A bit worried

[RUDD]

I have a club singles knock out match (2nd round)on Saturday at 0700hrs (start at 8).

We are last to fish due to holidays and 3rd round is well under way.

Most of the better matchmen or better club anglers have been knocked out by each other or anglers often refered to as Fodder.

 

Dont get me wrong, during pleasure sessions they (Fodder) do well but most seem to stick to the same old peg, bait, method etc and moan when things get hard. They never seem to try anything different.

They do turn up for most club matches though because like me its a social day out.

 

The trouble is match fishing is nothing like pleasure fishing and a in water being match fished the fish behave in a completly different fashion.

The singles knockout is just like a pleasure session as there are only two of you fishing.

There may be a few pleasure anglers around or other knockouts going on but as a rule (unwritten) knockout anglers are given a bit of space( I have heard of MATES arriving an hour into a match and setting up next to their mates competitor!!!!!!!!).

This means the fish act normally and Fodder do have a very good chance of winning.

 

YOU GUESSED IT

 

I have drawn a bloke that fishes all the matches but in all the years I have match fished I have only ever seen him once pick up a section win which I will tell you about, I would put him in the Fodder class wouldn't you?

Even worse is the fact that he got a BYE in the first round whilst I had a battle royal on my hands winning 19.5lb to 17.5lb of small stuff.

 

Worse than that is the fact that during the last club spring charity match I drew the middle pool along with the local sponser/tackle shop owner, the head baliff, the two matchmen (and best anglers in the club) who came 1st and 2nd in the winter league (I came 3rd) who are always up there and normally in the frame, another baliff, and two pleasure (Fodder) anglers.

A very strong and hard section to win, I did not even fancy my chances and chased rudd for the whole match landing bits here and there as everybody had a real struggle in bright, hot and calm conditions..

In the last ten mins of the match I knew I was well ahead by a few pounds and in for a section win.

UNTIL the fodder to my left (YES THE BLOKE I AM FISHING ON SATURDAY) caught a 4lb bream from just under the surface while trying to tempt some crusing rudd.

At the weigh in he won the section beating me by 2oz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HIS BEST EVER MATCH RESULT

It was nice to see a new face collecting their envelope and he was pretty well chuffed.

 

This is no normal round of the knock out, its a grudge match (on my part) with the winner going into the last eight of a now quite weak field.

So as you can see I am a bit worried.

I know I should do ok but who knows?

If I lose I am in for alot of stick as I have already given plenty to fellow club anglers who have been knocked out.

Whats more worrying is that I have not picked up a pole, waggler or feeder rod since the last round as everytime I go for a session I have been drawn to the carp gear!!!!!!!

 

I will make the most of it though and I will enjoy myself.

[chavender]

if this is how your feeling butterflys in the stomach type of thing on the verge of a chance to

possibly win the whole thing were the other main

hopefulls have droped by the wayside,just spare a

thought for this other guy,whereass you will go on to win other matches this is probably a great

highlight in his unassuming match carrer as he is

probably just a social match angler and will be

at least twice as jittery as you,win or lose its

only one match,accept your victory or defeat with

good grace,if you win congratulate him for a good

match and pushing you all the way,& if you loose

thank him for a good match and wish him luck ,as

for the banta and stick you'll get from other's

just remember if you give it out , you must take it on the chin like everyone else but in the firm

knowledge at least you did better than them !

 

just don't go putting too much preasure on yourself to beat this other guy,just consentrate

on what tactic's you intend to use on the day and

be prepared for any eventuallity.

 

i hope you win and progess on to ultimate victory

[Alan Stubbs]

It's like playing golf.... you can only fish your swim and try to maximise its potential.

 

By worrying about what the other guy may or may not be doing, disrupts your own concentration and impacts upon your own performance.

 

If you happen to lose out to the opposition, do it in good grace- and grow a very thick skin for the visit to the clubhouse!

[Newt]

RUDD - I don't see that you have any real choice. You gotta forfeit and give some good reason like a death in the family.

 

If you win, you will only have beaten a very weak competitor and there is no honor in that. Besides, just think of the damage to your stomach from all the worry about who will win.

 

If you lose, the shame will be so bad you'll have to move to Australia or the US or buy a boat and start lure fishing the Broads or some other horrible fate.

 

He, on the other hand, expect to lose so no pressure on him whatever.

 

Nope, I'd say you just can't chance fishing this match. I do have to say it makes me very sad to hear of a friend in such dire straits though. My heart goes out to you.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

Seriously though, I do understand your predicament. On the rare occasions when I fish a local match (carp paylakes) I know going in that I am probably just donating my entry fees to the experts (just call me fodder) so I can relax and have fun. On the very, very, almost non-existently rare occasions when I do well, half the fun is knowing how the pros are gonna react.

