Willinghurst Masters - 3rd February 2008

This was due to appear in the Angling Times this week but due to a reduction in pages for the Match Section, it has unfortunately (for me) been left out this week.


Ever had one of those weekends where you just know you are going to struggle to catch ? Well, after returning from pegging Willinghurst on Saturday afternoon to find that my beloved West Ham had lost to Wigan and then watched England somehow manage to lose to the Welsh at rugby, I had a nasty feeling that with bad things coming in threes, the following days “Masters” match could well be a struggle for me.

On Sunday morning, with captain Alan Harrington near the back of the draw queue, fortunately there were still some decent pegs left to draw and he did us proud with “Peg 1” which had actually won the first two rounds. With 4 decent pegs out of the six in a team draw, I quickly scanned the list before my eyes settled on………..Dave Pearson – New Lake Peg 1 and my heart sunk. It’s a lovely edge peg in summer but at this time of year it is crap with a capital C. In the two matches so far this series, it has weighed in the grand total of 1-7-0 and the only plus marks in it’s favour were that the wind was from behind and it is only a short walk to the cabin !

I decided that my best plan of attack would be to fish next to the rushes for some roach and to fish a lead and cast it about the peg and hopefully drop it in front of a feeding carp. I also set up a waggler instead of a long pole as the wind was gusty and as the water was only shallow and the water quite clear, I didn’t want to scare off any fish that might be around by waving a pole over their heads.

After an hour, Joe Clark was wining the lake with 2 carp and only one other had been caught. Just as my mind began wandering, thinking of those halcyon days of bagging up in summer, I was suddenly brought back to reality as my tip, which had been bouncing in the wind suddenly went round. After a brief battle I netted a carp of 6-10-0 on a piece of hair rigged luncheon meat and was I happy ? You bet I was as based on recent matches one carp could well be worth mega points on the lake. From then on, things didn’t exactly go to plan as I decided to sit it out for carp and ignore the roach (which I hadn’t had a bite from anyway) and I remained biteless for the rest of the match whilst everyone up the other end of the lake started to catch the odd fish or two. When I went for a brief wander to the cabin for a warming cuppa, all those at the other end were moaning about how many liners they were getting – if only. The most skilfully caught carp I saw caught was at Paul Williamson’s peg where I’d stopped for a brief chat. He was fishing a roach rig at about 6 metres and bemoaning his lack of success when he suddenly felt the pole pull down and the elastic come out – next minute his whole rig was out of the water and the fish was still swimming around under his feet ! He’d only managed to hook another rig with a fish attached – why does nothing like that ever happen to me. Anyway his carp went
4-8-0 and I know that cos it was the only fish he had !

Feeling sorry for Gavin Clarke who was the only angler on the lake without a fish, in a fit of compassion I bought him a coffee in the cabin. And, how do you think he repaid my generosity ? Yes, the little Northern chappie returned to his peg, caught four carp for 32lb in the last hour and a bit and won the lake ! How’s that for gratitude, he can get his own coffee next time !

Anyway, whilst I wont bore you with the full result, I have to say well done to my mate Don Garnish who easily won the match with 78lb from Peg 15 on Horseshoe Lake, and whilst I know it’s a flier, you still have to catch them don’t you. I must also warn you about the behaviour of a certain Bob Poulton (or Dodgy Bob as he is now known) as from what I have heard, his casting (which was previously spot on) has taken a turn for the worse and often veers a long way to the left !