Winning tricks
from Andy Dyson
WINNING a 300-plus peg match is a feather in the cap of any matchman. To do so in freezing conditions with more than 200lb of carp is a still rarer feat.
Small wonder, then, that Andy Dyson’s victory in the Angling Trust Winter League Final will live long in his memory!
The Dynamite Baits Maver Midlands man destroyed the field on Decoy’s Elm Lake, weighing in 105-150 to finish 80lb in front of the rest. And it was bite-a-chuck action despite the bitter easterly wind roaring across the Fenland complex.
It wasn’t just that the Alsagerbased angler simply drew on a pile of fish and didn’t have to do anything special – although there’s a grain of truth to that.
Andy still had to make the right decisions before and during the five hours of battle. After all, plenty of good pegs have been ruined by bad angling...
Join Andy now as he recounts the big day and the reasons behind the decisions he made before and during the match…
‘FINDING’ FISH
“Much of my hard work before the match started was down to plumbing up – and not just to find the depth. As I moved the plummet about I could feel it bumping into fish that were just off the bottom, but when I went a metre either side of that spot there was nothing.
“This told me immediately that the carp weren’t being spooked and weren’t moving, so I could concentrate on that one spot.”
COMING OFF BOTTOM
“I guess you could say I was ‘dobbing’ at Decoy, but how far off bottom should you be fishing?
“It’s easy to come too far off the deck at the start, so my ploy at the start was to find the depth and then shallow up by four inches. Once I was fishing I’d know if I was getting any indications but not hooking fish – then I’d move the float up an inch at a time until I started to hook fish and had basically, found the depth they were at.”
NO POINT IN FEEDING
“In an open the week before at Heronbrook I’d fed maggots and suffered a spell of foul-hooking as the fish came further off bottom, so I disciplined myself to keep my hand out of the bait tub!
“Feeding presents the fish with more choice of food items and reduces the chances of a quick bite. Give them only the hookbait and that’s what they’ll take.”
DOT THE FLOAT DOWN
“Although the carp were of a decent size, bites still weren’t positive. I always dot my floats right down and this means that I can’t ‘read’ a bite to distinguish between a liner and a proper
take – but if you’re fishing at the right depth and not feeding, these false indications should be minimal.
“I also lifted and dropped the rig if I felt I was waiting too long for a bite – but with 66 fish in five hours, you could say this didn’t happen that much!”
FISH OFF THE MAIN AREA
“One thing of note that did happen in the match was that when I moved away from the main catching area and tried a metre either side of it, I caught much bigger fish, including a mirror of 15lb!
“It seemed that the bigger carp in the swim were hanging on the edge of the shoal.”