Alders Farm 15 09 17 Joseph James Law Event

It is not everyday you get to fish in the company of some very talented anglers, anglers who have fished for their countries, anglers who have qualified and won some of the most prestigious events in the angling calendar. Joseph James Law, an enterprising Law firm has helped give us mere mortals the chance to do just that. They had invited 11 of the most noted teams in the match fish world, and us the mighty maggotdrowners. An opportunity not to miss.
Unfortunately Dave Webster, or Wibblester if you know him well enough was unable to attend, but his able Deputy Pete Morton was on hand to be able to bring together a team. Pete, Dave Pontin, Clive Pritchard, Adam Daniells and myselfgathered like a Marvel Comic assemble. Barry made up the final member of our team as it was felt that we needed to keep an eye on the opposition and relay any vital gossip.
Dave W had kindly provided us with a hoodie and I must say they are very warm, but they do tend to soak up plenty of rain water throughout the day. Anyway I digress.
With a donation from Maggotdrowning towards our bait bill for the event, (I bet the other teams had to pay for there own). See how professional maggotdrowners are.I opted for some 4mm pellet and some maggot. I have always got some corn in my bag, so did not need that. A walk to the cafe where a bacon, sausage and egg roll awaited, washed down with plenty of tea.
Our draw saw Pete on Oak 5, Adam Ash 23, Dave Ash 7, Clive Pines 15 and myself Peg 8 on Pines.  I really like Pines Lake but today we had nearly every peg in and it would fish harder than normal. I had Dave Pez on the next peg 9 and John Beasley on peg 7. Both very tidy anglers and with Mark Skeggs and Pete Archer also within viewing range I could see how the section was going.
I set up a rig to fish 14.5m with a DS Diamond to a 16 B911f1 black hydro and .19 line. Two rigs to fish corn and pellet at 10 and 2 on a top four plus a margin rig to the right. I also set up a small hybrid feeder to the island in front of me.
I started off on a top four with corn on the hook feeding 4 or 5 grains every 30 seconds, Nothing after 10 minutes saw me switch sides to the pellet line, again feeding 12 pellets via a toss pot, nothing. A move to 14.5m saw my first fish, a skimmer around 2lb after an hour. I had not even seen a carp. Another skimmer and I now had 3.5lb in the net. John, Pete and Dave had all had a carp and I was going nowhere. I played around with shotting to no avail. I changed depths regularly, getting foul hookers on the deck or just touching and nothing 2 inches off. After 3 hours I sneaked 3 carp in 3 chucks and thought at last they had turned up, but just as quick had they arrived it was soon back to foul hookers.
My margins never produced, I could see fish coming in and going out but they never settled. All in all a frustrating day. I felt as though I never did the peg justice. I know it was hard with all the anglers on the lake, but I felt I missed a trick on the day, but a lesson learned. Unfortunately, I came last in my section with 12lb. Clive had fared better with 26lb and a welcome 7 points towards the team cause.Peter had fished a blinder from his peg on Oak with a very creditable 6 points including a fish of 12lb 8oz . Andy Kinder winning the lake with over a ton.
Over on Ash, Dave had struggled on peg 7 with 41lb and another last in section, whereas Adam had fished a blinder beating some very good company to secure second place in section.
Overall as a team, we came 10th out of the 12 competing teams, we had beaten our nemesis Match Fishing Scene again and BAE. Steve Tucker( Garbolino) won on Ash Lake and  Simon Skelton (Mallory Park). On the team front the Lads from Mallory Park won the event with 15 points from the Joseph James Law side. Mosella NW and Drennan International tying for third place.
In summary, an event like this takes some organisation, the staff at Joseph James Law have come out of their comfort zone and performed miracles on a day where the weather did not help. It has rained nearly all day, they have stood out in it in T shirts and wellies, never once did I see them moan or not smile. Every thing from checking in to photos, to drawing to free snacks and refreshments was laid at their very capable hands. If you need advice on any Legal matter give them a chance to prove themselves to you. I am sold. To the team at Alders Farm. You never cease to amaze us anglers, Smiles, chuckles and nothing too much trouble. You know us by name and make us all feel very welcome. Thank you. Lastly but not least, to all the volunteers, who weighed us in, kept score on larger specimen fish, walked around the complex offering advice and refreshments, never encroaching on the angler. Finally also to Andrew Settle, who without his vision and foresight has created a fixture that all the top teams look forward to. We certainly do at Maggotdrowning.com.