It was almost four years ago in October 2017 that my Son and I first set foot on hallowed ground for the first time. Farnham Angling club had come to my attention and the fact that they had recently purchased the Yateley East complex from Cemex angling. One of the lakes was the legendary Match lake, somewhere I had always wanted to fish. As the cost of the ticket was extremely reasonable we decided to join the club with a view to fishing the Match lake.
After considerable research it became apparent that there were some extremely good fish to target in the Match lake, including a few originals. For my own part I simply wanted a change from my local waters and the thrill of fishing and hopefully catching from a water with some prestige.
What we weren't prepared for and rather naively, was the amount of footfall and pressure that the lake now sees. Being so open access and containing so many big fish, means that it is almost constantly rammed with anglers, and the pressure has increased over the time that we have been visiting the lake, especially during the Covid pandemic with so many being unable to work. In truth it's quite a headbanger of a lake!
We have only actually done a total of 20 or so nights on Match over the four year period. We would have done more, however, several times we have been forced to fish other waters after finding Match too busy upon arrival. Most of the time it is simply a case of slotting in wherever you can find an empty swim. Watercraft and the ability to locate fish is virtually none existent. Take your ticket and wait your turn is the phrase that springs to mind!
The fish themselves are clearly extremely clued up. There are estimated to be around 250 fish in 14-15 acres, however the irregularity with which they are caught considering the amount of anglers and hookbaits constantly in the water, you would think an awful lot more fish would visit the bank than actually do. To be truthful it's probably one of the hardest waters in the country for that reason. Multiple hits are as rare as rocking horse droppings, and captures of two or more fish in a session are something to shout about, indeed to catch one fish is certainly an achievement. The sheer pressure those fish are under is mind boggling, how they get away with it is completely beyond understanding.
Despite the huge drawbacks however, we have persisted with wanting to fish the Match lake. There are too many stunning fish to walk away with our tails between our legs. Dealing with the pressure has been especially challenging for me, and I am not shy to admit that I have let it defeat me mentally on many of our sessions, which of course has a knock on effect on how you approach your fishing. The only plus for us is the reasonable ticket cost and the fact that there is plenty of other waters on offer on the ticket, albeit nothing like the stock of Match.
Initially this year I had decided not to renew my membership and focus on other branches of the sport, leaving Match lake firmly in the rear view mirror, or so I thought. But after suffering a bout of severe illness for several weeks I had a complete change of heart. Call it a moment of realisation of my own mortality. I won't say any more than that, but I got to thinking about what I wanted to achieve in my angling over the next few years, given that I am getting on a bit now! and while I still have some level of fitness and mobility. I know that sounds a bit morbid but at some point we all have to face the truth that time waits for no one.
Carp fishing has always been my number one passion as far as angling in general goes. I have had a love hate relationship with it from time to time but that is more down to my own intolerance for the Bull Crap that comes with it at times! Again, I won't go into details but there have been times when I have taken some things too personally instead of ignoring them and it has had a detrimental effect on my view of the sport, causing me to engage in other types of fishing far away from the childish and petty element that Carp fishing seems to attract at times.
So I found myself, for my own reasons, making a decision to return to the Match lake determined to achieve my ambitions, and those of my Son, despite the difficulties that come with fishing such a busy pressured lake. My mindset was the first thing that had to change in order to do just that. Son had never been bothered about it all like I had, but he has grown up fishing busy waters and has really never known anything different, whereas I come from a different era, when Carp fishing was very much a minority sport and Carp, and fishing for them, was shrouded in far more mystery and lore than it is today. Waters that contained Carp were few and far between and Carp anglers even fewer, you could expect to easily be able to use your watercraft and location skills to put yourself on fish, with little or no competition from other anglers.
And so, we arrived at the lake on Sunday morning at about 06.30 after having left home at 03.45! The ferry journey across the Solent adds an hour to our journey time but thankfully traffic at that time of the morning is normally light, especially on a Sunday. We hoped that being a Sunday it may be a changeover day and that some of the anglers would pull off the lake relieving some of the pressure for at least a few hours and allowing us a chance of finding a half decent swim each. As normal the car park was pretty full and I had visions of us aborting the mission, but a walk around the lake revealed a few half decent swims free. We decided to slot in and stick to the game plan with a view to moving swims if our predictions were right and some of the other anglers pulled off the lake.
