"What are you doing on Thursday?" was the question on Trevor Price's lips as he spoke to me before last Tuesday's affordable open at Alders Farm. "Nothing" came the reply. "Good, come up to Pines and show a few lads how you fish corn" "Errr OK" says I.
He then proceeded to tell me that he had arranged for a competition on Match Fishing Scene for 5 lucky anglers to win a day at the fishery. Breakfast was provided as was day tickets and bait. All he had to do was show them how to catch mammoth weights and provide a write up of the day for the website.
Now I admit I have caught a few fish from Pines, nothing near the large weights that others can and do, but, I will also admit that I am still learning from the experience. I am willing to listen and learn from some very good anglers and try to make it my own style. He had also asked Terry Lancaster to talk about his World Championship experiences and Mark Quick to help out as the day progressed offering his advice on GB and maggot approaches. Trevor would also give an insight into his methods and show how you can transform a seemingly dead peg into a peg full of fish. It is not often you get to sit next to a good angler fishing their method and actually see and understand what is happening in the peg.
The five lucky anglers were Mike, Neil, Russ, Terry and Dave who had travelled up with Rick Baxter who fished Ash Lake during the coaching. With lads coming from as far as Manchester it not only shows the draw of Alders Farm but Trevor Price as well.
After breakfast Trevor placed anglers on pegs 1,3,6,8, and 10 on Pines and instructed them to get tackled up and start fishing it as they saw it.
I had a chat with both Mike and Neil on 1 and 3 respectively before Trevor could do his stuff and both were catching on corn, Mike fishing corn over pellet whilst Neil was catching on corn over corn. However slight changes to rigs were needed after missing a few bites, we tried a shallow rig over the top with a couple of bites but no fish, but a change to shotting patterns meant fish came to the net. Neil commented on this slight change and how effective it was and could not believe the difference it made to his catch rate. Mike was catching on peg 1 straight out on top two plus one, carp around 2lb but regularly. Both were feeding the margins for later in the day.
I took a walk up to see the other lads and Terry was settled in on peg 6 coaching Russ encouraging the feeding approach that has gained him numerous wins on the venue. Russ was keen and listening intently fishing two plus two to the left in open water. Terry was priming a margin line by feeding a few maggots and pellets on a topkit line but with Russ getting a few lumps further out may not be required.
Dave and Terry on 8 and 10 were getting advice from Trevor on rigs for fishing maggot and pellets. Both were catching well on different methods, Dave on paste and Terry on JPZ pellets.
After an hour of the session Trevor called everyone to Peg 3 (Neil allowed Trevor to use his peg) for a demonstration of his method of margin fishing. This is a lesson I was intent on listening to. Because I fish against Trevor a lot, you never seem to notice the small things he does, you never focus on his set up and why he fishes the way he does. It is not about copying him, it is about what he is trying to achieve and that is large weights of fish. Time was spent on his bait preparation and how it would be fed throughout the match, quantities, ratios and when and how to feed ground-bait. A look at his set up would scare most anglers, a top-kit, brown hydro, 10lb line straight through and a size 12 hook. All to fish single or double maggot on the hook. Trevor started to feed the peg initially with ground-bait before putting in pellets and maggots into the swim. No rig was presented during this time. After the initial feeding spell, he showed the eager anglers how to feed the swim to build a large weight. Remember most of the anglers were catching 2-3lb fish before, Trevor said he would start to catch the slightly larger fish in the peg. After around 20 minutes of this regular feeding pattern the fish started to arrive and ended up in the keep-net. Each part of Trevor's set up was designed for a function. A strong top-kit that was capable of taking a battering, brown Hydro which stretched enough to keep the fish under control, a real eye opener for me, I must admit. 10lb line which would not break on most fish and a size 12 hook which looked unsightly with a single or double maggot on would provide a good hook hold. Everything for a reason.
With around 30lb in the net in 15 minutes it was clear this is a method that could not be dismissed, it took a while to get the fish queued up but once there it was manic. Trevor then allowed the other anglers to have a go in the same peg before they went back to there own pegs to put it into practice.
After all his exertions catching fish and talking, Trevor was ready for a cup of tea so we retreated to the café to allow the MFS winners time to set up and start catching down the sides. It did not take long as when we walked back up to the lake all we could see was elastic out of the poles and fish coming to the net. A better stamp of fish than those that were caught earlier.
After an hour of watching others catching fish I needed to leave them to it. Trevor, Mark and Terry Lancaster were still in attendance and sorting out goodie bags for each of the winners. Both my charges, Mike and Neil were catching well as I left and easily on target for a good weight, they had both learnt lessons from the day and were really nice people to talk to. I had learnt a few lessons just talking to these lads so don't think for one minute it is all one sided, it's not.
It will be interesting to read their take on the day. I am sure it will be a day of surprises.
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