car park with plenty of time to spare. The place was packed. I thought there must be a private booking on some of the lakes. I eventually parked the car and then found my mate. He handed me my ticket and it seems the ‘little sweepstake’ is a 200 pegger! It’s a ‘Last Chance Qualifier’ for a National Final with a ‘Winner Take All’ prize of £ 30,000. The world and his dog are here looking to qualify for that final. Even though I was somewhat taken aback, I was beginning to feel quite competitive. I know this water, I know the methods, I know I can catch, so why not? Why I entered all the optional pools and had a bet on myself with ‘Honest Joe’ is now a mystery to me, but at the time….! Into the draw bag – Permanent Peg 104! I know that one very well indeed, it’s a cracker, and it’ll do me. Even better, apparently it’s also the Golden Peg which means, if I win, there’s an accumulator to add to the pools money. It seems it’s been rolling over and over for many months and now stands at £ 1,576. The Peg We’re fishing 10 to 3 so there’s plenty of time to get ready. To my left is someone called Will Currant, sure I’ve seen him somewhere before? To my right is Steve Chimer and then another Chimer. I think there’s a whole family of them here! There are a few familiar faces in this section as well but I can’t quite place their names. What was that? It’s the ‘All In’, my watch had stopped! 10:00am It was 10:20 to be precise. I hastily set up a rod and hurled an empty feeder into the distance. “Oi!” – Sorry Will, I’m a bit rusty! The Feeder had landed on Will’s 16m Pole line. I eventually put it somewhere near the right place and tried to calm down. At least I had a line in the water and was fishing. 10:50am I now had a feeder full of ‘Marine Special’ laced with hemp and pellet going out there on a regular basis. Sometimes it even landed near to where I wanted it! 11:00am I was in the process of setting up the pole when the feeder tip went round. Now we’re talking, I’m into the first carp. Not a bad one at all, about 7lbs I think. Reached for the net, what net? I hadn’t set the landing net up! Tried to hand it out but failed, it slowly rolled over and away! Right, just calm down and relax. There’s not a lot going on around me so no real damage done. 11:30amNo more indications on the feeder so time to have a look in the margins on the pole. To my right there’s a little willow which is a great fish-holding feature. I put in a couple of good handfuls of hemp. “Oi! That’s my margin!” It seems the convention is to fish the margins to the left on this lake! I’ve got nothing on my left, just bare bank! 12:00pm Two hours gone and not a fish. 12:30pm At last another ‘wrap around’ and a good carp is on. Into the net, no problems, it’s a double, about 12lbs. Right we’re off and running, into the keepnet.
Where’s the s******g net? It’s back up on the path, OK let the fish sit in the landing net and go get the keepnet. Fine, set it all up and, where’s the carp? Landing net OK but no carp! That’s close on 20lb that’s gone back! 1:00pm More than half way through and nothing to show for it! Will and Steve have had a couple but I’m pretty sure they’re struggling as well. The odd ‘liner’ on the feeder shows they’re out there so let’s persevere. 1:15pm Away goes the tip again and another double graces the net. No mistakes this time, straight into the keepnet and we’re really off and running now. 1:30pm
Three on the trot! All good fish and nicely into the keepnet. I reckon that’s about 23lb and counting. 2:00pm They’re really going now. I’ve had three more and reckon on around 40lb in total. Steve and Will don’t seem to be catching and they’re talking a lot (can’t quite make out what they’re saying though). 2:15pm Three more carp to the total which is now around 60lb. Started another keepnet, which is only fair as they’re big fish. I’m fishing really well now! 2:30pm Another two! I’m now on around 80lb and looking good. A lot of guys are wandering the bank and a few are sat behind Will. I don’t think he’s catching, they’re certainly not! 2:45pm Just one more carp of around 6lb but it could be enough! Some of the guys on the other bank are packing up already! 2:55pm Another one, this time it’s a big double, about 16lb. I might just break the ton and that surely will be enough! 2:59pm And another, a little smaller but still a double. I think I’ve done enough! I’ve still got it after all these years! 3:00pm That’s it, the whistle’s gone. Despite the nervous start I reckon I have done it. Will and Steve have got about 20lb each, they just didn’t seem to catch. Ha! Whipped them both! The Scales The scales reached Steve and top weight so far is 63lb. Looking good!Hang on; he’s got seven nets in the water…
How the hell did he catch 313lb 6oz of carp? I only saw him land four? Although shocked, I’m still thinking 2nd could be good and should at least pick up a bit of coin. Now it’s my turn. “Only two nets?” What do they mean? As I’m pulling the first net out, there’s lot’s of murmured whispers. They’re obviously impressed! Yeah! Right! A chorus of voices all say “You’re disqualified”. It seems there is a fishery rule of a maximum of 50lb per net! They start to weigh but it’s obvious, three fish still in the net and I’ve got 57lb already! I protest, but they all point out the rather large sign back on the pathway that clearly states the rule! I’m sure that wasn’t there earlier! I’m still in shock and just a little p****d off but wander over to Will’s peg. He’s got nine nets! When the marathon is finally completed, 442lb 3oz is written alongside his name! Each net had between 49lb 2ozs and 49lb 5oz! But I only saw him land three fish? So there you have it. That day saw me at an incredible high as I relived all my conquests of the past and then the lowest of lows as I compared the day’s events with some of my worst match experiences of the 70’s and 80’s (Leeds/Liverpool Canal 1981 left a permanent scar on my brain!). Will I continue match fishing? What do you think? |
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