Within an hour or so we were installed in our chosen swims, both of which had good form meaning we were both feeling reasonably confident with Son having had a few fish show in and near to his water. The first day and night passed by quietly for me but Son had a small Common of about 10lb during the night, possibly a stock fish or even a spawned on fish, we weren't sure but with plenty of fish showing on and around his spots he was hopeful of a better specimen. My own area seemed very quiet despite at least two swims on the opposite bank having been vacated for twelve hours or so relieving the pressure in the area. Later the second day I was visited by one of the Bailiffs who, very helpfully suggested a different spot to the one's I had my rigs placed on. Now one thing I have learned is you should never ignore local knowledge and given the difficulties in fishing the lake intermittently I was more than happy to take his advice. Upon exploration of the suggested area I found a nice clean firm bottom, probably clay as the lead slid across it with ease before the tip bent round into heavier silt and dead weed. That settled it, and I delivered the rig along with a tight patch of about half a kilo of free offerings onto the spot.
I was just finishing my dinner some time later when out of the blue the freshly placed rig was picked up and the rod and alarm went into meltdown! The remainder of my dinner was discarded and I grabbed the rod and bent into the fish which was tearing off at speed, clearly very angry at having made a mistake, forcing me to give line. I could feel it still shaking it's head trying to rid itself of the hook as it went. At this point I had no idea what size the fish might be and we settled into a terse battle with the fish kiting from one side of the swim to the other forcing me to hop, skip and jump around the bank trying to prevent it from getting into any of the marginal cover. It wasn't until I had it closer in to me that I realised it might actually be quite a good fish judging by the way it was steadily plodding pretty much where it wanted and holding station whenever I applied any pressure. The fight was very protracted but eventually I began to get the upper hand. It took several attempts to get it's head up enough to try and net it. Finally I was able, with some effort, to draw it into the net. I couldn't believe it, I finally had a match lake Carp! Looking down on the creature nestling in the bottom of the net I noted the incredible width of it's back... At this point I hadn't taken in the length.
A moment or two later I was being assisted by Son, and as we lifted the Carp out of the water and placed it on the mat, he told me I had the fish known as Kiss Scale! I asked him if he was sure, but being as he has spent many hours studying pictures of the lakes stock and I was beginning to realise just how big the fish really was, I was pretty sure he was right! What an incredible moment for both of us!
The scales revealed a weight of 43lb 8oz, a spawned out weight as she has been up to 49lb, but a new personal best for me! What a way to open my Match lake account! Yes luck had played a huge part as well as the advice from the Bailiff and I am more than happy to acknowledge that, but in this game you need all the luck and advice you can get!
We did the pictures as quickly as possible as I was keen to not stress the magnificent creature and return her to her home as soon as I could. We treated a spawning sore on her side with propolis and then I donned the waders to return her. She had given her all during the fight, and I wanted to make sure she went back strongly. Looking down on her length and girth in the water I was completely awestruck, still not believing that I had caught such a sought after resident of the lake.
Eventually she swam off, looking like a miniature submarine, clearly sulking at having been caught out. I had kept surprisingly calm up to now but then the adrenaline kicked in and I was shaking whilst trying to sort the rig out! In the end I calmed down a bit and decided to tie a fresh rig to put back out on the spot. I think I'll keep the rig that caught Kiss Scale for posterity as it was such a special moment, especially as my Son was there to share it with me. I'll certainly treasure the memory of my first Match lake Carp.
I wasn't lucky enough to catch any more fish during that session. despite returning to the same spot again, but I am not a greedy person, for me catching that fish was enough. Unfortunately Son had quite a frustrating session, with plenty of activity and fish showing on and around his spots throughout his session, but despite trying a few different things he just couldn't get a pick up from them. He's been lucky enough have had three other fish from the Match lake so far including one of over thirty pounds so he's not doing too badly but when they are all over you like they were him, I can imagine how frustrating it must have been. I think seeing his old man catch Kiss Scale eased some of his frustrations though he was overjoyed for me and like me will treasure the memory for ever.
Until next time, Tight lines and thanks for reading.
Chris
