2016 Championship: Round 6

2016 Championship: Round 6

To say that for me this match didn’t quite go to plan would be an understatement. I arrived early to find myself unable to open the padlock, a frustrating 5 minutes only ended when Trevor, smiling his head off, showed me how. Be warned, the code only works from one side! I didn’t get a bad draw, in fact swim 6 looked pretty good, and with seat box etc laid out I started tacking up, very optimistic of a good day. First cast with the waggler, swan shot on the hook to plumb depth along side the very carpy looking reeds, saw me foul hook a carp, it tore off with a visible 30 yd wake, snapping the line as it rubbed the reeds and I thought ‘that’s one that won’t be in my net’. Retackled, I cast again only to foul hook another carp which again snapped the line. Third attempt I managed to catch the overhead tree branch, another set up gone! Final plumbing went well and so did the whistle, I hadn’t even opened the bait boxes! It did get better but I couldn’t find another carp and settled for just 6 lb 4 oz of rudd. Rob Turner though did find carp at around 50 yds on the method feeder with sweet corn on the hook held in place with pellets, he landed four of the seven he hooked for 1st place with 29 lb, a repeat of his earlier win here on the first match this season with four fish for 26 lb. His biggest at 11 lb 2 oz was only a little smaller than the next best total weight from Steve Borrett, a decent bag of mainly rudd going 12 lb 6 oz. Steve seems unstoppable, so far! Despite Ken Whitmore having the hot peg, the spit at no 7, he could only manage just under 9 lb, it seemed the rudd had changed their usual haunts. He did hook a couple of carp, but on pinkie tackle the odds were not in his favour. For the last match report Mike Lynch wanted it noted that he didn’t catch a bream, eel, dace, roach or tench but he did enjoy watching others do so. This time he genuinely had the worst swim, both in terms of fish potential but also because it afforded him the best view of everyone else catching all day long, he finished with a miserable 2 lb for 10th place but was in surprisingly good spirits. Better draw next time. Before the last Cam match there was considerable banter about ‘raking’, not a recollection about Trevor’s infamous losses or about how much trouble it can cause when it goes wrong (remember the swimming incident at Upware) but whether it should be allowed pre whistle! Some argued that it amounts to pre baiting the swim and if it be allowed then so should ground baiting. This time the pre-match banter was about floating baits, Trevor Sturge extolling the virtues of his four pints of floating black casters and how 2 lb rudd can’t resist them. Rob Turner then pointed out that floating baits weren’t allowed under club match rules and anyone using them should be disqualified. Trevor replied that as he runs the matches he sets the rules but alas the damage was done, his confidence gone he resorted to bottom fishing. He did get a tench, a rarity at Mepal, but could only manage a total of 5½ lb for 7th. It’s The Old West for the next match on 28th August, a normal start at 09:00, draw at 08:00, finishing at 15:00. This is the Bank holiday weekend so expect there to be more boats than normal! As usual book on with Trevor if you haven't already but please let him know in good time if your plans change. There are a limited number of pegs available for all matches and sometimes would-bes are turned away, which is very unfortunate if others then don’t turn up. Finally a reminder that the Environment Agency are conducting fish surveys this week at various points along The Cam, these are: Monday – Midsummer Common just downstream of the footbridge Tuesday – Fen Ditton (Just downstream of the railway bridge over the river) Wednesday – Under the A14 road bridge near Baits Bite Lock Thursday – Upstream of Clayhithe Bridge Friday – Upware (on The Cam, not The Lode) All surveys start around 08:00 and last a couple of hours.