[RUDD]

To tell you the truth I am looking forward to it.

 

He being angler A has to pick a pool and two pegs at Nacton (the pegs have to be near each other). I am down as angler B and I get to pick which of the pegs I want.

 

Technicaly I should get the better peg of the two (If I know the pegs, most of which I do) like I did in the last round.

 

He will be thinking do I pick my favorite peg, a couple of flyers or a couple of duff pegs - from experiance I know his decision will play on his mind.

[A Worm OOE]

Rudd

Alans' got it right concentrate on your own game. My attitiude is to decide how much your swim is worth and try to catch it. I pay little attention to those around me usually.

That said ignored my own advice on Sunday and paid the price. I was fishing an 80 pegger on a pit where 40-50lbs would be needed to frame. I was conviced that where I was was not capable of that and so intended to fish for roach for a section win, believing that I could get 20-30lbs.

I started looking for bream on the feeder as you can never be too sure and if you have some feed out there and the Bream turn up you can join in, also I wanted an hour to build the Roach swim up.

After an hour and no sign of bream I went for the Roach. On the next peg was one of the best match anglers in the South East. He convinced me that I was wasting my time and I went back out for the bream. With just over two hours to go (my neighbour had now gone for a walk) I tried for the roach and by the end had 15lbs to go with the few skimers I had caught. As expected 45lbs won the match, my twenty peg section was won with 19lbs and I weighed in 18lbs. A Section win and £50 thrown away. I am convinced that had I stuck to what I thought was correct I could have got 25-30lbs of roach which would not only have won the section but could have got 5th in the match.

 

note to self, take your own advice.

 

[ 11. August 2005, 04:58 PM: Message edited by: A Worm On One End........ ]

[Alan Stubbs]

A Worm On One End........:

Rudd

Alans' got it right concentrate on your own game.  

Ironically, I'm not a match angler.... I just put down what I thought was obvious and common sense.

 

When I used to play matchplay golf, that was my attitude - although I used to like to distract the opposition too - especially if I was giving him a few shots on handicap!

[ginger]

Bear with me while I set the scene. Ten years ago I moved to Norfolk to take up a new job and, soon after, I found what I thought then, and still do, was the fishiest looking bit of water I have ever seen. Not big, islands, channels, surrounded by trees, loads of features, 15 inches deep at one end with maximum depth to around 5-6 feet, get the picture? I fished then on a day ticket a couple of times and caught very little. For the past two seasons I have been a member of Swaffham A.C. which now leases the 'fishiest looking....etc., along with two other adjacent pits known as Bradmoor Lakes which, incidentally, held the UK Crucian record fish a couple of decades or so ago. Last year Kev of Kev's Tackle in Swaffham organised a series of club matches on Wednesday evenings and, although I had never fished in a match before, I decided to become 'pools fodder', a simple fiver a match entrance with a winner and a couple of sections which was all part of this strange new language. I fished as I always have fished (3-4lb line as it is very snaggy, 3 or 4 AAA float, 14 ot 18 hook etc., and blanked a few times, caught a few others but, as I recall, won nowt. This eason Kev added to extra incentive of an additional £1 to be used as an aggregate prize fund for the highest weights (first, second and third) at the end of a series (must have fished 10 out 12). I managed to wangle 3 or 4 section wins and fluked overall third in the aggregate, (tied with Kev but got it on largest fish) and I never blanked once. It was quite satisfying to beat some really hardened matchmen although, in all fairness, the draw is everything here. we are now into a few extra remaining wednesday evening matches and last Sunday there was a 2-8pm Charity match which I fished. Drew peg 2 and caught 13lbs of recently stocked small carp, a weight which would have won 9 out 10 wednesday matches pre stocking! really thought I had cracked it this time but Kev in peg three (the real flyer) scraped up 24lbs whilst the winner found the resident bream shoal and had 43lbs!!! Last evening I drew peg 2 again. Peg three managed a pound, peg 1 won it with 10lb so I got the section with 3lb 10oz beating Robin, who could catch fish out of puddle in the gutter, by one ounce! So, Rudd, be afraid BE VERY AFRAID, we fodder are out to get you. Best of luck though, let us know how you fare.

[RUDD]

Ginger I am not a hardend matchman but an allrounder who enjoys any type of angling.

I have been fishing club matches for about ten years mainly for the social element and the challange (to myself).

Match fishing is just another part of my angling jigsaw.

I was Fodder for almost five years even though I knew the waters well.

I found that after the first time I framed my confidence shot up and I have done well since.

I am not the greatest angler but I do know I can hold my own against the best matchmen in the club and beat them on the day.

[Steve Walker]

I haven't fished matches for years, not since I was a teenager. I did well in a few club matches, even winning a few. I have to say that, for a junior, winning a senior match was an enormous ego-trip