What’s the saying , “a bad days fishing is better than a
good day at work” well the second round of the SSS proved that wrong for
me. Selected to fish again for Browning Andover MG
White I was handed a draw of Wolfhall C Section . I had followed (purely by chance – not
stalking him) Kev Chubb to the draw venue and was glad of it as his leisurely
(slow) pace had seen us both avoid hitting Muntjac deer. He was lucky missing his would his luck hold for the day?
Slightly disappointed as I had practiced Brimslade and
Farmers and attended the match with a hope that I would draw somewhere near to
where I had practiced. In addition the
quality and size of the fish there indicated it would be a good days fishing.
Still Wolfhall, not an unhappy hunting ground for me was
having framed on the last two visits there.
Admittedly slightly later in the year (when the stretch had settled
after the big boat race) and I had drawn either side of the Wolfhall bridge on
the fliers.
On arrival this time I was
left at the bridge then 150 mtrs down to my peg C6. So right past the fliers at the bridge; and
not far enough for the end pegs and the fish holding stick ups in the canal of
C 1,2 and 3.
I had left the waders at home (again! Don’t know where my
head is at the moment) so had to slide down the bank to get in. Think hippo and Walt Disney and you will
picture the scene. I slipped in like a
lubricated prostate examiners finger making an exploratory recce. I barely created a ripple and was quickly set
up with platform level with water surface.
Too my left Steve Dean of Pewsey and then Kev Chubb. To my right and a few pegs down Kinger fellow
Browning lad and winner of the last round.
Kev did not hold much hope for the day other that 2 lb would be a good
weight and anyhow it was a nice day in the sun.
We (Kev and I) did share our amazement of some anglers to manage to get bonus fish
regularly and Kev said he found Dog Perch in particular difficult to find.
Another unexplained anomaly was the ability of Boats to
appear on the all in whistle. True to
form the all-in was shouted anglers baited up and the first of the boats came
through and destroyed the baited area – you have to laugh don’t you – well
actually no you don’t.
30 Minutes in and me
steve, Kev and John Wright to my right no bites no fish. Thirty five minutes and commotion to my left
as Mr Chubb has hooked the bottom, only the bottom has started to move and it’s
not the bottom. His face a picture of
concentration his buttocks clenched tight enough to swipe a credit card, he
relaxes into a big smile as he slides his landing net under a 2 lb. plus Bream.
Back in the real world my peg. Still devoid of any fish, sign of fish
bubbles from fish, fish flipping on the surface, fish of any size creed or
colour. You get the message no fish no
bites and no sign of a bite. Steve to my
left has had a Ruffe, the guy to my right has caught 2 x two day old roach
basically a pair of eyes with fin.
My swim was two foot at towpath going out 5 feet straight
drop off no gradual slope. 3 foot 6 shallow at centre of the track and then 8 feet from
far bank rising sharply no slope to 12 inches deep and remaining at that depth
for the full 8 feet to the bank. No
features just sub surface debris, brambles branches and twigs. Being so shallow every boat through destroyed the swim into a muddy mess that took 20 minutes plus to settle and become fishable again.
Two hours in still no bites and no fish when both Steve to
my left and I simultaneously catch thumb size Gudgeon. Kevin in the meantime has added 2 dog Perch
to go with his Bream (never catch Big Perch eh Kev!). John Wright to my right
has just plumped for catching amoebas across for the rest of the match and is
building his weight half an ounce at a time.
3 and half hours in and still only 1 fish one bite. Did the
float move there not sure but I hit it to find a 10 Gram Ruffe valiantly
hanging on to a small red worm. To be
honest I was losing the will to live.
Apart from Kev it seemed all the anglers I could see were not doing
great but they were ahead of me. I had
scaled down all rigs as it seemed only amoebas were available.
Nick King my squad mate was sweating too having gone hours
without a bite. Nicks purgatory was
about to end as he guided a couple of get out of jail skimmers to his bank, one
dragged under the keel of a passing boat, jammy git.
I would like to discuss one day (on a philosophical basis) feelings of impotency. There is nothing quite like match fishing for making you struggle with that feeling of frustration. Born of drawing a peg that clearly has no chance to compete effectively. I say impotent, because after trying what you think as everything to get a bite.
Nothing has happened.
I clearly rang the changes this match trying all baits from dendros, to tiny red worm, caster to maggot to pinkie and squat. Bread punch , 2,3 and 4 mill. I fished off the bottom dead bottom and laid on by inches. I went from an 18 hook down to a size 24 hook and 0.5 line. I tried 7 different swims. I baited lightly to start, precise with a bait dropper. Then cupping in. I changed shotting patterns, moving with the flow and holding back, I was impotent, powerless to make bites occur.
With an hour to go I had a run of a few amoebas fishing in the shallowest part of the far shelf, dobbing with a single squat cut in half on a size 24 hook and 0.5 bottom. I finished with 11 bites 11 fish and a danger of being bottom in section. I had to pray there was a few blanks.
A quick look over the boardmans shoulder I noted at least one weight that I had beaten so I would be bottom, nevertheless I was frustrated not to have magicked another fish or two out of my dead swim.
My fellow squad member Kinger was looking relieved and as he said; had got out of Jail with his late skimmers.
Kev Chubb had carried his luck through from the near miss with a Muntjac and broke his dog Perch bogey by adding 3 pound plus Perch to his Bream.
I have to say well done Kev.
I also have to say that the section was tough some good anglers caught bugger all today; and from what I saw my 11 fish was not bad it was just there impossibly small size. Other anglers (not all) had similar number of bites but bigger fish. Match fishing can be cruel. Not even the end pegs produced expected weights today. Pegs 2 and 3 opposite the stick ups had held a few fish and good anglers benefited from the holding qualities of the stick up reeds.
Even the favored bridge pegs struggled (Rob Randall bucking the trend). So with 8 weights (third of the section) under a pound and a further 6 weights under 2 lb a tough day. Well done to those above that; and to those who had a bonus fish or two.
I drove home with conflicting feelings of frustration at an inability to catch more; against a thought of working hard to make a difference not just sitting there waiting for the fish to come to me. But as so many people commented today "its a shit stretch Gary, and if they aint there you cant catch em".
So not last, but not enjoying the feeling that I could not have done no more. See you next time.
PS I have just found out that on the day my team finished 5th with Ian Madden and Chris Opie doing really well with Carp and big Bream.Chris weighing in 15+lb of Skimmers, Carp and Bream, and Ian 10+lb of Carp and Perch well done lads, sorry I couldn't back you to a higher place today.
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